"according to the late Alan Lomax, who I think is a bigger authority than even Guest Bill Kennedy,..."

well, Lomax must have been an authority. He sure said so often enough.

Calling Alan Lomax an 'authority' is very much like calling that LONG list posted up there ^ the 'authoritative' list of best folk songs.

You wanta hear more traditional folk music on the radio, listen to Dick Spottswood on WAMU.org. His 'obsolete music hour' is a treasure! Each program is archived for a week.