Being new to Mudcat, I hadn't see this thread before but I would like to throw in my fourpennyworth. Can Shirley sing? - of course. However, I'm surprised though that no-one has raised the question of accent. I was asked by a non-folkie some time back why folksingers 'put on an accent'. I pondered this for a while and realised that what threw this non-folkie was precisely that folk singers DON'T put on an accent - they sound best when singing with their normal speaking accent, be it regional or otherwise, whereas in most other forms of music - opera, church choirs, C & W, pop, the singers are definitely putting on an accent, to the extent that if someone sings with their normal English accent, it now sounds strange to those who don't understand the idiom. That said, I have to say that there are some English singers, even some well-known ones (no names, no pack-drill) who put on strange versions of English accents, certainly not singing in the way they speak but in some version of how they perceive they ought to be speaking as a 'true folkie'.

Back in 196* and exploring folksong, I got used to Dylan, Seeger, Peter, Paul & Mary etc, and assumed that was how folksongs were sung. When I heard Shirley sing in her gentle Sussex accent, my first reaction was 'what's that?' but I then realised what it was all about and that opened the way for me to accept other singers with regional British accents. Jolly good, I say! Just listen to the variety of natural accents on 'Voice of the People'.

Another point about Shirley's singing is that it is of more the intimate, around-the-kitchen-table type of delivery and not the 'big' concert style, (although her voice does carry surprisingly well.) I have heard singers of both types, even within the same traditional singing family. Both have their place.

Finally, let me say that Shirley's singing has given me and many more much pleasure, so for me that's an end to the argument.

Gwilym