"It sprang from the folk clubs of the fifties and sixties"
No it didn't Al - it capitalised on what was happening in the folk clubs by using them as a platform for a music that had little to do with what was going on, and eventually kicked folk music off that platform in many clubs.
"You admit literacy has changed things."
I don't admit it - it has been a recognised fact from day one of Britain's interest in folk song and was fully recognised by all who wrote about it - I did say it wasn't straightforward, but you choose to ignore that.
What are those changes and what is the new definition they have brought about?
As Phil has so succinctly put it - "how about one you do agree with? Or are you opposed to defining 'folk music' in any way at all?"
"why do you have to insult people who disagree with you"
I don't - I respond to dishonest and distortion badly - nothing more.
Jim Carroll