Talk:Robert McFerrin

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Thank you[edit]

Thanks to all those who created and continued working on this article. I have added to it extensively today, making it an article of 1,903 words, when it was 130 before. In rewriting and reorganizing, I hope I have included the information which was already in place. The article now includes an additional 45 footnotes, as well as internal and external links.Hammerdrill (talk) 18:33, 11 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Apologies. The long article referred to above was removed by a bot which detected an email address in a website, and this has not been resolved. In the meantime, the article stands as it was.Hammerdrill (talk) 13:01, 12 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Greetings Hammerdrill. Thanks for doing so much work on this article. It's appreciated by us humans, whatever the bots say... Unfortunately I'm not technically minded enough to solve the problem but I'll try to go through it with a fine-toothed comb to see if I can sort something out - if nothing else, the fact that another editor is working on it usually draws the attention of other, more experienced folks. Regards, --Technopat (talk) 16:36, 12 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Have deleted the following External link as chief suspect in the bot issue:

Robert McFerrin Sr. photographed as Valentin in Faust

If it turns out to be innocent, please reinstate with my apologies. --Technopat (talk) 17:11, 12 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Technopat, thank you very much. It was discouraging when the bot made my work disappear, and I appreciate your taking the time to look through the article for the offending EL, which you mention. Oddly, the bot is not offended by the very same source as footnote 12 (Mcferrin singing Rigoletto with the New England Opera). If anyone reads this discussion page and would like to see another photo of Robert McFerrin, they can click the link at footnote 12 and scroll down till they find the entry for him. He can be seen in costume there as Valentin in Faust. The author of this website used the Negro Almanac as their source. I have the book information and will instate it the next time I log in.199.89.64.177 (talk) 14:44, 16 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Here is the book information I spoke of in the previous post:

Piloski, Harry A. (1989). The Negro Almanac. Detroit, MI: Gale. p. 1186. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

Hammerdrill (talk) 16:29, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The footnotes have changed. The photo of McFerrin as Valentin, currently 9b (the second time 9 is used) can be viewed by clicking the blue link that follows and scrolling down to Robert McFerrin: Louiserre, Harry. "Robert McFerrin". A Dialogue of Civilizations. Retrieved 2009-02-03. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)Hammerdrill (talk) 22:17, 4 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Correction to note above: the footnote remark should say look at footnote 9 a and b. The link mentioned is still correct.Hammerdrill (talk) 22:26, 4 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Stub no longer[edit]

After the additions detailed above, I feel this article is no longer a stub. If other editors agree, I hope to find the stub tag removed in the future. Thank you.Hammerdrill (talk) 18:33, 11 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

McFerrin's College Graduation Date[edit]

Robert McFerrin is variously described as having graduated college in 1946 and 1948. More often, 1946 is the date given. I used 1948 in the article, because the arithmetic makes sense to me. He finished high school in 1940 and a course of study is four years for a Bachelor's degree (Robert also changed colleges during his study); and then he had his college years interrupted by four years in the army. It makes sense he would have graduated in 1948. For information about his time, occupation and travels in the army, see the information at arblackhalloffame.org. It is the footnote under Further Studies for his graduation in 1948.Hammerdrill (talk) 18:17, 15 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Nationmaster ref[edit]

Please don't reinsert the reference from NationMaster Encyclopedia. This encyclopedia is a copy of Wikipedia. At the bottom of each page, the link to Wikipedia is given. This encyclopedia is not a reliable source for Wikipedia. Fram (talk) 18:48, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Sorry about that. I put it back in before I read your note. I will undo that and try to find another source.Hammerdrill (talk) 18:53, 17 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

No need to be sorry, I only posted the note after your first revert. Fram (talk) 04:30, 18 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I found another source and inserted it (though I forgot to sign with the tildes, grrrr. I do this half the time!). Now NationMaster is a thing of the past.Hammerdrill (talk) 12:43, 18 September 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Poor source?[edit]

I have removed the claim that both of McFerrin's children, Bobby and Brenda, received classical training. The editor, John Nevard, has described the source as poor -- see history tab at top for Oct. 13, '08. The source was http://www.schillerinstitute.org/programs/prog_conserv_5_27_94.html#artists. He also states that his action follows the LaRouche Arbcom decisions. I wish he had chosen to discuss the source on this page before taking unilateral action. Maybe he could have explained his action. (Also, I do not know what the LaRouche Arbcom decisions are.) I can find another source which states that Bobby McFerrin received music degrees in music theory and composition (http://articles.latimes.com/2001/may/15/entertainment/ca-63548), but I am sorry to say I cannot come up with another source for Brenda's training. Therefore I am removing the sentence, which I wrote in the first place.Hammerdrill (talk) 18:05, 20 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I've complained to Nevard about this. I feel that if he is going to remove sources, he should not do so without either finding a new source, removing the information that is based on the source, or adding (and this is the bare minimum option) a citation needed tag. It just doesn't make any sense to say that we can't have a certain source, but we're going to keep the information based on the source while leaving it uncited. Everyking (talk) 18:15, 20 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

That is interesting, and thank you for your observations and thoughts. There was another way I thought of to talk about Bobby and Brenda's background, which I could do with a source that I hope will be acceptable to all. I think it turns out well.Hammerdrill (talk) 16:01, 21 October 2008 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified[edit]

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