Talk:Tom Paxton/Archive 1

Biography assessment rating comment
The article may be improved by following the WPBiogaphy 11 easy steps to producing at least a B article. There is a lot of good material here, but it needs to be better organized and cleaned up a bit. -- Karen | Talk | contribs 08:58, 17 March 2007 (UTC)


 * Agree -- it needs more headings -- TimNelson 04:54, 30 May 2007 (UTC)


 * I'm going to do a major overhaul of this article one of these days. I've never written a full article before, but hopefully I can get things in better organization so those who can write can revise the information I have. Kirobaito

I re-did this page. There still needs to be a lot of work done, primarily on the 'middle career' and 'late career' sections. All of the references came from his autobiography, which is definitely centered around the 60's, which is why there's so much more info there. Feel free to add other info if you can. If I ever get a chance I'll try to get Tom to review this page and see if anything is incorrect or unclear. No one knows him better than himself. Kirobaito


 * Wow, you've accomplished a lot! I've reassessed as B class and Mid importance. Although he is not as well known as Guthrie et al., he is certainly a significant figure in the history of the genre. -- Karen | Talk | contribs 03:41, 23 June 2007 (UTC)

I also went ahead and added a picture to the body of the article under Late Career, just to reduce the blandness of constant text. Kirobaito


 * I've updated this article a lot over the last year or so, and hopefully it is more accurate and presents a better picture of Tom and his music than ever before. I'll try to keep doing what I can to make it better too.  Geneisner (talk) 05:06, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

The Compleat Tom Paxton
Does anyone know why the word "Complete" is misspelled in this album title? Is it a play with words, or what? Hakanand 10:41, 17 July 2007 (UTC)


 * The word "Compleat" isn't misspelled in this case, it's a different word with a different meaning:
 * Compleat - adj. Being an outstanding example of a kind; quintessential.
 * "The Compleat Tom Paxton" is a live performance album (2 record set). It was recorded live in June of 1970 at The Bitter End in New York City.  It was released as 7E-2003 (Stereo) on Elektra Records in 1971.  The back of the album says "Copyright 1970 by Elektra Records", but the inside liner notes written by Maurice Rosenbaum are signed "February 1971", and the information that I've seen thus far seems to indicate that this album was released around that time in early 1971.  Anyway, the most likely reason this live album is called "Compleat" is because the album contains some of Tom's best known songs up to that point in time, but it is not "complete" because it doesn't contain all of his songs (for example, "Bottle of Wine", one of his best known songs, is not on this set.  However, most of his other best known songs up to that point in time can be found on this very good double album).  I highly recommend this album to anyone who likes the music of Tom Paxton and is interested in hearing what he sounded like performing live in Greenwich Village in June of 1970.
 * Geneisner 21:40, 17 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Actually, the LP isn't even a "Complete" story of that particular evening in '70 - it was later released as "The Compleat Tom Paxton [Even Compleater]" a couple of years ago, containing about 3 or 4 more songs. Only 2500 copies were made.  I'm fortunate to have one of those, and I highly suggest it to anyone who wants to learn about Tom.  Compleat, as well as Live for the Record, contain a pretty good picture of what his sound has been like. Kirobaito
 * No one said the LP was a "complete" story of that particular evening in 1970; also, was the album recorded from just one evening at The Bitter End in 1970, or is it from more than one evening in 1970? And, do you know the exact date (or dates) that this was recorded in 1970?  Just wonderin', because I haven't seen that information on the net and it's not listed on the ol'e record, and I don't know if it's listed in the album notes of the reissued version.  Also, notice that "The Compleat Tom Paxton (Even Compleater)" still doesn't contain "Bottle of Wine".  Perhaps he didn't play that song at all during the making of this double album.  Anyone know?


