"but if its that the folk revival was a reaction against what was happening in the rest of the music industry at the time, I don't agree with it."
I was there Dave - Pink and Blue Toothbrushes and all.
Actually, skiffle was the first shift away from being a passive audience - after that came American folk - Guthrie et al.
Maaccoll and Lloyd were singing American stuff when Lomax took tham by their collective collars and pointed to their own home-grown stuff.
Donegan arrived from the Jazz bands (Crave River - Chris Barber) who we listened to at The cavern before in became infested by Beetles
WE stopped just listening and began to make our own music - all pretty well documented
Now, it seems, were heading back full circle with a decline in clubs, superstars and the natural selection of old age.
The point I am making (a number of them actually) is that unless we pay attention to the state of the club scene and draw in some younger people, all thhis will have been an "awfully big adventure" - for those lucky enough to have been around to enjoy it.
I get a little self conscious pointing to what has happened in Ireland, but thanks to the hard slog of a few people who didn't wander about claiming they didn't know what folk song was, thousands of youngsters have poured into the scene, are playing and singing (to a lesser extent) like the best of the past, and the music has been guaranteed at least another two generation's worth of future
Jim Carroll