I suspect it was primarily, as Acorn4 suggested, a generational difference that caused MacColl to dislike Dylan and regard him as "the William MacGonagall of our age" (a hilariously inapt label on MacColl's part). Dylan has succeeded in gaining massive international respect and recognition fpr his work...MacGonagall succeeded in gaining much laughter (they were laughing at him, not with him) and avalanches of hurled fruits and vegetables at his live performances.

But there's no reason to disparage either Bob Dylan or Ewan MacColl. They both recorded excellent material, and I enjoy listening to both of them.

MacColl came from the old UK folk scene which had (and still has) its own very strong preferences and ideas about what "folk music" is...or should be. Dylan didn't fit that mold at all, so I'm not a bit surprised that MacColl didn't like Dylan's songs.

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TheSnail - the actual lyrics in the verse you quote from are:

"Buckets of rain, buckets of tears
Got all them buckets comin' out of my ears
Buckets of moonbeams in my hand...
You got all the love, honey baby, I can stand"

Nothing wrong with those lyrics! They are perfectly acceptable metaphor for the joys and heartaches of romantic love, they roll off the tongue nicely, and they are fun to sing. The music in that one is pretty good too.

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As for being opportunistic (Dylan? Baez?)...who the hell isn't if they are seriously intent upon having a viable and successful career in music?