Residing on this side of the puddle, I'm not familiar with Don Maclean, but it's a rare day when the Nashville Top Ten contains any folk music it all. Most of the stuff was written shortly before the song was recorded, and unless one insists on subscribing to the "horse theory," that's a pretty poor criterion for what is or is not folk music, English, Irish, Scottish—or American, for that matter. A "Top Ten" recording in any genre tends to sink into oblivion as soon as the radio stations stop playing it. That's what they're for. They're "disposable." You have to get them out of the way to make room for the next batch.

I wouldn't look to the Nashville Top Ten for folk songs any more than I would look to recordings of Broadway musicals. You might find them there, but the pickings will be pretty slim.

Don Firth