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Fred Gerlach (August 26, 1925 – December 31, 2009) was an American folk musician and luthier. Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page credited his recording of Ledbelly's version of the song "Gallows Pole" with inspiring his own band's version.

Career

In the early 1950s, he sang in the Jewish Young Folksingers chorus conducted by Robert De Cormier. Gerlach was among the first folk artists to adopt the 12 string guitar as his medium. A friend of fellow folk musicians Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger, his first album was even called Twelve-String Guitar. Led Zeppelin covered its flagship song, "Gallows Pole". Guitarist Jimmy Page said:

"I first heard it ('Gallows Pole') on an old Folkways LP by Fred Gerlach, a 12-string player who was, I believe, the first white to play the instrument. I used his version as a basis and completely changed the arrangement

Gerlach was inspired to adopt the 12 string by his mentor and one-time roommate Lead Belly, a blues guitarist famous for using the instrument. At the time, Gerlach became interested in the instrument, it was rarely used. He later related:

"I went into one of the largest musical instrument stores in the country, and the manager assured me that no such instrument existed. On another occasion, a maker of fine 12-string lutes (nylon strings) pictured for me a nightmare of explosive force required to hold twelve steel strings in proper tension. He envisioned bits of guitar and guitarist flying asunder. I have combed New York City pawnshops and music stores and have received a variety of comments ranging' from 'Sorry, we're out of them now. Won't a six-string guitar do? to 'Have you got rocks in your head, buddy?' In fact, it took me about a year after I had first decided to play a twelve-string before I found one. It wasn't a concentrated search, but it nevertheless indicates the general unavailability of the instrument."

Because of the difficulty in finding 12 string guitars, Gerlach began to make his own, for himself and his peers. Pete Seeger, Leo Kottke, Dick Rosmini, who along with other well known folk musicians came to use his instruments.

Discography

Albums

• Twelve-String Guitar a.k.a. Folk Songs And Blues Sung And Played By Fred Gerlach With Twelve-String Guitar. Folkways Records lp FG 3529, (1962)
• Songs My Mother Never Sang Takoma lp C-1028. (1968)
• Easy Rider Eyrie Records, (1993)

Compilations

• The Twelve-String Story Vol. 1 (1963)
• The Twelve-String Story Vol. 2 (1963)
• The Guitar Greats
• Golden Guitars
• Takoma Eclectic Sampler Vol 2 (1999)
• Imaginational Anthem Vol. 2

References

1. ^ Fred Gerlach, American Music biography
   "I first heard it ('Gallows Pole') on an old Folkways LP by Fred Gerlach, a 12-string player who was, I believe, the first white to play the instrument. I used his version as a basis and completely changed the arrangement."
2. Folksinger Fred Gerlach – Venice – circa 1969
   Fred’s reputation as a guitar maker was well known. He made 12 string guitars for Pete Seeger, Leo Kottke, Dick Rosmini and others. Once when he was in San Diego He walked into a Music Store and saw a guitar he had made on the wall with a $10,000 price. When he asked why it was so expensive, the owner said “This is an original Gerlach! He’s dead.” Fred said “Oh!” and left.
3. Fred Gerlach – Twelve-String Guitar
4. Fred Gerlach – Songs My Mother Never Sang
5. Various – The Twelve String Story, Volume 1
6. Takoma Eclectic Sampler, Vol. 2

• 1925 births
• 2009 deaths
• American folk guitarists
• American male guitarists
• American folk singers
• American people of German-Jewish descent
• American Ashkenazi Jews
• Jewish American musicians
• Jewish folk singers
• 20th-century American guitarists
• 20th-century American singers
• 20th-century American male musicians
• 20th-century American Jews
• 21st-century American Jews