Please remember, 'Rifleman', that these endless 'definition' threads have absolutely nothing to do with what you (or I, for that matter) like or dislike. And I repeat, in speaking up for the 1954 definition no-one is questioning your taste or telling you what to sing or what not to sing.

The point about pinning down a definition is that it has a bearing on what is sung, or not sung, in folk clubs. In the past many artists and agents saw folk clubs as easily accessible launching platforms for the careers of people who struggled to find such platforms elsewhere. It was a crucial part of their agendas to convince everyone that 'all music is folk music' and, hence, 'anything goes in a folk club'. In some cases 'real' folk music completely disappeared from certain clubs to be replaced by a sort of 'mush' of pop, comedy and introspective singer-songwriter stuff. Nowadays, of course, a younger generation have convinced themselves that their particular 'acoustic' effusions are 'folk music' too. In short 'real' folk music is fragile and can easily be displaced (from folk clubs) by the latest non-folk fad(s).