Mike - I was always intrigued by singers who accompanied themselves on the guitar but there were not that many in the late 40s and early 50s. The first ones I can remember were the ones already cited - Josh White, Burl Ives and Bill Broonzy plus Elton Hayes and (do you remember?) Max Wall who sang 'I once had a song, I wrote it myself, on some manuscript paper, I found on the shelf....' He played a sort of finger style guitar accompaniment to it. Other than these examples, I can only remember the Malcolm Mitchell trio whose leader was the singer-guitarist. (He started a big band but too late - that era was virtually over.)

When, as a 16 year old in 1956 and inspired by Lonnie Donegan and Ken Colyer, I bought my first guitar (£5 + £1 for the case, paid for in four weekly instalments of £1.10s.)I bought it from Bournemouth's best known purveyors of guitars, Don Strike. He did not have a shop, instead he gave lessons and sold guitars and banjos from the family flat above a shop in the Westbourne area. When the skiffle boom turned to the rock boom, and it was obvious that the guitar wasn't a 'here today and gone romorrow' fad, he was able to set up in the shop below - it's still in business.

You're about eight years older than me so you may be able to cite examples that predate mine.....please?