Compare the album to the Donegan Skiffle group, the Vipers, and all the other washboard and teachest bases that proliferated the skiffle scene
On the EP it was largely american folk with Dirty Old Town and Hard Case (2 MaColl songs) thrown in for good measure Chalk and cheese
The EP was released in 1957 - Donegan had established his name in skiffle at least three years earlier
You count it as 'skiffle' - I do not
Ballads and Blues appeare to be a colpromise to please all the eclectic interests - MacColl walked away from because of Malcolm Nixon'e attempts to commercialise it further *(all rather savegly described in MacColl's