On the whole I agree very much with what Bob says about it. Yes, it was a strict and rigid establishment.

There have always been these insular little groups of stuck-up people in folk music who only sing certain types of songs and only seem to have respect for their own chosen variety of "folk" music and they look down their noses at anything that's different. It's very pretentious on their part, and it's a real drag to be around such an attitude, specially if you're a young person who is starting out in acoustic music and trying to learn a variety of different styles.

It can put a pretty bad taste in your mouth when you get treated like the dirt under someone's feet because you chose to sing an original song you wrote...or a Neil Young song...or a Tom Petty song...or a Bob Dylan song...or a Joni Mitchell song...or whatever.

You go to those places once, and you don't go back. At least I don't. Who needs it?

Then again, I've gone to some local folk clubs where the attitude was wonderfully welcoming, they were happy to hear many different styles of music, and newcomers were encouraged to play their own songs. That's where I want to be. It all depends on the attitude of whoever's basically running the club, and that of the "insiders" or the regulars who most often go there.