If you take the period of say, 1960 to 1963 as the golden age of the singer-songwriter (or at least it's birth) Bobby was the ONLY one of the many who used traditional ballad form as the basis for his original songs. Whether he "borrowed" or stole the tunes and styles, hardly matters now. He obviously LISTENED to the traditional material, both American and "cross the pond", to the point where you can recognise it in virtually all his early material.

Always wondered if any (significant number of) listeners actually checked out "Lord Randal" after listening to "Hard Rain", the same way some got interested in Frank Proffitt after hearing The Kingston Trio's Tom Dooley.

Rick

Good second start Peter. It was late at night and I was reeling from glue fumes.