Cap'n
The information we got (from Walter - maybe he was being economical with the truth?) was that, encouraged by Roger, he made a tape of his songs (wonderful description of his doing this at National Sound Archive), then gave it to Roger, who then passed it on to Peter Bellamy.
I didn't say that Walter was a natural performer; I said he took to a wider audience like a duck to water.
Walter was not a pub singer (is this really your estimate of a good performer -hmmm?) - from what I remember of seeing Harry Cox, this would make him a lousy performer. Walter was somebody who could bury himself in his songs, and in doing so, could pass those songs over to any (listening) audience. I really couldn't imagine a pub audience paying attention to long versions of Van Deiman's Land, or Lord Lovell, or Broomfield Hill - could you?
Comparisons between Walter and Sam Larner are nonsensical; they were very different singers (not better or worse - just different.
Jim Carroll