With bands like Loudest Whisper and Mellow Candle I think it's valid to ask whether a listener wants "folk rock" or folk INFLUENCED rock. It might seem like splitting hairs, but I've known people whose attraction to folk rock was mainly from a liking for pastoral or supernatural flavoured music, and folk seems to fit the bill. Frankly, though, if that's what you're after you might as well cut to the chase and get Jethro Tull's "Songs from the Wood", a wonderful, atmospheric album, but "folk" only in vibe, not in content.

Then there are bands like Lindisfarne and the Strawbs, neither of whom recorded traditional folk songs (although I think Wild Mountain Thyme was a Strawbs B-side). Plenty to like there, but definitely a different gottle o' geer to Fairport, Steeleye or Mr Fox.