No Jim. I play tunes, but, I do accompany singers.
(Really rather well, actually)
And, I rarely play the same tune in the same way. I have a little Filofax with the first few bars of many tunes. (an Aide Memoire, you could say...my memory isn't what it was after all).
Are they the definitive versions? Who knows...indeed, who cares...
Hence, depending on mood, I might come out with 100 different variants. Nobody seems to mind, particularly the tunes.
Of course there is room for collections of songs/tunes. Otherwise, how would they be saved? But, I'm struggling to understand that they should be performed in 2010 in a particular way.
Somewhere else on the web, a recording of McColl/Seeger has been put up, and out of interest, gave it a spin.
Brought back memories of the Singers Club, and the small mindedness that happened there.
Sorry. Not for me.
Academia is a wonderful thing. Small minded pedantry is entirely another.