A lot of musicians are very arrogant and, if their biographies (and autobiographies) are to be believed, quite unpleasant people. A lot of people whose art I really like - Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, the Beatles, Sun Ra, the Rolling Stones, William Burroughs - don't come across as very nice - not people you'd want to spend time with.

But why I think Ewan MacColl always generates so much comment is that you can actually hear some of that hectoring quality in some of his singing. (Not all the time.) And also because everything was on display - if he hadn't been so interested in proselytising and theorising, habits he picked up from political activism, nobody would have known about it.

Then again, if he hadn't been so interested in proselytising and theorising, he wouldn't have done half the things he did.