"Here we go again with the can't understand the words thing. I think PB is an exemplary if somewhat idiosyncratic stylist in this respect - as are most of your actual Genuine Traditional Singers, none of whom could be called easy listening and many you're glad the albums come with transcriptions. Listening to most musical genres I'm not sure if I bother listening to the words too closely, or even bothering if I can understand the words anyway, or even if the words are worth listening to."

Well, each to their own. One of the things that attracted me to folk music right from the outset was that the words were worth listening to, and the more I got into the ballads the more the words mattered. I can't imagine getting much reward from 'False Foudrage' or 'Willy's Lady' if I only picked up 9% of the words. Most of the traditional singers that I've listened to put their words over well, with clear enunciation and emphasis, albeit complicated occasionally by regional accents.

As for Peter Bellamy, he was, it's true, a vocal stylist and not of the "sing it like you speak it" school - but when you saw him live you could scarcely miss a syllable, so committed was he to the lyric. He also used a lot of body language to help get the words across. On that video the sound is pretty ropey, with a lot of extraneous high pitched noise around both the vocal and the concertina - which is more prominent in the mix than a record producer would allow.

I think Al Whittle's reaction is interesting. Certainly PB was a more mannered and confrontational singer than the likes of Tony Rose or Roy Harris, which is exactly why even some traditional song fans couldn't stomach the sound he made while others (who had got across that barrier) thought he was the best of the lot. He wouldn't have been my first choice to play to a non-folkie friend, but then again I've come across people who loved his voice from the word go.