"hearken to my old-vashioned zongs "
Utter bollocks - and yet another attempt to attack the 'despised' collector (why do the words "bite", "hand" and "feed" spring to mind whenever I go head-to-head with you?).
Sharp's approxomation of what he heard is no worse than that to be found in many of Hardy's Wessex novels, or Dicken's 'Cockney' or Kickham's 'Oirish' or, for that matter, some of the pathetic 'mid- Atlantic' accents to be heard in many folk clubs or from wannabe pop stars.
What Sharp brought to the reader was a respect for the old singers and a love for (and an attempt to understand and pass on) their creations - very much in short supply here.
You want to take a pop at Sharp, aim at his statements and objectives, more than adequately outlined here by both Tootler and Lighter.
Personally, I'm more than happy to pay tribute to somebody who dragged his asthmatic arse around the south of England and up into the Southern Appalachians to bring back the songs that have given me so much pleasure over the last half century.
Jim Carroll