Jim Carroll wrote:
"Yes, MacColl's BBC voice was an actort's take on it - personally, I couldn't stand it.
Glad you liked the Song Carriers. Many of the source recordings, apart from a few of MacColl's and Seeger's own, are from the BBC project and are part of the Peter Kennedy empire whicht is being debated elsewhere."

Thank you for your response, Jim. Your posts on Mudcat are rays of light in their articulacy, no-nonsense factual content, and lack of personal vituperation. And I had a feeling the Song Carriers recordings might be tied up with the Kennedy collection.

I never heard Ewan MacColl sing live (I find his recordings very impressive, if sometimes austere and theatrical) but have been swayed in the past by the partial view of him as autocrat and didact. Song Carriers shows him to be a supreme enthusiast as well as a great intellect. Respect!

PS Is it possible to be simultaneously austere and theatrical? Before someone else pointed it out.......