Interesting thread... Just a couple of observations. I was asked to book an opening act for an appearance of the Kingston Trio eight or nine years ago, which I did. I booked Sally Rogers and Howie Bursen, who brought a lot of energy and entertainment on stage and did it with great professionalism. When the Kingston Trio came on, they were so oblivious to the audience that I found it one of the most insulting experiences I've ever had. Their playing was sloppy (even by Kingston Trio standards) they spent way too much time cracking jokes among themselves, hardly acknowledging the audience's existence, they cracked each other up laughing how drunk they'd gotten the night before, and punctuated all the self-indulgence by tossing bones to the audience... the music we grew up with. I've never heard anyone get on stage and put so little effort into their music as I did that night. And they didn't need to. I listened to the audience as we were filing out of the auditorium and they were all raving, "Weren't they great!" Talk about Pavlov's dogs! Man!

I don't think I am unnecessarily critical about all of this because I happened to LIKE the Kingston Trio, bought several of their albums and still sing a couple of songs that I learned from them. But, I expect a little more commitment to the music than a lousy lounge singer. They just seemed like a lousy lounge trio, singing folk music. I guess you might say that I didn't enjoy them. :-)

As for us old fogies, when we heard the Kingston Trio and the Highwaymen and the Chad Mitchell Trio and all the rest, it created a fire in us to find the original sources, which we found much more exciting. That's a trip that's hard to reverse. Now, if someone was singing The Ballad Of The MTA and sang it with a freshness and enthusiasm, I'd still probably like it. Maybe a new generation can bring some freshness to those 60's "arrangements" of songs that go back many years before the 60's. Unless you're talking 60's songwriters, there aren't any 60's "folksongs." There are songs that are much older than the 60's that were popularized briefly in the sixties. Those songs have continued to be sung since the folk boom fizzled. It's just that they're more likely to be sung in a pre-60's style in folk circles.

Many years ago, I participated in a terrific workshop titled "Songs We All Know But Are Too Cool To Sing." I think that every folk festival should have that workshop. I did I've been Working On The Railroad, and everyone sang along, lustily. But, the topper for me was my old friend Jerry Rau (he of no discernible ego) who sang A, B,C,D,E,F,G and asked everyone to sing along with him. And everybody did. There wasn't a cool person left standing. :-)

Jerry