Here in the UK in the 60s we had "The Spinners" a group of four lads from Liverpool who were very sucessful singing folk songs to audiences in Concert Halls and Television. They were, however, resented by most of the "folkies" in the clubs. You would often hear remarks like, "I can't sing that, It's a Spinners song" or "If you liked us we were (insert name of group), If you didn't like us we are The Spinners". I think it was mostly jelousy because the Spinners were more sucessful than they were. They did change songs to suit their audiences but in the long run they probably put more arses on seats in folk clubs than anyone else of the era. I remember on quite a few occasions when new people would come to my club and say "We heard The Spinners on TV and liked what they did so we've come here to hear more of that type of music"
Bill