If I went to hear Bach doing a solo organ recital, I wouldn't object if I bought a CD off him of a Brandenberg concerto and found he'd beefed things up with a bloody great orchestra. Same applies to folkies, I reckon. Surely the criterion is the quality of the CD as a stand-alone object, whether it's just a singer and a guitar or a band or whatever.
   There is an effect that works the other way involved in this, however. The srtart of this discussion was the performer who does tour solo, but has a CD out hugely beefed up with Phil Cunningham accordeon soloes, Ladysmith Black Mombazo backing singers and a bit of Eminem rapping thrown in. Trouble is, if you've heard this track on the radio and think "Wow, I must go and see this live", you may be a little disappointed(or even annoyed) when you just see a little person strumming n acoustic guitar.