Akenton wrote:-
I think Ewan MacColl was a fantastic writer and Pete Seeger not so much, "The First Time" is in my opinion one of the greatest love songs and the Radio Ballads incomparable. The problem was when they began to see the music as a vehicle for political change.

I think that you are missing a big point here. If the Radio Ballads are not political, then I don't know what is. Apart from being one of the most stimulating pieces of broadcast ever put together in any form, radio or television, The Travelling People is intensely political. It is a fierce argument against inequality, the marginalisation of a minority group and a celebration of attitudes of positivity in the face of adversity. To my mind, you cannot get much more political that that.
We could do with some programmes of such intensity today to deal with racism, intolerance, attitudes towards immigrants and a host of other pressing issues.