Talk:The Persuasions

Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town
While Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town's career deserves a mention here, his recordings post-Persuasions should not be listed as Persuasions recordings--any more than Wings or Plastic Ono Band recordings should be listed as Beatles recordings. His solo and Talk of the Town releases are listed on his solo page and do not really belong here. I have removed them and placed a link to his solo page for those wishing to see them. StavinChain (talk) 03:03, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Performances on other artists' recordings
I am not equipped to put a list of the Persuasions' appearances as guest artists on other performers' releases. I know of the Joni Mitchell, Don McLean, and Paul Pena appearances, but very few others. Someone needs to add a section, if possible, on their appearances elsewhere. I will ask Jay, Joe, and Jimmy, but of course, anyone is welcome to start. StavinChain (talk) 03:16, 21 December 2010 (UTC)
 * I added this the other day, without even having read your note. That's how I was introduced to The Persuasions, and to my mind their guest appearances remain a vital part of their discography.Rcarlberg (talk) 16:00, 18 December 2017 (UTC)

The Persuasions once opened for Bruce Springsteen, were later onstage for a number with the band.

I first experienced the Boss at the Main Point in Bryn Mawr. A month or so later first experienced the Persuasions there. Was thrilled by both.

Driving to see the Boss at small venues, I believe it was a college in north Jersey. The Persuasions did a great set; then the E Street Band set up for the show. Late in the show the Persuasions re-appeared singing (with Bruce and the band)the break in 'Let the four winds blow'...... — Preceding unsigned comment added by Timscribner (talk • contribs) 05:08, 6 December 2012 (UTC)

Julie Lawson's Edits
I see that Jerry Lawson's wife has removed all mention of the Persuasions after her husband left to form Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town in 2003. They contend that any Persuasions without Lawson are "fake" and merely a "tribute band," akin to the Rolling Stones without Mick Jagger. While I sympathize with their feelings, the fact is the group continues to record and perform under the Persuasions name with the other surviving founding member (Jayotis Washington) along with various other singers who have performed with The Persuasions before 2003 and others who haven't. Not being privvy to who actually owns the "Persuasions" name, I kinda feel that Julie's edits are unwarranted. Anybody want to weigh in on this?Rcarlberg (talk) 18:49, 22 December 2017 (UTC)
 * By the way, I note that the article on her husband, written by Julie in 2014, violates quite a few Wikipedia standards (neutral voice, impartiality, etc.)Rcarlberg (talk) 18:55, 22 December 2017 (UTC)

I agree with Rcarlberg. Five Pre-2003 Persuasions members continued making albums after Jerry Lawson left the group (i.e. The Persuasions Sing U2). Their legal right to the name Persuasions was never challenged. Certainly the sound of the group changed without Lawson singing lead, but the other members were also important to the group's sound, particularly Jimmy Hayes' bass voice. --Elnwood (talk) 02:45, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

There is also the issue of the "official" Persuasions website listed on this page, which is also run by Julie Lawson, and claims that the group ended in 2003. I'm just going to put all the social media links on for now. --Elnwood (talk) 03:11, 24 April 2023 (UTC)

Request for comment: new WikiProject for a cappella-related articles
Hi there! To any and all interested: I've proposed a WikiProject dedicated to a cappella. This would be a group of editors interested in improving the quality of articles related to a cappella. If you're passionate about a cappella—ranging from the Pentatonix to groups like the Persuasions, or perhaps pop culture representations like Pitch Perfect and The Sing-Off—please check out the proposal and share your thoughts!

Here's a link to the proposal for WikiProject A Cappella.

If you could see yourself contributing to an article related to a cappella (like this one), please consider joining!


 * —Shrinkydinks (talk) 20:54, 8 December 2019 (UTC)

Career - Record company lawsuit
The assertion made, "The record companies admitted to having six figures in monies belonging to the Persuasions, which they unilaterally decided to "mind for them", as they claimed it would be too hard for black men to figure out how to collect it from unclaimed funds at the Secretary of State" does not in any way appear to be in the article. The article is about streaming royalties and is based entirely on the attorney's statements with, "Representatives for Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, Capital Records and Sony/ATV did not respond to requests for comment at time of publishing. Concord Music Group declined to comment." There does not seem to be foundational facts at the cited page, at least for that sentence. I was almost bold and removed it, but it is plausible that a follow up article could support that information. It seems like a fairly extraordinary claim given the wording seems highly non-typical for a corporation, let alone several corporations claiming they acted "unilaterally."

As a minor point, the citation link is also odd, popping up with a second superscript reference which says "dead link" -- but that link does seem to work. I am not sufficiently experienced in WikiMedia markup to fix that. -- JabberWokky (talk) 13:52, 12 November 2021 (UTC)