[3] In 1945, under the terms of the Potsdam Agreement after World War II, he and his family were among the millions of German-speaking people forcibly resettled to the west of the Oder-Neisse line which became the eastern boundary of Germany.

[4] The Strachwitz family settled temporarily with relatives in Braunschweig, in the British zone of Allied-occupied Germany, where he first heard swing music played on Armed Forces Radio.

I thought this was absolutely the most wonderful thing I had ever heard.After graduating from Cate in 1951, he attended Pomona College in Claremont,[7] and started visiting jazz clubs in Los Angeles as well as rhythm and blues shows featuring Lightnin' Hopkins, Howlin' Wolf and others.

[5][8] Strachwitz became a United States citizen and was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1954, just after the Korean War, being stationed in Salzburg, Austria, from where he continued to see touring jazz shows.

At the same time, he continued to develop his technical skills, learning from established producer Bob Geddins and through recording San Francisco street musician Jesse Fuller, jazz saxophonist Sonny Simmons and others.

Although unable to record Hopkins at the time due to lack of money and equipment,[9] he resolved to return to the area the following year.

[5] In 1965, his friend ED Denson introduced him to a local band, Country Joe and the Fish, who were active in anti-Vietnam war protests at Berkeley.

Strachwitz recorded the band singing "I Feel Like I'm Fixin' To Die", and gained a share of the song's publishing rights.

[6][8] Strachwitz also won royalties for Fred McDowell from the Rolling Stones' performance of his song "You Gotta Move" on their Sticky Fingers album.

He also continued to secure the rights to release archive blues material such as that by Snooks Eaglin and Robert Pete Williams.