Arkie The Arkansas Woodchopper
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Arkie The Arkansas Woodchopper recordings for sale
Date of Birth: March 2, 1906
Place of Birth: Knob Noster, Missouri
Date of Death: June 23, 1981
Marital Status: Vera Firth (m. 1937)
Musical Syle: Old-Time Country/Comedy
Talents: Singer, Guitar, Piano
Arkie the Arkansas Woodchopper was a radio personality, singer, square dance caller, emcee, and humorist, known for his long tenure at Chicago’s WLS Barn Dance. Although WLS publicists billed him as a "Country boy from the Ozarks," he was actually a flatlander from the middle part of Missouri, near Sedalia. As a boy, he learned music by playing guitar and fiddle for local square dances, getting a princely $4.00 for six hours a dance. He also became expert in such rural pleasures as bee trees, coon hunting, hunting, fishing and running dogs-knowledge he used to great advantage in his radio monologues, skits and songs.
His radio debut occurred in 1928, on KMBC, Kansas City, where he played for nearly 2 years on Sears programs. He joined the National Barn Dance in 1929, and he spent most of his career as a regular, so much so that by 1954 he was being referred to as "Old Man Barn Dance." He stayed with the show through its time on WLS (until 1960) and its reincarnation on WGN (1960-1970).
In 1937, he married Vera Firth of Perry County, Illinois, and settled into a comfortable life around Chicago. Other Barn Dance members recall that
Arkie was easy-going and relaxed on the air, and an easy target to tease. They often managed to break him up on the air. For example, the Maple City Four would get down on all fours like a drove of pigs and Ralph Emerson would wave his arms and chase them right in front of
Arkie.
His recording output was relatively small, and consisted primarily of a series of late 1930’s and early 1940’s sides for ARC and Columbia. The vocals were pieces like Little Blossom, Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder, Cowboy Jack and Little Green Valley. In 1940, M. M. Cole issued an entire songbook featuring
Arkie’s square dance calls, one of the few such tomes ever released. In 1941, he issued a square dance album that featured his calling to fiddle tunes like Arkansas Traveler and Sally Goodin. Though he toured with many on the Barn Dance,
Arkie preferred to work with Guy Colby’s square dance group, and with
Lulu Belle Wiseman and Salty Holmes.
Give Name: Luther William Ossenbrink
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