Can I just say that you and others have complained of my being insulting - I have not, or certainly no more than others in this discussion
You have just gone off to another thread (the 'Folk Club' one) and insulted one on England's best and most important traditional performers by suggesting that his singing is the worst thing you can give new people to listen to - it would put them off folk song
I find that totally intolerable
Walter was a fine singer who managed to make all the songs he sang pleasantly listenable and important - even 'Cupid the Ploughboy', that you don't like his singing is something you need to keep to yourself
It has long been a convention in the revival (up to now anyway) that you don't attack our source singers - our benefactors - they are not part of our chosen folk scene -
They came out of generosity to give us our songs; Walter was, in my opinion, among the best and most generous of them
I say in my opinion - I'm no longer sure what some people think about the old crowd and their songs nowadays especially as one of our New Age crowd described one of Ireland's best loved songs as being "bloody awful"
If this scurrilous behavior becomes common the whole folk movement will disintegrate into a back-biting slanging match
I've always lived to see the day when the older crowd moved on with their hatred of Lloyd and MacColl and the newcomers could judge these people on their contribution and abilities
I hope this isn't a sign of their rebirth
Jim Carroll