"anyomne have the exact quote?"
I've actually heard it quoted as 'Paki', which I have always taken to mean "exotic"
There is, of course, the story of Joe Heaney being booed off the stage at a Clancy Brothers concert in Dublin in the late fifties
Some source singers can be instantaneous 'easy listening' to those unused to the genre, others need to be worked at - folk song is by no means alown in this
I would have expected that those who get hooked up in folk song to the extent of wishing to sing it, come round to the value of what the best of the older singers had to offer - maybe not - their loss, as far as I'm concerned
As I say, like and dislike is subjective - you value a performer in relation to his art, not who likes or dislikes him
I dislike opera as performed drama (I'm partial to well performed arias as music), but I wouldn't dream of making value judgements on my dislikes

"his account of the family's repertoire shows that his family tradition included many non-folk songs that some purists don't like in folk clubs."
Leaving aside the provocative and misleading "purist" for a moment..... (I doubt if such an animal exists - certainly not here)
Walter recognised the unique value of his family's folk songs at a quite early age - that didn't stop him learning and singing the popular music of the time
He was quite articulate as to why he separated the two genres - far moreso than many of today's folkies
He began to list the traditional songs in a notebook when he returned home from the Force after the War - those lists do not include any of the popular songs he or his family may have sung
He fitted Jean Richie's description of her experiences perfectly - ask for old songs and you got everything - find the key to their traditional repertoire and "the beautiful old folk songs come pouring in" (in Richie's case it was asking "Do you know Barbara Allen")
There's nothing "leading" in that approach - it's a perfect formula for finding out if the old singers differentiated between their songs - there is no earthly reason why they shouldn't have - they are different

If someone browsed though our album collection they would find everything from Cont John McCormack and Billy Holliday to Mongolian throat singing
I would be pretty pissed off if someone said I couldn't tell the difference between them becase I happen to like them all
Definitions have s.f.a. to di with liking and disliking anything
Jim Carroll