He also made albums as a solo performer and with Willie Murphy, and was an important mentor to the young Bob Dylan.

Bizarrely, most of his fellow countrypersons remain blissfully unaware of this, in spite of his being one of the key figures of the 1960s folk boom."

[5][1] He went through boot camp in San Diego and went into training for the infantry, but changed his mind and was able to leave the military after getting into a serious car crash.

[6] Koerner returned to Minnesota and became involved in the Minneapolis music scene, where he met Dave Ray and Tony Glover.

[2] They were also inveterate record collectors, particularly of old folk and blues discs; Koerner was particularly influenced by the Folkways Records compilation The Country Blues, telling one interviewer later that "listening to it expanded my understanding – I realised if you want to be like those people you don't copy 'em, no; you steal from them and write your own stuff.

"[6] The group gained notice with their first album, Blues, Rags and Hollers, originally released by Audiophile in 1963 and re-released by Elektra Records later that year.

[4] In 1965, Koerner recorded his first solo album, Spider Blues, for Elektra and appeared at the Newport Folk Festival accompanied by Glover.

He continued playing on the folk circuit and joined with Willie Murphy to record Running, Jumping, Standing Still in 1969.

Koerner pursued an unsuccessful career in filmmaking, retiring from music and moving to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he made the black-and-white film The Secret of Sleep.

[17][18] A retrospective album capturing a solo live performance and radio interview recorded on the same day as a studio session for Blues, Rags and Hollers, March 1963, was released in 2010.

[9] Koerner was a frequent performer and fixture at the West Bank bar Palmer's, where he spent so much time that he had his newspaper delivered there.

He was the only young white artist who shaped a unique, personal style rather than trying to sound like older black performers.

[22] Koerner also was an amateur astronomer, and never lost the habit of tinkering from his never-completed engineering degree, designing and building his own telescope, boat, harmonica stand, and what an article in City Pages described as "a makeshift lawnmower assembled partly from a bicycle.

[9][22] In 1983, the Minnesota Music Academy named Koerner, Ray and Glover "Best Folk Group", and in 1985, inducted them into the MMA Hall of Fame.

[24] Koerner, Ray & Glover were honored with a star on the outside mural of the Minneapolis nightclub First Avenue,[25] recognizing performers that have played sold-out shows or have otherwise demonstrated a major contribution to the culture at the iconic venue.