Talk:General Johnson (musician)

His name
The Allmusic bio (and many other sources) say his real name was Norman Johnson, but the obits in The New York Times and the Charlotte Observer both say that General really was his first name. Can these be reconciled? R.I.P. --Arxiloxos (talk) 04:18, 16 October 2010 (UTC)


 * General Johnson's full name was General Norman Johnson. He was 34 in February 1978 according to an article in UK magazine "Black Music" from that month, so birth year should be 1943. R.I.P. General. MansLaughter (talk) 19:53, 19 October 2010 (UTC)


 * The New York Times obit says he was born in 1941 . There seems to be conflicting reports. --CutOffTies (talk) 20:16, 19 October 2010 (UTC)

Year of birth
There is overwhelming evidence that it was 1943:. The Charlotte Observer states that General Johnson was 18 when "It Will Stand" was released. That record came out in 1961 ("Generally Speaking" article including interview in UK Black Music magazine, published in February 1978). "General Norman Johnson is thirty-four years-old" (Black Music, February 1978). The only evidence for 1941 seems to be the New York Times. For what it's worth, the Chairmen of the Board wikipage already says 1943. I have changed the year of birth back to 1943.MansLaughter (talk) 11:55, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * I'm not sure if this was a reply to me, but I didn't change it back to 1941. You may consider using a hidden comment in the article to discourage it from going back and forth. See Help:Hidden text.
 * Also I don't know why you removed the bio project from this page in your last edit. --CutOffTies (talk) 12:03, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * The Los Angeles Times also says 1941.  Under the circumstances the best solution would be to give both dates.  If the 1943 date is included, citations from reliable sources that support the 1943 date also need to be included in the article.--Arxiloxos (talk) 14:31, 20 October 2010 (UTC)


 * If the bio project was removed during my last edit then it was completely unintentional. I had a browser crash while editing the article and when I restored the session the edit page looked OK so I carried on without starting from scratch.MansLaughter (talk) 22:31, 22 October 2010 (UTC)

Article title
According to most sources (and my memory), he was always known as General Johnson. I suggest that the article title should therefore be General Johnson (musician), rather than General Norman Johnson. Before I move it, are there any contrary views on this? Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:03, 11 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Nothing contrary - it seems a sensible move to me. - Derek R Bullamore (talk) 13:57, 14 December 2015 (UTC)
 * Done. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:59, 8 January 2016 (UTC)

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