Damn, Art, you shortstopped me. I was coming in with a very similar comment. I have always felt that groups like these were the portals used by folks like me to begin to understand folk music. They provide us with an entry into this amazing body of work collectively called folk music. Because of the Limelighters, Kingston Trio, PP&M, etc. my curiousity as to where this came from was aroused. And then I got to know the purists, elitists, etc (others words, not mine) and began to experience the incredible stories, yarns, feelings, indeed the human condition from other times. I have come to love the songs that I have found more than the ones that I heard from these groups.

I am a long way from what anyone could call a purist or elitist in my music. I just play what I like, and folks pay me to do that. But an awful lot of the music that folks pay me to sing came from folks like Art, and those that went before.

One last thing, thanks to these wonderful musicologists, I am now able to research the songs that I am looking for. I want to do a CD of songs that express the daily struggle of working folks to just get along. My arrangements will not be traditional, because I make everything I do reflect my take. But without these folks that some deride, I would not be able to do this research.

All the best,

Mick