Certainly, no one can deny the importance of these lads on the resurgence of traditional Irish song. When they came on the scene there was only Patrick Galvin, Seamus Ennis, Margaret Barry, Paddy Tunney, and a couple others, all wonderful, but without the C/M dynamics.

Oddly enough, the first true Irish trad songs I heard were recorded by Ewan MacColl. But when I first heard Tommy Makem, I was hooked. But of more importance to me, after absorbing the Columbia discs, was the discovery of the material on Tradition; not overly slick or arranged, but rather honest to the sentiment of the songs.

Their musical "flaws" if indeed they can be thus categorised have to do with copyrights and Hiberniosity.

When they issued their song book on Oak, many of the songs were copyrighted by them, as original or arranged adapted, et al. At the time, Sing Out called them on it, noting that their claim for South Australia was for a version, note for note, word for word, and in the same key as Lloyd and MacColl had done it.

I cannot flaw them personally for implying that some of their English songs were Irish; critics, reviewers, and singers who don't bother to research their material all share in the blame.

Back around 1961, I learned a version of the English song "The Wild Rover" from a recording by John Runge, no claps, no syncopation. When I met Lou Killen some twenty years back, he sang his version of this same lyric with the preface that he wished he's never taught it to some freinds of his.

All this said, we who love Irish song will always be in their debt for the opening wide of the gates of this genre of song -- Tom