Just a quick correction: The Voice of the People tracks were mostly NOT collected by Peter Kennedy. In fact, the folks who compiled these CDs, Reg Hall and Topic records president Tony Engle, have publicly stated (in an interview with Musical Traditions online magazine) how unhelpful Kennedy was, for whatever reason. I'm not sure if any of his recordings appear. Mostly, they consist of recordings made for Topic records by such collectors as Hall, Mike Yates, etc. Also, early commercial sides and private collections were accessed.

The confusion may have come about because Topic had originally sought to reissue the Kennedy/Lomax Folk Songs of England Ireland Scotland and Wales series, and when they found they could not, they created this series instead. In my opinion, it's better. The Kennedy/Lomax series is now being reissued on Rounder, with three volumes so far appearing.

The Voice of the People set does have some shortcomings, but overall it is an amazing achievement. At $200.00, I agree with Dick, I'd snap these up. Except I have a set already...

Steve Winick