Andiliqueuur, you will never please all the people all of the time -- especially in folk music circles. Like you I can think of a certain man singing A Blacksmith Courted Me and he really sets my teeth on edge. But other people think his version is terrific so it may well be that my taste is totally wrong in this case. That doesn't matter. what does matter is that songs are sung. The worst thing that can happen to them is that they fall into neglect. The important thing is to point the way back to your source so that even if people violently disapprove of the way you do they may find a version they love and will help to keep it alive. For example unlike PHJim I love the Animals' version of House Of The Rising Sun because it was the first version I heard and it blew me away. I agree with PHJim that it is more tragic if a woman sings it but I also love Leadbelly's version which sounds as though he thoroughly enjoyed his life of sin and misery and is going back to New Orleans to do it all over again -- rather like Howling Wolf's Going Down Slow, which sounds not so much like a lament but a dying gambler saying: "Well it's a lousy end but hell I really enjoyed it."
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