Folk Music was made popular in the 1950s and early 1960s not by the Left, but by Folk Music Entertainers like The Kingston Trio, The Highwaymen, New Christy Minstrels, Brother Four, etc. These people were musicians and entertainers, not driven by politics. Their music was widely accepted and not challenged by the masses who enjoyed folk music for what it was: Good music that entertained. That is why they had hit records. A lot of that has been lost. Political folk music is devisive, folk music that entertains is still loved by many. The elitist, political folk singer is scorned because many are incapable of acknowledging that first, and an audience second.

Believe me when I tell you that is the truth that most certainly always has and always will annoy the political, trying to save the world folk singer vs the folk singer who sings what is entertaining and offensive to no one. It's why groups like The Kingston Trio, even in their 21st century incarnation, still fill concert halls.