Betsy. I only met DB once, so I can't comment on whether he had his good points or not. In any event, that is irrelevant to the present discussion.

The accusation is that he bought an admittedly small, but nonetheless vitally important catalogue of traditional music and song from Britain, Ireland and the USA and sat on it for the rest of his life. As a result the vast majority has never been reissued.

Here's an incomplete listing of what we wuz robbed of.

England. Copper family, The. Leader LEAB 404
England. George Dunn. Leader. LEE 4042
USA. New North Carolina Ramblers. North Carolina Boys. Leader LEA 4040
USA. Virginia Reel. Leader LED 2053
England. Unto Brigg Fair: Joseph Taylor and other Lincolnshire Singers recorded in 1908 by Percy Grainger. Leader LEA 4050
England. Billy Pigg. Border Minstrel, The. Leader LEA 4006
England. Fine Hunting Day, A. Leader LEE 4056
England. Cecilia Costello. Recordings From the Sound Archives of the BBC Leader LEE 4054
England. Charlie Wills. Leader LEA 4041
Ireland. Coleman Country Traditional Society, The. Music from the Coleman Country. Leader LEA 2044
Ireland. Folk Ballads From Donegal and Derry. Leader LEA 4055
Ireland. John J Kimmel. Early Recordings of Irish Traditional Dance Music. Leader LED 2060
Ireland. Seamus Tansey with Eddie Corcoran. Leader LEA 2005
Scotland. Shetland Fiddlers. Leader LED 2052
England. Stephen Baldwin. English Village Fiddler. Leader LED 2068
Ireland. Eddie Butcher. Shamrock Rose and Thistle. Leader LED 2070
England. Walter Pardon. A Proper sort. Leader LED 2063
USA. Lonnie Austin-Norman Woodlief        Lonnie Austin & Norman Woodlief. Leader LEE 4045
USA        Various        Blue Ridge Mountain Field Trip. Leader LEA 4012
Canada        Various        Far Canadian Fields. Leader. LEE 4057
England. Jack Elliott of Birtley; The Songs and Stories of a Durham Miner. Leader LEA 4001
England. Walter Pardon. Our Side of the Baulk. Leader LED 2111
Ireland. Martin Byrnes. Leader LEA 2004
Ireland. Séamus Ennis. Leader LEA 2003
Ireland. John Maguire. Come Day, Go Day, God Send Sunday. Leader LEE 4062
England. People's Carol, A. Leader LEE 4065

For anyone who doesn't know the story, Leader Sound was forced out of business by the oil (and therefore vinyl) shortage of 1973, which means he achieved that astonishing list in just four years. I don't know of any other record company, including Folkways and Topic, who showed such splendid initiative as Leader Sound did.