Steve
Ewan wrote very little - articles maybe, that's all, he preferred word-of-mouth to express his ideas
Some of those ideas are to be found in the series of interviews published 25 years after his death 'Legacies of Ewan MacColl, The Last Interviews'
In my opinion, despite the somewhat unavoidable problems (in the circumstances), Ewan and Paggy's book, 'Doomsay in the Afternoon' is the most important book on source singers ever to have been published - traditional singers talking about their art is the biggest gap in our knowledge of folk song - this book goes further in filling that gap than has any other work
Gower and Porter's book on Jeannie Roberson should have done that - Gower did a magnificent job with Jeannnie's personal life; unfortunately, the discussion of the songs was done by Porter rather than the singer, which I thought was a missed opportunity

I have gathered many more exaples of his expressing his ideas on singing, dozens of seminars and lectures, many interviews, detailed song notes for albums and over 200 tapes of recorded Critics Group meetings - when put together, he probably had more to say on the subject than any other researcher on the subject of the folk arts
After the Acting Group which broke away from the Critics Group folded, Ewan had a breakdown
We were not part of that unpleasantness (on either side) and kept in touch and, when we judged the time right asked him would he be interviewed - we ere staggered when he jumped at the opportunity
I had decided I didn't want to cover the same old-same biographical path and directed the interview(s) around Ewan's ideas on singing - those interviews lasted around a year and went into some detail
THere was a misunderstanding between us - Ewan kept asking us what we were going to do with his 'biography' - that was the last thing on my mind
When we finished - he went off and wrote 'Journeyman', which, in my opinion, although less detailed, was a far more accurate picture of Ewan that the dreadful 'Class Act'

I have over 200 tapes of Critics Group meetings to transcribe and annotate one day , when I retire from an extremely busy retirement
At the end of those meetings - which were a Group exercise (not Ewan "telling us how folk songs should be sung", Ewan would flop back in his chair, say, "I'm exhausted Peg, I'm going to bed, then launch into hour-long monologues on what had gone before, linking folk song to literature, theatre, comparisons to other musics... anything that had come to mind over the last three hours - the tape recorded was left running till Charlie Parker left - that was the nearest Ewan ever came to meeting the requests that first set up the Critics Group - that he should "teach folk song"
One of the greatest problems of listing and annotating those tapes is that time and again, when I should be typing, I find myself listening and enjoying what is being said - it still inspires and makes me want to know more
I've decided to mke sure all those recordings and writings that have been arcived here don't disappear - that's why I make myself the pain in the arse I do

Ewan eschewed academia - he refused to be a 'folk luvvie' and chose to work with less experienced singers
He often said he had learned as much as any other member of The Critics Group by being part of it, and when you listen through the tapes you realise that was a fact - we all developed by learning from one another - Ewan included

I don't 'Idolise', Ewan - I enjoyed his company and I like his singing most of the time - not always
Anybody who ever worked with MacColl for a length of time, whatever their personal feeling, had to admire his ability to analise what he did and his willingness to share what he found out and believed
When he was out of his comfort zone, he tended to withdraw and listen - shy rather than stand-offish
He enjoyed company - any company - when I lived with them for a short period we sat in the garden for hours, he would pump me about my background and pour out things he never mentioned in public - I'd much rather have done that than wasting my time on frivoulous things like looking for a job and somewhere to live, any-day

Dave
"to the thread was asking which Dave you were referring to"
As I said Dave, your first comments on my giving MacColl's albums away came on a previous thread when you joined with Rag in criticising my doin it
I don't wan't topo "fight" anybody, on the contrary
I wish to continue promoting folk song the way I have chosen to do without being accused of being a "thief"
If that is "ruining threads" go look in the mirror - I argue for my views of folk songs to the best of my ability - in the folk world we now live in where folk song proper has been brushed aside to make toom for something else, that has become "trouble-causing"
Challenging what drove many thousands like me is not "picking a fight - it's standing your ground
I have made my arguments for what happened and ruffled more than a few feathers in doing so
If you disagree with what I argue - tear those arguments down - "picking a fight" doesn't hack it in my book
Jim