To Jim Carroll, no it is not being damned with faint praise,
you see my perspective and yours of the singing postman are completely different. he may have been a humorous songwriter as was Tom Lehrer, but that doesnt mean he was not good. EWAN WAS A DIFFERENT KIND OF SONGWRITER, I AGREE HIS SPECIALITY WAS NOT HUMOUR.But the ability to make people laugh is a great gift, and the Singing Postman had it, as did Tom Lehrer, and his songs are well crafted and well written.your throwaway line about taking himself seriously [ALAN SMETHURST]as if you knew him personally. He took himself and his songwriting seriously . I repeat EWAN was a fine songwriter, different from Alan Smethurst, or Tom Lehrer or les Barker, or Stanley Accrington.[ each of these are good in their own way]
Finally , your remarks about Alan Smethurst tell me a lot about yourself and your definitions of folk music and good songwriting.