don't lets get into all that. there were certainly faults on both sides. ironically it was actually the professional disseminators of folk music like Alex and my own favourite Derek Brimstone that i saw being the real victims of that polarisation.

and i got so much out of them.... i saw alex more than a few times at Barrie Roberts club in Walsall. also at Andy Dwyers club in Tamworth. neither were really well attended. in both cases they weren't source singers in the way that Jim puts so much value on. but in both cases - they had known the source singers and absorbed, and thought carefully how to convey traditional songs to contemporary audiences - there was no 'take it or leave it' about those guys. they had a passion to communicate.

it was sad to see it misunderstood so profoundly. distrusted by the traddies.   misunderstood by the folk comedian crowd who expected a laugh every 45 seconds.