An excellent thread; thanks for starting it Nigel - good to see that so far replies are amicable and thoughtful.

There's so much here that I agree with;
Matt's 'A live gig is just as much of a snapshot as a recording.'
Don's 'Were it not for song books and records, I would have darned little to sing! And I have passed a lot of the songs I sing along to other people.'

My Christmas gifts included CDs with new ( to me) versions of old favourites. I do get to quite a few festivals and gigs , but could never hope to hear all the music I can hear from recordings. I value any opportunity to read/hear traditional music in any setting.