Ewan MacColl sang "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" to Peggy Seeger down the phone.

When they met, Peggy says, he was in the grip of his midlife crisis. "I'm fond of saying the poor boy didn't stand a chance," she tells Matthew Parris.

This programme is her attempt to set the record straight. "I'd like to do a bit of justice to him, because there's an awful lot of myths, an awful lot of bad talk, misunderstandings."

Ewan MacColl was born Jimmy Miller in Salford, which he wrote about in 1949 in his song, "Dirty Old Town."

He made his name in theatre, was married to Joan Littlewood, and after the Second World War he was a powerful force behind the folk revival. Along with Peggy Seeger and Charles Parker, he created the famous Radio Ballads.

With Peter Cox, author of Set Into Song.

Featuring many examples of Ewan MacColl's music and his voice.

Producer: Miles Warde

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in September 2021.