In the 50s, before TV was available 24 hours a day, the local stations used to run test patterns and little fillers of Burl Ives singing Barbara Allan and Jack Was Every Inch A Sailor. Susie Snowflake was in there too but Barbara Allan and the entwining rose and briar caught my fancy.We had recordings of early country and western stuff along with Burl Ives and Civil War collections. My grandmother, aunts and uncles all loved the Gay Nineties and musicals.I went through the rock, jazz, and classical stages but always came back to folk.Although I still love a night at the opera.