TOOTLER ;the point is that Colin Irwin is wrong,scottish ballads are sung in folk clubs,[our traditions and our old songs are something to be proud of,not something that we must pretend doesnt happen because it will scare non folk enthusisasts away].
old scottish ballads should and are sung.
Folk clubs are places where people can appreciate music other than three minutes of a banal pop song ,where people do have the concentration to listen to a good story teller or a good singer of a ballad,pretending it doesnt happen,is rather like getting someone in under false pretences.
Folk clubs are places where introverted singer songwriters sing.
some folk club goers like long traditional ballads and some others like introverted songwriters such as Rosemary Hardman,it is no good trying to deny they do not exist,or that it is not representative of folk clubs.
however it is only part of the picture,this is what Colin Irwin did not make clear,he was giving the impression [which was reinforced by the title of the show]that what we saw on Ians progranmme was truly representative it was not.
this programme only partly represents what was happening in folk clubs at this time,.
I was running folk clubs at this time,I remember booking Ewan MacColl,who sang long ballads[very well] and also social comment contemporary songs,singers like Roy Harris were singing traditiional material unaccompanied,and getting audiences to participate in chorus songs,Fred Jordan[Redcar/Whitby/fylde] Willie Scott[appeared at Whitby festival]Martin Carthy was singing long ballads,there was also much experimentation with brass/ wind instruments,john Kirkpatrick sue Harris,Dick and Sue Miles, Pyewackett,Flowers and Frolics etc etc.
Folk clubs such as Swindon and Islington regularly booked source singers /musicians.