Talk:Sharon Tandy

NOT the first white artist at Stax

Sharon Tandy was demonstratably NOT the first white artist to record for Stax. Sharon Tandy's Stax session took place in 1966, and I can find no evidence that it was ever released on Stax. (It came out on Atlantic, I believe.) Meanwhile, the label's very first release in 1961 was by the all-white band The Mar-Keys, albeit the band was augmented by black session musicians.

A little while later, still in 1961, Macy Skipper recorded a weird sort of comedy sketch/rockabilly number; Nick Charles (a white DJ) recorded two singles for the label in 1962; white teenage sisters Cheryl & Fam Johnson recorded a Stax single in 1963.

I've deleted the reference in the article. 172.164.212.12 (talk) 02:43, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Well, there are already reliable sources cited in the article for this, and to counter it, you need to cite equally valid, reliable sources. We don't go on personal knowledge here, because it fails verifiability. Please feel free to cite references in support of your contentions. Rodhullandemu 02:49, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Source is Rob Bowman's liner notes for "The Complete Stax/Volt Singles" 1959-1968" (copyright 1991 by The Atantic Recording Corporation). This 64-page booklet gives fairly detailed commentary single-by-single, with release dates. The Mar-Keys' "Last Night" is discussed on pages 2-3; Skipper and Charles are discussed on page 5; the Johnson Sisters on page 10. Actual release dates for these singles are covered in the discography, pgs 43-62.

Tandy does not appear in Bowman's discography, nor in the singles discographies for the Stax/Volt box sets covering later years; nor can I find her in various on-line Stax album discographies. It would appear the material she recorded at Stax was released on Atlantic -- this also happened with Carla Thomas, Wilson Pickett and others. However, recording at the Stax studios is not the same as being signed to the Stax label.

So, as far as I can determine, Tandy was not only NOT the first white singer signed to Stax, she wasn't even a Stax artist. (Nor was she the first white singer to record in the Stax studios.) Rob Bowman, of course, went on to write "Soulsville USA", the definitive history of Stax. Tandy is not mentioned in this volume as being the first white artist on Stax.

None of this takes away from the quality of Tandy's music, of course! 172.162.19.211 (talk) 15:29, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Anonymous--your liner notes aren't definitive history. Release dates are not the same as signing dates or recording dates. Instead of just deleting content, you could reword so that others can still benefit from what was communicated. The fact that you consider she wasn't the first white person to sign at Stax may or may not be true. You should at least have the courtesy to reword the article so that people know she was one of the first, etc. as this is significant for that label & for her. She is still alive, so why don't you ask her? The fact that you don't know something, is not proof that it isn't so. Present definitive information saying she wasn't w/ Stax...then delete what others have contributed.

In fact, it looks like you deleted cited references. WTF!? I'm thinking we need to revert all your changes! I mean 172.162.19.211's liner notes isn't anything verifiable, is it? Well that is all from Rob Bowman too. Liner notes are great and handy, but your sources of information need to broaden.

Now obviously not everything that is recorded is released, and everything that was released isn't on Amazon.com for purchase. That doesn't mean she didn't record! I'm thinking that reverting your previous work needs to happen, until you can effective PROVE with CITATIONS that it shouldn't be. Even then, it should be left on the article as a "debatable", since you seem to be the only one arguing against it, and your just an anonymous user, or editing as such.

You could contribute instead of taking away! BTW, why don't you make an account & sign your posts? Very easy. Avé[[]] 20:55, 3 February 2010 (UTC)

Avé-- Don't be daft. Every single sentence you wrote is idiotic, ignorant or just plain wrong. Let's go through them, shall we?

your liner notes aren't definitive history.

• In fact, they are. Professor Rob Bowman is *the* authority on Stax, and the discography and notes he assembled for the Stax box sets are both authoritative and definitive. The liner notes deservedly won a Grammy in 91, and as a history of the label and studios, have only been surpassed in detail by Bowman's own subsequent book-length study of the Stax enterprise.

Release dates are not the same as signing dates or recording dates.

• Indeed they are not. But Sharon Tandy didn't record at Stax until 1966, and none of her recordings were ever released on the label. The other white artists recorded and had already released material on Stax in 1963 or earlier.

Instead of just deleting content, you could reword so that others can still benefit from what was communicated.

• Only content that was demonstrably inaccurate was deleted. Other content was reworded so that all could benefit.

The fact that you consider she wasn't the first white person to sign at Stax may or may not be true.

• It is, as you acknowledge, a fact, and it is true -- whether I (or you or any other individual) consider it to be true or not.

You should at least have the courtesy to reword the article so that people know she was one of the first, etc. as this is significant for that label & for her.

• If you had bothered to read the article, you would have seen that I *did* have the courtesy to reword it so that it reads that Tandy recorded at Stax, which was a rarity for a white singer. This is the best that can be said, as she did not record for the Stax *label*, and she was not amongst the first white singers or musicians to record at Stax studios (having recorded at least 3-4 years after numerous others).

She is still alive, so why don't you ask her?

• This, of course, is just silly. How would she know? She wasn't at Stax studios until 1966 ... she would have no way of knowing who recorded there before her.

The fact that you don't know something, is not proof that it isn't so.

• But I *do* know something. I know that there were *numerous* white artists who recorded and released material on Stax in 1963 or earlier. And I know that the exhaustive, definitive Stax discography, *and* the exhaustive, definitive historical account of Stax, make absolutely no mention of Tandy ever having released anything on the Stax label.

Present definitive information saying she wasn't w/ Stax...then delete what others have contributed.

• I agree. Fortunately, this is just what I have done.

In fact, it looks like you deleted cited references.

• Absolutely. One of the cited 'sources' for the earlier article (Rob Bowman's "Soulsville USA") does NOT say anywhere that Tandy was the first white artist on Stax. You can look through the book until your eyes bubble -- it's simply not there. This was a fraudulent citation, so of *course* it was removed. Other 'citations' similarly did not support the idea the Tandy was the first white artist on Stax.

I'm going to stop deconstructing sentence-by-sentence now, since from this point on, you simply re-hash old ground. But, to sum up:

Sharon Tandy didn't record at Stax until 1966, and none of her recordings were ever released on the label. The other white artists recorded and released material on Stax in 1963 or earlier. And these facts are proved with citations, above. Oh, and at least one of the cited 'sources' for the earlier article (Rob Bowman's "Soulsville USA") does NOT say that Tandy was the first white artist on Stax.

So my contribution was simply to correct the misinformation posted here. You'll note that I have NOT deleted the fact that Tandy recorded at Stax, nor the fact that she appeared on the Stax tour. There is no dispute about these facts. But Tandy was not the first white artist to record at Stax (as proven in the citations above), and there were other white artists who had released material on Stax before Tandy's arrival (as proven in the citations above).

Finally, Rob Bowman's extensive discographies give no mention of Tandy EVER releasing a record on Stax (or Volt or associated labels). If you have a reputable discography that proves otherwise, this information would of course be most welcome. However, it would STILL not change the fact that Tandy was not the first white artist to record at Stax, or release a record on the label....unless you could prove that she did so prior to 1961. 172.164.219.107 (talk) 18:18, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

death

d. 21 March 2015 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 5.148.145.190 (talk) 08:41, 6 April 2015 (UTC)

Died on the 21/3/15 after a long illness. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 31.48.150.158 (talk) 14:11, 9 April 2015 (UTC)

References