Talk:Are You Lonesome Tonight?/GA1

GA Review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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Reviewer: Beatleswhobeachboys (talk · contribs) 23:50, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

Hello! As a longtime Elvis fan, I thought I'd check this one out. Beatleswhobeachboys (talk) 23:50, 7 April 2015 (UTC)

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria

1. Is it reasonably well written?

   A. Prose is "clear and concise", without copyvios, or spelling and grammar errors:

   B. MoS compliance for lead, layout, words to watch, fiction, and lists:

2. Is it factually accurate and verifiable?

   A. Has an appropriate reference section:

   B. Citation to reliable sources where necessary:

   C. No original research:

3. Is it broad in its coverage?

   A. Major aspects:

   B. Focused:

4. Is it neutral?

   Fair representation without bias:

5. Is it stable?

   No edit wars, etc:

6. Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?

   A. Images are tagged with their copyright status, and valid fair use rationales are provided for non-free content:

   B. Images are provided if possible and are relevant to the topic, and have suitable captions:

7. Overall:

   Pass or Fail:

Comments

• For the original Charles Hart single, is there an available chronology that could be included?
• Both of these sentences need sourcing: "The song was written in 1926 by vaudeville artists Lou Handman and Roy Turk. The structure of the song consisted of three sung verses, followed by a spoken bridge."
• " Billboard called it a: "dreamy waltz ... (that) gets effective treatment (on the recording)"" - as above
• "During the selection of the material for the sessions, Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker suggested to him that he record "Are You Lonesome Tonight?". It marked the first and only time Parker intervened in his artist's choice of repertoire. It was the favorite song of Parker's wife, Marie Mott." - as above
• "Presley asked everyone else in the recording studio to leave the session, and asked Chet Atkins to turn the lights out. Presley performed the song with the spoken bridge. By the end of the second take, he told producer Steve Sholes: "throw that tune out, I can't do it justice"" - as above
• Remove "from the album Elvis' Golden Records Volume 3" from infobox; its a compilation album, therefore the single wasn't lifted from the LP
• Add caption to picture sleeve as to tell which country it was from
• Although there may not be enough sources for it, there's a pretty notable version of the track where Elvis is laughing and ad-libbing alternate lyrics. Probably worth noting.

The article is very good, just a little spotty on the references. If these small issues are corrected, though, I'd be happy to pass the article. Beatleswhobeachboys (talk) 00:07, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

I've done a few of GDuwen's Elvis GAs, so I was contemplating doing this one ... anyway, two quick things I spotted.

• You don't need to cite every single sentence, so you'll probably find all those you have queried are in the next citation along. In fact, you only need inline citations for very specific types of material, although if it involves people and activities that most people haven't witnessed that de facto amounts to most of the article.
• The "laughing" version is already in the article : "A version of the song, recorded on August 26, featured Presley altering the words to the narration, with the singer laughing throughout the rest of the bridge...." Ritchie333 ^{(talk) (cont)} 09:45, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

@Ritchie333 thanks for the tips. I guess I skimmed over the laughing bit in the "Legacy" section... in my opinion, it probably should be moved to the overview at the top that describes the recording process.

As for the sources, I feel that the quotes, at least, such as 'Billboard called it a: "dreamy waltz ... (that) gets effective treatment (on the recording)"' and 'he told producer Steve Sholes: "throw that tune out, I can't do it justice"' should have direct citation. Also, the writers of the song, as far as I saw, weren't cited whatsoever... Admittedly, I probably over-stated the emphasis on sources, but some of these sections definitely need a direct reference. Beatleswhobeachboys (talk) 15:06, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Thanks for taking the review, and to @Ritchie333 for his comments.

I tend to use (when possible and when statements are not controversial) sourcing that encompasses an entire description of something. My main goal is to favor readability, instead of breaking the flow with sourcing every single line or using two or three citations for a single paragraph when the whole info is visible on just one page.

For example the "dreamy waltz" part is sourced by the Billboard review that includes the rating (Billboard, 1950, p.3). I corrected though the placement of the source about the artist and flipside, that was before only covering the previous sentence about the Blue Barron Orchestra (Collins, Ace 2005, p. 165).

About the "throw that tune out, I can't do it justice", it is actually on (Guralnick 1998, p. 65). Most of the information on that paragraph, including the quote is contained by page 65. Two or three lines about the recording are also included on page 66. Since it was only a few lines, I decided to merge both under (Guralnick 1998, p. 65-66).

"The song was written in 1926 by vaudeville artists Lou Handman and Roy Turk. The structure of the song consisted of three sung verses, followed by a spoken bridge." can be found on (Schultz, William Todd 2005, p. 146.)

About the Hart chronology, that's a tough one. While working on the article I've been trying to find some detail of his discography. The problem is that back in the 20s, in lots of cases artists did not exclusively record with a single label. You can find recordings by him on Columbia, the Victor Talking Machine Company, Harmony and Edison among others. He started to appear on Harmony after he returned from an European tour early in 1927. Harmony was a Columbia budget label, meaning that he also appeared on Columbia, but at the time he also had some Edison releases. I could not find any compilations of his discography by release date, but guess I could try researching books that include a detailed release/recording history of the labels. The problem is that most always they just list the date of the recording session, but not the release. So for example if he recorded with Harmony in May and Edison in June, is difficult to tell which recording came out first. Talking about the 20s is sometimes even hard to tell when or where things were recorded. Go figure the producer, and even in occasions there are no known surviving recordings of releases reported on papers (maybe in somebody's attic or what-have-you).

I put the Presley "laughing version" under the "Legacy" of the 1960 version, because the overview paragraph basically describes the 1960 recording itself. By listing it under "Legacy" I guess you could say I was trying to remark the posterior impact the song had in his career. I listed the "laughing version" under legacy because it basically is a consequence of the original one.

Hope that clarifies things a little bit, waiting follow up comments.--GDuwenTell me! 18:24, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

@GDuwen Thanks for replying. I recently received a GA review on another page and from that review I had the impression that these lines needed to be sourced more directly. I appreciate your searching for the Hart chronology, but since the info isn't available, it won't affect the rating. Therefore, I think the article is up to the standard of passing, given that the addition of a caption to the sleeve to show what country it is from is provided. Beatleswhobeachboys (talk) 18:47, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

UPDATE: Did the minor changes on the Elvis infobox myself; I'm glad to pass the article now! :) Beatleswhobeachboys (talk) 18:52, 8 April 2015 (UTC)

Overall:

Pass or Fail:

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.