Cap'n,
I knew MacColl for twenty years; I was a member of The Critics Group for three, I was a member of the audience committee of The Singers Club for about ten years, I lived at Ewan and Peggy's for three months, I have been working on the 200 odd tapes (approx 9 years worth) of recordings of The Critics Group meetings since we moved to Ireland eight years ago.
I rely entirely on my own first hand experience of Ewan and The Singers Club, not on 'Chinese Whispers'. You are free to believe who you like.
Personally, I believe that the only person who should try to sing like Bessie Smith was Bessie Smith! I have never been convinced by a white singer trying to sing like a black one, though they are free to sing like an Azabajani bard should they wish to.
Jim Carroll