Ron Olesko wrote:

"Supposing that Cecil Sharp came across a family of tuba playing Applachians during his travels - would he dismiss the music even if it met all the other criteria?   Collectors gather songs that live through the source - and modern times have changed the way we all live, and the way we create our art."

Actually this did happen - it happened with (white) blues collectors who went in search of the "authentic" and disregarded much that was also in the repetoire of the players. This included chunks of jazz which didn't fit with the conception of what the unsophisticated should be playing and also cross-overs with "white" music - Muddy Waters' fondness for Lawrence Whelk wasn't something which was made a great deal of for example.

On a similar them I got this in a letter a while back from an acquaintance -

"I recall an evening with Belle and Sara Stewart, and Sara's son Ian, singing Hank Williams songs and other country hits. Sara's husband had been a C&W singer, and they were so disappointed that all across America the only people they met were "folk" fans who wanted to sing old Scots ballads........"

Ian