First of all, many profound thanks for all the contributions. I really enjoy learning.

Barbara, I really think you are doing the right thing. Except for some of the "old guard" who should know better, I would never reproach anyone, especially a newer or younger singer for singing one of "my" songs; that would be boorish to say the least. I also find that limiting myself to singing "appropriated" songs less often makes them more meaningful to me when I do sing them, and also forces me to dig into my mental RAM and revive songs that I haven't sung in years.

And like you, we always are willing to provide newcomers with cassettes, loan of CDs and further recommendations. Sometimes we might even go further by saying, "You should really learn such and such: it would suit your voice and style and you could do it really well."

Just my opinion -- Tom