Did no one else notice that we were treated to a rare post, above, by the grand and glorious Max?

Max made an excellent point that has not really been acknowledged in the various ramblings posted since. Embarrassingly clueless performances (and even inappropriate audience participation) is not so much a matter of "accents" real or fake, but of a fundamental understanding of the music.

If you take a song from the African-American tradition and emphasize the "one" and "three" beats instead of the the two and four, you pretty much destroy the most basic feeling upon which the entire composition is built, regardless of whether your vocal accent is an authentic imitation of the the orignal, your own authentic voice, or a hapless and transparently fake attempt at reinterpreting a voice you obviously do not understand and cannot truly "hear."

There are plenty of excellent British singers who have demonstrated a true understanding of The Blues and related American soul/roots genres. Long John Baldry was one, or at least eventually became one, even if he actually did give offense in his youth by a weak attempt at interpretation. Chicago white-boy Paul Butterfield, may God rest his soul, was every bit as authentic and true a blues singer and harp player as any of the older black artists who inspired him. But of course, not every wannabe is that good or that true.

I was a fan of PPM, but with reservations. Having grown up next door to a CME church, I knew very well what real black gospel music was supposed to sound like, and I knew darn well that PPM filed miserably to capture that sound in such efforts as, say, "Jesus Met the Woman at the Well."

I was not as familiar with the original versions of many other pieces, representing other folk subgenres, such as "Cuckoo," and therefore was not the least bit unhappy with the PPM versions of most of their repertoire. If I've learned more about this music in the years since then, I suppose the "popularizers" should be given credit.