Whew. Didn't expect to get teary tonight. Just reading this thread for the first time. Had forgotten, I'm ashamed to admit, the enormous influence Paul Clayton had on my early days of singing, probably instrumental through the Whaling album and others, in steering me toward specialization in traditional music. Thank you all for helping recollect this connection.

Other "unsung" heroes of mine that shaped my early interest in traditional stuff were Oscar Brand and Norman Luboff.

For those of you who mentioned the Smithsonian Folkways connection. The only recording I have ever done was on Folkways. Can you email me the information on how to order CD's of the library. I despaired of my albums ever seeing the light of day again(and they probably don't deserve the bright light of high noon) but would love to own my own CD copy. Thanks. Marc B Marcbridge@aol.com