Talk:Skip James

Untitled

wouldn't be surprised if there's a mississippi john hurt record with the same name, but this one is Skip, see links.

Discovered in a hospital in Tunica he appeared at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival and subsequently recorded two superb albums for Vanguard, the pick of which is Skip James Today! which features his best known compositions: "Hard Time Killing Floor Blues", "Special Rider Blues" and "I'm So Glad", among others.

The 12 sides that comprise Today! are among the best James would record after his rediscovery in the '60s. His playing may be a bit less intricate than that captured on his legendary 78s from the '30s, but his unique falsetto sounds no less troubled or haunting than before on this album's definitive performances of "Hard Times Killing Floor Blues," "Special Rider Blues," and one of James' few later compositions, "Washington D.C. Hospital Center Blues."

--Heah 06:51, 22 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Verifiability

I added the {POV} tag. The article contains many unsourced statements such as :"James is regarded as a gifted and distinctive guitarist". More references, less fancruft please,

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 12:43, 30 May 2009 (UTC)

What references would you require? We are discussing folk musicians, not scientific studies. Just listen to the music. I suppose one could gather together fingerpicking guitarists and ask them to set down their impressions of his music so there would be a documentary reference, but perhaps I may set down my opinion here: "James is regarded amongst the many fingerpicking guitarist that I know, as a gifted and distinctive guitarist" - ED Denson. Satisfactory? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Edenson (talk • contribs) 19:42, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

No, because that would be original research, which Wikipedia does not do or report. Wikipedia reports and summarises only information that has been published elsewhere, by reliable sources. Sorry, but your opinion doesn't count. You might find it worthwhile to look at this guidance as well - "The threshold for inclusion in Wikipedia is verifiability, not truth — what counts is whether readers can verify that material added to Wikipedia has already been published by a reliable source, not whether editors think it is true." Of course, I'm sure there are many published sources that testify to Skip James' skills - the trick is to find them, and include the references in the article. Ghmyrtle (talk) 20:12, 27 February 2010 (UTC)

Skip James is a unique talent and does require any support more anybody's ears to testify it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 201.11.209.83 (talk) 05:30, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

You are missing the point - see the detailed comments above. Your opinion, my opinion, someone else's ears etc., count for nothing on Wikipedia. Text within articles needs to be sourced (as explained). This article is typical of many in that some editors find it irresistible adding their own thoughts, ideas and opinions - it is not how Wikipedia is supposed to work. Like it or loathe it, it is as simple as that.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 10:04, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

IMHO, this article is in a better shape than it possibly has ever been. However, it still needs a considerable input of references. Thus I have added the {Refimprove} tag in the vain hope that someone else will help out. Thanks,

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 01:41, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

The entry writer says, "James' classically-informed, finger-picking style was fast and clean, using the entire register of the guitar with heavy, hypnotic bass lines," and someone has posted "citation needed." Why on earth would a citation be needed for info gleaned from listening to the music? — Preceding unsigned comment added by E-elemental (talk • contribs) 22:32, 22 March 2014 (UTC)

I refer to the comments above. Wikipedia is an encyclopaedia, not a collection of what various editors ears may choose to hear and prefer. Please read Wikipedia:Verifiability, or more broadly Wikipedia:Five pillars.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 00:19, 23 March 2014 (UTC)

Tuning

I'd like to see a reference on the D Minor tuning. Everythng I have read--and I have citations--indicated that Skip used E Minor tuning, not D Minor. The songs in question are in the key of E Minor, so Skip would have had to use a capo to get his guitar to sound in E Minor if tuned to D Minor. Robert Johnson's song "Hellhound On My Trail" is in E Minor tuning.

ACushen (talk) 18:56, 5 December 2010 (UTC)

I believe you are correct, I changed it to E minor and cited a quote from Stephen Calt's biography of Skip James where he mentions that it was tuned to an open E minor. 169.232.198.121 (talk) 18:25, 3 May 2013 (UTC)z

Wenders

Thanks for your changings: being french, my english is awkward! But I think it's a pity to have suppressed the quotation of Vietnam blues, a song which shows Skip's deep involvment (despite the fact that he was so ill) abouts this war, and about the poor blokes who had to kill "maybe their brothers"! Not many blues lyrics are so involved, ansd Cassandra's version is great! — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mardigan (talk • contribs) 12:09, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

There are two or three potential problems with that. Firstly, the quoting of lyrics may be deemed to be a copyright violation, whilst someone writing an anti-Vietnam war song is really not particularly notable in itself. Secondly, statements regarding whether "blues lyrics are so involved, ansd Cassandra's version is great" are purely personal opinions, which violate both WP:POV and WP:V.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 14:59, 18 March 2015 (UTC)

Thanks fot answering. But I never wrote in the article that "Cassandra 's version (was) great": just in this talk! I wrote: "Cassandra Wilson, who sings Vietnam blues. In this song, Skip James shows a real political conscience for « The poor boys fightin’ and hidin’ in them holes / Maybe killin’ their brothers they don’t know. » , which is neutral ans expresses only the truth. It is legal to quote some lines of a song or paragraphs of a book: if not, nobody could write literary critics. Furthermore, millions of wkp pages makes compliments about singers, actors, sportsmen... even in this page, where praises are logicaly written about Skip's style. Im not so sure that many traditional bluesmen wrote songs against Vietnam war, contrarily to folk singer or rockers. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Mardigan (talk • contribs) 10:50, 19 March 2015 (UTC)