Had Roy Harris (Mudcat handle 'Burl') still been with us he would definitely be extolling Burl Ives' virtues. Roy was a big fan, and described for me the awe with which he experienced a packed-house concert in Nottingham in the 1960s.

Like others I had an EP of his children's songs at an early age, which I only realised recently was an early folk influence. Having previously understood there was a bad odour clinging to him politically, I'm glad to have heard the more accurate accounts of his appearance before the US Senate given here.