Effective period / Period of releases: 1962 - 1968

b. August 26, 1925 (Detroit, Michigan)
d. December 31, 2009 (San Diego, California)

12-string guitarist. He is said to have been a room-mate of Leadbelly at one stage. In 1951, he was a draftsman based in Washington Heights on New York's West side. he had a keen interest in art and would work with pastels and oils. He would take a break from his art by playing the guitar. The guitar interest eventually overtook the art interest. He started his music journey that year which was the same year that he left his wife.

In 1962, his Twelve-String Guitar album was released on Folkways Records FG 3529.

In 1963, along with The Sherwood Singers, Fred Thompson (probably Fred Thompson), the Willow Creek Ramblers, The Steeltown II, Le Sesne Hilton with John MacQuarrie, and the Calimbo Steel Band etc., he was scheduled to appear at the Pasadena Folk Festival on August 18th.

In 1969, his Songs My Mother Never Sang album was released on Takoma C-1028

He died at the Chase Health Care Center in San Diego, California after a long illness.


Referenced

San Diego Troubadour - April 2004, Vol. 3, No. 7
https://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2004_4_Apr.pdf

* Pasadena Independent, August 13, 1963, Page 20
https://www.newspapers.com/newspage/65171448/

* Always a Song, Singers, Songwriters, Sinners, and Saints – My Story of the Folk Music Revival By Ellen Harper, Ben Harper, Sam Barry · 2021
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Always_a_Song/s_j6DwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Fred+Gerlach+LeadBelly+Roommate&pg=PA116&printsec=frontcover

* Legacy.com
https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/fred-gerlach-obituary?pid=138241160

Additional reading

* San Diego Troubadour - April 2004, Vol. 3, No. 7
https://sandiegotroubadour.com/wp-content/pdf/2004_4_Apr.pdf