Fascinating!! I have a 40 year old copy of Folk Songs Of Protest that is falling apart from use over those years. "Down Among The Wild Men" is new news to me; I'll be looking for it!

I do believe that "The Original Talking Blues" was the title of one side of a 78 rpm record by CHRIS BOUCHILLION in 1928. As far as I can see, all the rest took off from that point.

The other side of that record was also a GREAT song!! "Hannah"---"...won't you open that door." I sang it for years and had a ton o' fun with it.

John Greenway's style of singing and presenting songs didn't appeal to me. When I heard Bert Lloyd's Riverside album of Australian songs, I recognized/knew there was a wealth of English language narrative songs in the outback that documented the OZ life fantastically well. Since then, I've never stopped looking, listening and enjoying the folks who made those songs---albeit vicariously -- through their leavings. ---- The ballads and songs of the Northern tier of states here in the USA---the ones from the lumber camps and jacks---are seen by me as a great parallel treasure trove of "story songs". the same goes for the cowboy and geographically Western songs of the USA---"California Joe", "Billy Vanero", "Dobe Bill", so many others. --- Yes, John Greenway did some important work. He pointed the way to a mother-load --- and I'm still looking through that.

Art Thieme