The writer of the article is attempting to evaluate the "protest song" that was popular for a while in the 60's. On the underground level it was thriving. It may be doing so the same today. But it's like trusting the polls that you hear about when you read and editorial point of view. It may not be popular or significant in the mass media but under the radar more enduring then might be realized.

For example, Pete Seeger's influence in this area is not largely reported. But there would be no early Dylan or Paxton or any of the topical singer-songwriters had Pete not been a one man publicity campaign for this genre. He defined it as well as Woody and others but Pete was the catalyst for folks in the eastern cities to get exposed to this form of expression. The political song was a raison d'etre for many of the early groups that predate the Folk Scare. Their influence on college campuses, concerts and coffee houses was huge. Pete brought this kind of song to the unions as well.

Frank Hamilton