The point I was trying to make is that it's not just commercialisation that's moved the music away from its roots. The reason folk music dwindled almost to nothing was because popular taste changed. For it to become popular again, even among a relatively small number of people on the folk scene, it had to adapt.

The way the music is performed in folk clubs is very different from how it was performed in the tradition. I chose that clip of Dick's singing to illustrate a typical revival folk performance - that's the sort of thing I do too, as do most amateur and professional folk performers. Whether the style is "folk", electrified like Steeleye, or classical like Britten, it's still moved away from the roots. Dick's performance in that clip (or mine here for that matter) is no more authentic than Steeleye's or Britten's interpretations.

That's not a criticism. I love the way folk music is performed in the revival. It's certainly closer to the roots than some other interpretations, which I guess is what GSS is getting at.