Hi Gibb - The quote that he was "listening to AL Lloyd." was from Frank Zappa himslef so I am not sure how it could be an exaggeration. I quite like some shanties but have never heard Blow Boys Blow - I suspect it would be a bit too 'academic' for my tastes but that is based purely on a (probably false) premise that I find both Lloyd and McColl a bit too schoolmaster-ish. My favourite Shanty Group was the now sadly demised Jolly Jack - Who were slated by some shanty aficionados for singing shanties in harmony instead of unison :-(

Anyway, that aside, I have probably misunderstood your point - Are you saying that Frank Zappa did not realy like shanties? If so, why, and if not, could you please clarify?

Cheers

DtG