I remember going to the Singers' Club once in 1978 or 79, in a dreadfully bare and uncomfortable hall. Ewan appeared rather dry and serious to a young girl (yes, me!), and hearing him sing live didn't sound any better to me than his albums. I just didn't care too much for his voice. However, he patiently explained the origins of 'Jack Orion' to me, and when Tom Paley, who was there that night, couldn't get his fiddle tuned, Ewan asked him something like, 'Tom, is there any instrument you can play without tuning it for half an hour?' Tom smiled at him and offered: 'Accordion?' And Peggy gave me her half-brother's home address because I had a question concerning one of his songs. Not a night wasted, but not the magical experience I'd been looking forward to either.

However, there is a short biography of Ewan the singer / songwriter on the Working Class Movement Library by Peggy Seeger. She seems very honest about his less appealing traits, so it reads like quite a balanced assessment.