"Telling us about a 95-year-old who has a fantastic memory for songs he learned fifty years ago is irrelevant."
Over the last forty years - it was common - all the singers we met remembered their songs even though they may not have sung them for decades - can't think of a single one who had any great problems.
I haven't got a great memory but I do have a large repertoire of songs (300+)
I stopped singing regularly some time in the eighties because collecting took up far too much time to put the work in, and when we moved to Ireland nearly twenty years ago, there wasn't a great audience of narrative songs, particularly long ballads.
Recently, things have changes here and there is a growing audience for the songs again, so I've resurrected my songs again, without a great deal of trouble.
I may have lost my range a little, but a bit of concentrated work has improved that somewhat.
As far a the words are concerned, with the exception of a few re-readings where necessary, they're back were they were in the mid-eighties (though I sometimes can't remember what I've just read in the newspaper).
If the song are absorbed, they stay absorbed - a bit like riding a bike - once learned, never forgotten once you get the pedals going.
Singers who can't sing without crib sheets need help, not offers to get up and practice in front of an audience before they are ready.
Our practice in running clubs was to try and provide practical help to newbies; we had a permanent self-help workshop, but one-to-ones can work wonders.
Jim Carroll