'Jim, I take it you are disturbed at what is happening in the folk revival now,because you think it makes the folk revival irrelevant to traditional music'.
Cap'n,
Why should you think that I think that.... if you know what I mean.
Please don't answer questions on my behalf.
I believe that - as I have said many times before, the revival owes its existence to the tradition and we would not be here talking to each other without it.
On the other hand, there has, as far as I can see, a significant shift away from the tradition, in singing style, in repertoire, and more importantly, in function. Without all of these, the folk song revival will no longer be a folk song revival, but something else, not better, not worse, and certainly not irrelevant to those participating - just something else.
I have been following the thread on criticism with some interest, and here, along with other threads, I have gathered the impression that one of the problems is a total lack of critical analysis in many of the clubs, which has, in my opinion, led to a plummeting in singing standards. In fact it has been argued that standards and good singing are counter-productive as they frighten off the mediocre. If mediocrity is an aim, the revival will crash - and will deserve to have crashed.
The tradition - as was - will still be there, on tapes. on records, in books - and in peoples affections and memories, but nobody in their right mind wants to spend a lifetime listening to bad, or even indifferent singing, and it certainly does no favours to the tradition.
Jim Carroll