Luther W. Ossenbrink(1907-1981)

Luther W. Ossenbrink, known professionally as Arkie the Arkansas Woodchopper, first recorded in Dallas, Texas on December 6, 1928 for Columbia Records. The songs were "The Cowboy's Dream" and "The Dying Cowboy." He was a singer and played the guitar, and recorded a dozen more cowboy songs between 1928 and 1931. As a singer, he was also an adept yodeler as well, using a trickier version of Jimmie Rodger's 'blue yodel' on "I'm a Texas Cowboy", recorded in November, 1931. Ossenbrink made his radio debut on KMBC in Kansas City in 1928. He joined the WLS Barn Dance, in Chicago, in 1929 and was a headliner on the program until it went off the air in 1960. He died in 1981, in retirement in his native Missouri.