One of the first books of folk songs I bought way back was Carl Sandburg's The American Songbag. Bought it new in a bookstore. This was about 1952 or so. But the book has been republished and is still available. CLICKY #1.

There is another book about Carl Sandburg that is really fascinating. I didn't know about it until Bob Nelson (Deckman) gave me a copy. It's Old Troubadour, by Gregory d'Alessio.   CLICKY #2.

Greg d'Alessio was an artist, cartoonist, and a member of the New York Classic Guitar Society. Sandburg used to stay with d'Alessio when he came to New York, and there would be gatherings at d'Alessio's apartment of people like Sandburg, Andrés Segovia, Brazilian singer-guitarist Olga Coelho, and others—including Marilyn Monroe (who thought Sandberg was a real cutey-pie). Lots of photos, plus a few of d'Alessio's cartoons, and many great stories about Sandburg.

One of the photos shows Sandburg singing and playing a weird old bell-shaped guitar with Segovia sitting beside him on the sofa, reaching over and trying to tune one of Sandburg's strings. Another shows Sandburg playing a guitar he owned, which I recognized as a flamenco guitar (complete with push-peg tuners) made by Domingo Esteso. I recognized it because it looked exactly like the Esteso flamenco I'd bought from a fellow who had brought it back from Madrid. Most photos you usually see of him show him with his Martin classic, but he apparently owned several guitars.

First folk singer? No. Predated by several centuries at least, probably a millenium or two. But he was certainly a powerful influence early on. During is poetry readings, more often than not at colleges and universities, he would often say, "That reminds me of a song." At which point, he would go backstage and emerge a few seconds later with his guitar, and the poetry reading would turn into a folk concert. This was back in the 19040s and 50s.

Many decades back, Life Magazine, in it's "Photo of the Week," printed a picture of Carl Sandburg sitting with his feet propped up on his desk, a cat in his lap, and his glasses up on his forehead. The caption quoted Sandburg as saying that he had come up with an "Eleventh Commandment," which, if people obeyed, would render the previous Ten Commandments redundant:   "Thou shalt not commit nincompoopery!"

Don Firth