As Eric Burdon used to wail, "Baby, please don't let me be misunderstood." I believe my point was a simple one, but let me amplify it. In the USA the term "folk singer" was originally used in the 1920s to describe a diverse array of people, a few of whom may have been traditional source singers, but most of whom weren't. The term has continued to be used that way ever since. The one thing that all these folk singers have in common is that they became known for singing folk songs, or for singing songs that sound like folk songs, or for singing songs which the general public regards as folk songs.