Burl Ives

Once called by poet Carl Sandburg "the mightiest ballad singer of this or any other century," Burl Ives grew up the youngest of six children born to a Scotch-Irish farming family in Jasper County, Illinois. As a very young boy, he sang in church and at town gatherings and listened closely to the songs of his pipe-smoking grandmother who taught him many of his famous ballads. He played fullback in high school and was planning to become a football coach when wanderlust overcame him during his senior year of college. Dropping out, he grabbed his guitar and hit the road, collecting experiences and