Burl Ives was the first professional folk music influence in my life in the early and mid fifties.   Due to the blacklisting he may have been the only commercially available option at the time. My parents (good republicans) bought a 10 inch 78 rpm record of his ballads in the early 50's which I basically memorized. Later as I entered the Folk Explosion of the late 50's early 60's his Song Book was one of my basic references, although I considered him pretty passé as a folk singer by then - more of a pop/tv/movie personality.   The simplicity of his songs and guitar style made his songs very approachable, although I always thought his voice was a bit to syrupy for "folk" (probably because my own wasn't).   

With respect to his testimony and naming names during the hearings in 1952 I must confess to being confused.   It is well established that he cooperated sufficiently with the SISS (as best I can tell he never testified in front of the HUAC) to have his own blacklisting lifted. However, I am unclear exactly how far he went.

I have yet to find a transcript of or even a detailed account of his testimony on the web, although it appears the Government Printing Office published it.   The second hand references on the web, which are numerous, are widely divergent with some saying that he didn't name Pete Seeger or the Weavers, and some saying he did name at least Seeger along with several others (possibly hundreds).   This should be a matter of record.   It is one thing to accuse him of not being courageous (as some were) in order to save his economic skin.   However before I tar him for actually naming names and ruining individuals' livelihoods, I'd like to see an authoritative source such as an actual transcript or something that quotes extensively from it. Does anyone have a web, or other readily available, reference for such a source?