Dick G., I'm sorry not to have responded to your question. My apology.

My feeling about the Weavers with Gordon Jenkin's arrangements is this, it was a different style of presentation. Gordon Jenkins was a fine tasteful arranger. At the time the Weavers were highly popular and I was grateful for this. Their presentation was in a pop style that I believe gave the popular music of the day a real boost. I loved it. I was in high school at the time and when I heard them on the radio I said to myself, "I'd like to be in a group like that."

Later, when they did their first famous Carnegie Hall recording, it was like listening to a different group. I loved that too but in a different way. It was exciting, fun, meaningful and again inspiring. It was not a pop record but a new kind of concert format that influenced everyone from the Kingston Trio to avid folk music collectors.

I also felt that it was a different group with Erik Darling who contributed a whole new feel adding his musical personality. I loved those recordings and enjoyed seeing them live with Erik playing his dynamic banjo.

I feel that way today when I hear my old student Roger McGuinn with the Byrds in a great pop format and hear him solo in his "Live From Mars" album. Two different ways of presenting a great talent with an innovative 12 string guitar style.

There has to be room for everything and an appreciation for different music formats. The pop style has to be different than the field recordings or the interpretations by revivalist folkies. They are all valuable and need to be listened to and evaluated in different ways.
Frankly, if they're good, I love 'em all.

Frank Hamilton