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For the first time, all of Clifton Chenier’s full-length albums for the famed roots music label Arhoolie Records are now available from Smithsonian Folkways Recordings in standard and hi-resolution digital formats. From his groundbreaking 1965 debut Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, which stands as a foundational document of zydeco music, to 1982’s Live at the San Francisco Blues Festival, which chronicles his still-powerful onstage energy in his later years, Chenier’s catalog presents the showmanship and artistry of a major, if under-appreciated, innovator in the history of Black American music. Listening through Chenier’s career is to experience the history of zydeco through its most celebrated practitioners. Other notable releases include Bogalusa Boogie, which was added to the National Recording Registry at the Library of Congress in 2016, Out West, featuring guitarist Elvin Bishop and piano player Steve Miller, and Clifton Chenier’s Red Hot Louisiana Band, which showcases one of the most revered groups in Louisiana music history.
Though many of these albums have been available as CD reissues since the late 1980s and early 1990s, they were often augmented, edited, and rearranged in the reissue process. These new digital editions restore original artwork, liner notes, and tracklists, preserving the integrity of the releases as they were initially heard and loved. Numerous 7” singles from throughout Chenier’s decades-long relationship with Arhoolie and its founder, Chris Strachwitz, are also now available. The audio was sourced from new transfers of the original master tapes in the Smithsonian’s Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections at the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage and remastered by Smithsonian Folkways. They are available via all major DSPs, as well as the Smithsonian Folkways website, which is the exclusive retailer for hi-res, 24-bit digital audio.
These digital albums are being released ahead of the landmark box set King of Louisiana Blues and Zydeco, which chronicles Chenier’s career as one of the prime originators of zydeco music and the star who brought the music from his rural Louisiana hometown to stages across the world. The 4CD/6LP set is the first anthology of Chenier’s career, and comes with a 160-page book of essays and photographs. It is available February 6, 2026, from Arhoolie Records and Smithsonian Folkways. More information is available via Smithsonian Folkways:
https://folkways.si.edu/clifton-chenier/king-of-louisiana-blues-and-zydeco
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