Charlie Oaks

info from German Wikipedia translated into English: Charlie Oaks (* in Richmond, Kentucky) was an American old-time musician. Oaks was among the first rural Tennessee musicians to be recorded. Although blind Charlie Oaks was from Kentucky, he spent most of his life in Tennessee. Due to his lack of sight, he was forced to play as a musician on street corners to earn a living. He performed with harmonica and guitar in Knoxville, Tennessee for a number of years and was already a popular musician at public events in the Upper South before World War I. Two of his own compositions were published in the Journal of American Folklore in 1909. As a composer, Oaks specialized in so-called "event songs" that dealt with train accidents, murders and natural disasters. He later recorded many of these pieces on disc, much like Carson Robison or Andrew Jenkins, who composed similar songs. In 1925 he was invited by the Vocalion Records label to record in New York City. Over the next few years, Oaks recorded a whole series of tracks, including The Death of William Jennings Bryan, The John T. Scopes Trial, Andrew Jenkins' The Death of Floyd Collins and Little Mary Phagan, which originally came from Moonshine Kate. Oaks also recorded for Victor Records as the Oaks Family in the late 1920s, but his recording career was short-lived. He never performed on the radio and his old-fashioned, gritty style was soon replaced by other musicians. His career ended back in Knoxville, where he performed as a street musician with his wife. At the time of his first recordings for Vocalion he was already 55 years old or even older, but his exact date of death is not known.