No he wasn't a class warrior in the Marxist sense. He was a primitive artist in the Grandma Moses sense. He was despised for his stupidity by his more middle class fellow performers at the time.

If you had trod the boards, Penguin old chap - you would also learn a grudging respect for the artists whose songs enable you to earn a living and put food on the table. As you performed these songs, you would learn something of the love they inspire in your audience - a certain look that illuminates the eyes of your audience. It can't be faked. In some folk clubs - Christy Moore songs have that effect. In every single residential home for the elderly - the sheer mention George Formby's name has that effect.

On the technique question. Throw a stick into a room of guitarists and you will hit half a dozen who can rattle off a fair impression of Blind Blake. George Formy was unique - despite dozens of devoted copyists, no one so far has ever got near that delicacy of touch and wild streak of inventivemness.

having said that, I don't expect you to like him, Penguin - that requires the ability to look beyond the slavish fashions of the day.   I do expect you to understand the sheer dimension of George Formby's achievement. From doing an unpaid gig in a tin hut in Newton le Willows to being the highest paid entertainer in England for close on two decades. Took some talent. Took some doing.

And just because someone stands or stood up in public and tries to entertain you - it doesn't give the right to abuse him or her.