Interesting and very relevant conversation here, one that I am very fascinated by.

I discovered, probably like much of my generation, traditional and early folk, through revival artists and rock acts of the 1960s. Robert Johnson from Led Zeppelin, Leadbelly and Woody through Bob Dylan, etc. So I heard the imitators before I heard the originals. Much like my children, see cartoon and stuffed animals before they see the real things.

I enjoy listening to and performing black folk or Carolina or piedmont blues the most, and I am a middle class white man. That said, I make an effort to not pretend to be a southern black man or a laborer, rather I make an effort to understand the performer or character in the song. And very simply make sure the emphasis is on the right beat. A common mistake of white folks , or Europeans for that matter, when singing black songs is the emphasis on the ONE instead of the TWO. Surely there is a lot more to it than that. Phrasing is a big issue too.

I rolled with laughter when I heard Taj Mahal lecture a German crowd about how they were clapping on the wrong beat.

Pete Seeger was able to handle both the beat and phrasing issues. Probably because of spending all the time he did with Leadbelly, Brownie, Libba etc, and that he was thoughtful about it. You can clearly see and hear it when he played with Brownie McGee, Big Bill Broonzy and Gary Davis.

Lonnie Donegan did sound kind of funny, but I give him a pass because of his understanding of Skiffle and his enthusiasm. He was having fun. He wasn't pretending to be anything he wasn't.

An example of doing it all wrong that was profound in my opinion was Peter Paul and Mary's "Trying to Win", "If I Had My Way" and "Stewball".   I have a lot more trouble with those as I do Lonnie's "Rock Island Line". They stripped any everything of its ethnicity and made it all bland. I would think Peggy would agree that PP&M did more damage than a cockney accent.