JeremyC,
As you said in an earlier posting, liking or disliking MacColl is entirely (I think you wrote 'possibly') a matter of taste.
Personally, I listened to his singing and thoroughly enjoyed it for over thirty years. On the other hand, I wouldn't go anywhere near The Pogues with rubber gloves and a mask, but that's my taste.
MaColl wasn't, nor did he either claim or attempt to be 'traditional - whatever that means, on the contrary, his argument was that the tradition was a stepping stone to creating a modern song form.
The fallacious statement that he insisted that people sang songs from their country of origin has been hammered to death on other threads on this forum.
As somebody said earlier, the fact that you didn't like his singing makes you the loser; there were enough people around to fill his club and concert performances throughout his time in the folk scene.
Comparisons between him and Guthrie really don't mean much; again, it's a matter of taste.
Jim Carroll