Stalin has nothing to do with this thread,
MacColl was a songwriter, whose songs have entered the folk tradition,
he was certainly not beloved by me.
,I made a conscious decision to avoid his club,
      however i acknowledge that he was a professional and poular performer who presented his songs and music in a carefully presented polished manner, he along with others was responsible for establishing a network of clubs, for which i am grateful
i think his songwriting was generally of a high standard, i think his work on the radio ballads was outstanding.
MacColl gave generously of his time to others, on the first occasion i met him , i took a dislike to him, however in hindsight and with maturity[ i was a teenager when i met him].
I realise that his influence on the uk folkascene had many positives, imo, more positives than negatives.
it is hilarious, that David Carter, should post and say THE SANDMANS BELOVED., When over the years here on mudcat . i have criticised him, and had many arguments with Jim Carroll about him.
However, in 2021, i believe that THE UK Folk revival would have been a poorer place without him, his legacy lives on in the songs that he wrote that are regularly sung and recorded by others