Talk:James Booker

Archive Talk Page #1, 7-9-2007

Untitled
While much good work has gone into this article, I'm not sure I like how reference to his drug use and problem has almost been completely removed from the article. I think in Booker's case his drug situation was not just a bit of personal trivia, but at least in his later years a central part of his life and career which needs to be discussed for any understanding of Booker. I think his career would have gone much further had he been able to reliably perform like his better days. Some of the live recordings show how he could play some amazing stuff while pretty wasted, but remember he also had days when he was so off his goard he couldn't play shit, and places like the Maple Leaf that hired him regularly knew they had to put up with that sort of thing, which other venues would not. -- Infrogmation 15:57, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

Copyvios from allaboutjazz
Last July, user:Adidonna heavily revised this article ([this is a before and after diff), copying sentences and entire paragraphs verbatim from http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=5177. This site is copyrighted with all rights reserved, meaning its text cannot be included here.  With this edit, I've deleted the copied material but have tried to preserve additions made since then.  allaboutjazz.com certainly can be (and is) used as a reference, but not as a source for large chunks of text. -- [[user:Rick Block|Rick Block]] (talk) 19:29, 16 February 2008 (UTC)

All Alone with the Blues
Interesting stuff about the film "All Alone with the Blues." All I can find is catalog listings for it - would be nice to find a review or other non-commercial site pertaining to the film.--Larrybob (talk) 21:01, 10 October 2008 (UTC)

POV
I have removed the following sections, which are unreferenced, POV and probably (at least partly) copyright violation.

''"Booker was a diverse pianist who explored a variety of popular songs, ranging from jazz standards to rock. Rather than playing tunes in their original idioms, he integrated this repertoire into a virtuosic style that combined elements of blues, boogie-woogie, gospel, stride, Latin, and classical piano. An early innovator of rock and roll piano, he created sophisticated rhythmic structures combining both hands, while his virtuosity can be compared to stride and pianists Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson.  Yet his rendition of standards has influenced many jazz pianists. Booker's left hand used various polished blues basses, repeated walk-ups, and unusual stride patterns, both in straight and shuffle rhythms. He also played entire chords in steady groups, divided by a lower note in the bassline, with a fluid improvisational style and complex voice-leading. He was noted for his abilities on the organ, and examples of his organ playing can be found on the album United Our Thing Will Stand. Booker also had a powerful, wide-ranged singing voice."''

"==Quotes==

"I'm better than all of 'em."

"Music is a mysterious art... and people that's really good at it... they get a little taste of the mysterious... sometimes mysticism, too. In fact, all of the time they have mystical, mysterious attributes, but it's whether or not they're aware of it that's important."

James Booker"

More references, less fancruft would make the remaining article a better balanced, and more encyclopedic read. Thank you,

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 15:07, 3 June 2009 (UTC)

Sinatra comparison
I don't think Tom McDermott's quote in the offbeat.com "Why Does James Booker Matter" article about James Booker's vocals could fairly be interpreted to mean that Booker "superseded the singing of Frank Sinatra." Someone reading the article with little or no exposure to James Booker's music might reasonably assume by the wikipedia writer's wording that Booker sang in a similar style to Sinatra, that the two musicians were an apples-to-apples comparison. I'd argue that such a direct comparison is kind of silly. I've loved both singers for many years, and would not deny Booker's gift as a vocalist, btw. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2602:30A:2CD0:4F20:55CF:2834:90EC:A40 (talk) 04:05, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Image
Is it within policy to use an album cover as an image?

Also, I would be nice to have something about his use of an eye-patch (I don't know the answer), and the fact that it had a yellow star is probably not without meaning (sorry for the double negative) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andrelevy (talk • contribs) 18:35, 25 June 2011 (UTC)

Bowdlerized
Much interesting, attested material and all reference to Booker's sex life have been removed fr/ this article. I will restore it. Tapered (talk) 06:56, 15 December 2011 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 4 external links on James Booker. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20100901132012/http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=5177 to http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/musician.php?id=5177
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131113120920/http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2013/jul/08/director-interview-lily-keber/ to http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2013/jul/08/director-interview-lily-keber/
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130806131726/http://miff.com.au/q-a-with-nathaniel-kohn to http://miff.com.au/q-a-with-nathaniel-kohn
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20131113122707/http://southernscreen.org/site/events/opening-night-champagne-premiere/ to http://southernscreen.org/site/events/opening-night-champagne-premiere/

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