Whoa nellie.

On one hand, I agree the org is musically conservative. I have no problem with that whatsoever. There is most definitely a place, central to the music, imo, for musical conservatism when it comes to preserving and handing traditional music.

On the other hand, I have no problem with Springsteen doing a pop version of it, any more than I mind that English artists have done same.

But let's be clear. What Springsteen is doing is producing consumer product, not musical tradition. Therein lies the difference.

Pete Seeger did both, with a foot in the world of traditional music, and a foot in the world of commercial consumer product.

Springsteen only does one: commercial consumer product.

Reasonable arguments can be made that Springsteen, much as I adore him, isn't doing a bloody thing to "introduce" people to traditional music.

And I don't think such arguments would be far off the mark, either.

Now, does that mean Springsteen is a bad person or a bad musician? No. It just means his music values are very different from that of a traditional musician.