The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #126358 Message #2807401
Posted By: GUEST,Bob Coltman
09-Jan-10 - 07:56 AM
Thread Name: Obit: Fred Gerlach has died (Jan 2010)
Subject: RE: Obit: Fred Gerlach has died (Jan 2010)
I remember seeing Fred at the Showboat Lounge, Washington DC in 1962 or 63.
In those days a few of us, having heard Leadbelly and a few other 12-string pickers, were trying to learn to play that very different sort of guitar. Fred was a revelation: a master of the instrument while the rest of us were still trying to get the big instrument to calm down and stop sounding like the pots and pans falling downstairs.
He was also a genial guy. I barely met him but always had a sincere regard and liking for him, and his music sure was exciting at a moment in time when folkies were barely aware of what could be done with a 12-string. He was a real innovator.
Bob