".....which were criticized for not saying enough about the actual songs"
Can I say that, as contributors to the series, we were extremely annoyed that the editors neither consulted us (and presumably any contributors) on song notes, transcriptions or information on the singers; nor did they seek advice on their own efforts. This led to not only insufficient notes but also to some schoolboy howlerish mistakes in the song transcriptions; (the clerk in version of The Keach in the Creel transformes himself into a cat; Buck St John is identified (and now immortalised in the Roud index) as Burk's Engine......
I noticed recently that in some cases where they have taken a previously issued song, they have altered the title from the one it bears on the original album, presumably given by the collector, nor does the new title match up with any previously documanted title - the proverbial hap'orth of tar to what was otherwise an excellent ship, as far as I'm concerned.
Jim Carroll