"MacColl, like all of us, had many flaws."
He had indeed, knew him long enough to observe them up close
I have little interest in what people thought of MacColl
It does concern me that, of all the people I knew in the revival, he did the most work on making sense of folk song and passing on what he learned
He did this within a group though mutual discussion and sharing ideas one with the other - a process made possible by he and Peg throwing open their home to others for one night a week over a period of nearly ten years - I was lucky enough to be part of that for a short time.
As far as I know, nobody was doing anything similar and few attached importance to folk songs as an art form
That, like everything MacColl did, didn't always work, but the process was recorded and remains as a body of unique work (nearly 200 tapes worth)
I have the recordings and have been trying to raise interest in this work for several years - as with our recordings of Walter Pardon et al, there is no interest in this project in Britain so we have finally got Limerick University to agree to house it in their Wold Music Department and possibly make it available to the general public by putting it on line.
I've long given up any hope of holding a rational discussion on MacColl's work without first having to scramble over a garbage mountain of army records and name change (this latter often from Robert Zimmermann or John Pandrich fans)
"Venerable Bede, the Northumbrian monk of the 7th/8th century and his rendering of this as the Veritable Bede!"
If you care to check the Roud book thread you will find that I have quoted the name at least three times, using the correct spelling - but we mustn't let that spoil you fun, must we?
My once respectful memories of you have been wiped away by your childishly snide behaviour of late Vic
Only someone bereft of intelligent argument resorts to typos as a substitute for argument and discussion
Up to now I have never insulted you - when you pointed out the pressure broadside writers worked under I mistakenly (apparently) took it you were saying something I have always said - that they were poor songwriters because of the speed they were forced to work to earn their pennies
It was never a deliberate attempt to misinterpret what you said, but it would mean a climb-down for you to accept that, so I don't hold out too much hope and, truth to tell, I no longer care
Jim Carroll