 * But speaking of live Tom Paxton albums, I really like New Songs from the Briarpatch (Vanguard, 1977). Steve Goodman is on that one, and it's really good.  I think that if someone has "Compleat" and "Briarpatch", they have a good example of Tom's songs and live performance from the late 1960s and early 70s to the later 1970s right there.  Live for the Record (Sugar Hill, 1996) is a good example of how Tom sounded in the mid 1990s.  Then there's Live in the UK (Pax, 2005), and if anyone wants to know how he sounds today; be sure to go and see him perform when and where you can.  I've seen him a number of times, and he never disappoints.
 * Geneisner 21:46, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Compare to The Compleat Angler by Izaak Walton. Pustelnik (talk) 20:31, 11 March 2009 (UTC)

Talk page updates
I just updated this talk page a bit. Hopefully it's a little better now. Geneisner (talk) 05:06, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

List of work sections of article
Not long ago, I added a number of things in the "List of work" sections of the article. These sections are currently divided up as follows:

* 8 List of work ** 8.1 Discography ** 8.2 Compilations and other recordings ** 8.3 Music books ** 8.4 Non-music books ** 8.5 Videos

"Discography" currently contains all of Tom's known-to-be-released full length albums (LPs, tapes, and CDs). "Compilations and other recordings" contains all of Tom's known appearances on compilation albums of all varieties, his known self-titled EP from 1967, and his known appearances on albums by other musicians. "Music books" contains his known song books, and "Non-music books" the others. The "Videos" section contains his officially released known video so far, as well as his appearances on different TV shows over the years. Tom's 1965 appearance on Pete Seeger's Rainbow Quest TV show is available on DVD these days (Shanachie Entertainment). Some of Tom's TV appearances probably either haven't been officially released yet, or are not currently available. Also, the "Videos" section contains Tom's known appearances in documentary films, as well as his movie credits.

Tom released a number of singles over the years too, and I have no idea how many there are (or if there is a chronological list of those anywhere). It would be neat to compile a list of all his singles, but it might be a bit superfluous too since most of the singles were on his albums and they (the singles) can probably be found on one of the albums, tapes or CDs listed in the Discography section. Anyhow, maybe someday we'll compile a list of all of his known singles in chronological order; listed by release date and record company. Until then, I think we have a pretty good List of work section thus far. Geneisner (talk) 06:17, 19 December 2007 (UTC)

7/25/14: I have made two additions. One is a reference to the passing away of Tom's wife this year. The other is a brief discussion of how a character similar to Tom was portrayed in the movie "Inside Lleweynn Davis" and the reactions of people who know Tom to that portrayal. Reference for that... Tom saying, "I have never been in a movie" at the 45th Anniversary concert for the NYC "Woody's Children" radio show. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.37.138.56 (talk) 17:51, 26 July 2014 (UTC)

additional artists recording "last thing on my mind".
The sixties female vocal group "The Womenfolk" also sang "last thing on my mind". If you like harmony, you need to listen to this version. it is on youtube and is available in itunes.2601:2:4440:70:214:51FF:FEE6:659E (talk) 03:05, 26 September 2014 (UTC)

citation needed for "The Death of Stephen Biko"?
The current text says: The album also includes the song "The Death of Stephen Biko", which details the brutal killing of anti-apartheid activist Stephen Biko in South Africa. [citation needed]

The citation is "The Death of Stephen Biko". The lyrics start "Stephen Biko lay in shackles on a urine-sodden mattress. In the solitary section, he was made to lie there naked." and continue "In the close interrogation he was beaten like the others. ... When they found him in a coma, when the man was clearly dying, ... they said, He might be faking, it's a hunger strike he's staging. ... " Does it detail the brutal killing? Without doubt. Why is another citation seriously needed?

My 1st thought was that whoever put (citation needed) had never listened to the song, then I realized they wanted verification that Stephen Biko's death was brutal. I think the Wikipedia article on Stephen Biko contains evidence of this, perhaps we should use "Whitaker, Raymond (8 October 2003). "No prosecution for death of anti-apartheid activist Biko". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 13 October 2012" 72.12.120.207 (talk) 13:16, 21 April 2015 (UTC)