Interesting comments from Nick and Jim about treasured songs, often songs that have been in families for generations. If the sort of singers we're complaining about here were in possession of such treasures, we could forgive the shortcomings of performance. Sadly, a lot of what they sing just isn't folk song any more. And, before I get a mauling for being elitist, or threatening to poke a stick once more into the 'what's a folk song' cage, I think, in my usual naive way, that if I see something listed under 'Folk Clubs' I should be abe to go along with the reasonable expectation of hearing some bloody folk songs.
I went to a 'Folk and Blues' club one night. Out of about fifteen spots, only me and a couple of other bods did anything you might call folk, and there was no blues at all. At the end of the night, a bloke said to me "wasn't a bad night tonight was it?". Deftly avoiding telling him what I really thought, I said "I thought I'd have heard a bit of blues tonight, but there wasn't any". He said "No, there isn't any folk some nights either, but at least we had some tonight". Can somebody explain to me; if there's no folk and no blues, how is that a 'Folk and Blues Club'? Does the Trades Descriptions Act not apply to folk clubs?
John Kelly.