Talk:Josh White

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[edit] Biography assessment rating comment

WikiProject Biography Assessment

The article may be improved by following the WikiProject Biography 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. -- Yamara 00:40, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sources, please

What is the source of your statement that White "fraternized with a number of radical left-wing activists."? JJ 01:01, 13 February 2006 (UTC)

I don't think it is exactly an NPOV issue, either the people he was with were radical left-wing activists or they were not. The article isn't referenced at all (so of course that quote isn't referenced), but if you feel the statement to be in error, remove it. Of course it would be best if opinionated statements like "radical" be referenced. The rest of it seems failry NPOV to me. But what do I know about this guy? Not much, so I can't bee of too much help really. BrokenSegue
"Radical left-wing" to one group (i.e. conservatives or "right-wing" folks, J. Edgar Hoover, or whoever) is "pro-human rights," "pro-racial equality," "pro-labor rights," etc. to another. Maybe some individuals working for these causes identified themselves with socialist or communist organizations who shared these goals, and maybe they didn't; but for many people against these things, they were all "communists," "radicals," or "rabble-rousers." It's an understatement to say that 50-60 years ago in the U.S. things weren't as egalitarian as they are now. Whatever the facts, the terminology should be NPOV. Badagnani 22:11, 13 February 2006 (UTC)
I have had no response to my question, and I have, therefore, deleted the NPOV language. 66.82.9.89 01:05, 25 February 2006 (UTC)Last comment was me, 66.82.9.89 13:16, 25 February 2006 (UTC)This comment was by me, JJ 14:15, 26 February 2006 (UTC).

[edit] Editing and attributions

"!--Note: White's birth certificate, in the courthouse in Greenville, South Carolina, gives February 11, 1914 as his birth date. 1908 and 1915, which are given in some other sources, are, thus, incorrect.--" This and othe notes belong on the discussion page, not hidden in the article. --Yamara 02:59, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

This might work as a footnote, as people will wonder which birth date is correct with incorrect ones floating out there in various sources. Badagnani 05:50, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Not an ad venue

Also, while I'm sure Wikipedia appreciates contributions from White's estate, this is not a venue for advertising. I doubt al the artist testimonials will survive suitability scrutiny. --Yamara 02:59, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

It's true that quotes usually aren't encyclopedic when presented in this fashion (though they're interesting). Some of them could be worked into the text to create a more contexualized article. I could see this being a featured article in the future, as we now have an expert on the subject working on the page. Badagnani 05:50, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Nice jam tonight

Other than that, nice jam tonight, guys. --Yamara 02:59, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

It's a trio. Who's playing what instrument, though? Badagnani 05:50, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Origin of his songs

It seems to me that a good many of the songs White performed were not written by him, and/or were made famous also by others, such as Paul Robeson, Billie Holiday, et al. This should be noted in the article. Badagnani 05:50, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Dave Van Ronk

Should Dave Van Ronk be added among musicians who have been influenced by White? He apparently covered "One Meat Ball." Badagnani 18:33, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Manhasset, New York

Was he a resident of Manhasset, New York when he died? Or was he living somewhere else and he was just in a hospital in Manhasset? Badagnani 01:00, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Parents

Can we get something about his parents in the article? Badagnani 04:09, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Done. Badagnani 01:21, 18 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Length

The article is full of information, but I believe it should read like an encyclopedia article, remaining within the length guidelines (formerly 30k but now accepted to be 30-50k). As of now, when one edits it, it gives the number of bytes as 85k. If people want further information, they can go to the published full-length biographies that are available in book form. Badagnani 04:37, 31 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Artist Ad

Adding the Kingston Trio to the list of artists influenced. Shortly before the group's formation in 1957, founding member Bob Shane opened for White in Shane's home state, Hawaii. Shane attributes in print (Washburn and Johnston, Martin Guitars. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press, 1997) both learning mastery of the guitar and the choice of Martin guitars as his preferred instrument to White on p. 171.

[edit] Great subject, awful quality

This very lengthy article about a fascinating man has exactly 2 footnotes, and reads as though it were written by one of Leon Trotsky's more excitable disciples. If the same standards of documentation were applied to this article as it stands today (11/12/07) which are routinely applied in many other parts of Wikipedia, this article would be virtually wiped out - and that would be a shame. It needs to be radically reworked, with a great deal more sourcing and less rhetoric and fairy tale, in order to rise to minimal Wikipedia standards. Douglas Barber 02:52, 13 November 2007 (UTC)

Totally agree, but someone needs to take a lead on this. As it is, the article is almost completely useless as an encyclopedia article - it is far too long, the introduction (and much of the text) is very POV, and it lacks references. How do we collectively make it into a worthwhile article ? Can it be done without getting the agreement of whoever contributed all this material in the first place ? Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:53, 7 February 2008 (UTC)
Likewise totally agree. Completely POV and needs total rewrite. 96.232.212.61 (talk) 00:47, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Deletion of text

Why was so much text removed, all without comment, in these edits? Badagnani (talk) 00:14, 9 December 2007 (UTC)