Black & White: The Definitive Collection
MacColl was a renaissance man of folk music, not as well known as Seeger or Guthrie, but in many ways just as important.  Born in Scotland in 1915, MacColl knew and recorded thousands of traditional British and Celtic songs, a generous sampling of which is here offered. His voice can be a bit of a shock--wild and rustic and thick with dialect--but matched with original and traditional material like "Dirty Old Town" (made infamous by the Pogues), "Driver's Song," "Looking for a Job," and "Joy of Living," MacColl's art has vigor and immediacy. --Roy Francis Kasten