Talk:Cross Road Blues

Missing reference

There are several citations in the article pointing to a reference called Schroeder (2004 and 2009), but no such book in the reference section. w.carter-Talk 21:59, 23 April 2015 (UTC)

Good catches, W.carter. Added Schroeder ref. —Ojorojo (talk) 16:53, 24 April 2015 (UTC)

The Doors' performance of "Cross Road Blues"

It should be added that Cream is not the only band to cover Robert Johnson's "Cross Road Blues" as The Doors covered it live in concert at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena on May 7, 1970 and in Boston on April 10, 1970 as part of the Absolutely Live tour. 131.230.68.61 (talk) 23:01, 16 October 2016 (UTC)

Several musicians have recorded the song, but to include them in the article requires that 1) the rendition is discussed by a reliable source on the subject of the song, or 2) the rendition itself meets the notability requirement at WP:NSONGS. See WP:SONGCOVER. —Ojorojo (talk) 19:41, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Wardlow/Conforth similarity

Some passages in Wardlow and Conforth's Up Jumped the Devil (first published in 2019) are similar to those that were added to this article before the GA review in 2015:

• WP 2015: "Blues historian Samuel Charters sees the song as having elements of protest and social commentary. The second verse includes "the sun goin' down now boy, dark gon' catch me here", a reference to the "sundown laws" or curfew during racial segregation in the United States. Signs in the rural South advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here". Johnson may be expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynchings that still took place. Others suggest that the song is about a deeper and more personal loneliness. Writers Barry Lee Pearson and Bill McCulloch argue that the fifth verse in the single version captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, he stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman"."

• Wardlow/Conforth 2019: "But the song could also be about protest and social commentary. The second verse included "the sun goin' down now, boy, dark gon' catch me here." This could be a reference to the sundown laws, or curfews, that were widely in place during racial segregation in the South. Signs in those rural regions advised "Nigger, don't let the sun set on you here." Robert may have expressing a real fear of trumped up vagrancy charges or even lynching. It has been argued that the fifth verse in the second take captures the essence of the song: "left alone, abandoned, or mistreated, [Robert] stands at the crossroad, looking this way or that for his woman."[footnote not in Google preview]"[1]

The Google preview omits many pages, so I'll continue to look. Maybe Ghmyrtle has something to add. —Ojorojo (talk) 20:31, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

At least some of that text was material you added in 2014 (here). I suspect that Conforth, at least, reads articles here (check out the editing history of his article), so it doesn't strike me as surprising if he drew on your text. Is that a problem? We contribute text under a licence for public use, as I understand it - WP:REUSE. I'm aware of quite a few times that text I've written on this site has appeared elsewhere, without acknowledgement, but it's never concerned me, personally. The Conforth / Wardlow book (which I have) is excellent, if you haven't read it. Ghmyrtle (talk) 21:27, 19 May 2020 (UTC)

My main concern is that an automated plagiarism detector might flag this article as having substantially the same wording without an inline citation to their book. It's odd that the publisher or the Penderyn prize judges didn't run a search first that should have detected it. I've seen large chunks of what I've written for WP show up in various online articles, but not in a highly regarded book. I'm adding a hidden note at the beginning of the paragraph to alert editors to this discussion. Do you see any other similar passages? Also, since you mentioned the Conforth article, I wonder about the recent IP edits to the RJ article that talk up the book. —Ojorojo (talk) 13:15, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

Yes, I had noticed those edits, and I guess (like me) you may have checked their (unsurprising) geolocation. I think there is an acceptable compromise there - to include some of the C/W references that were put in as part of those edits, and which are justified - the book is reliable, I think - while keeping words like "definitive" and "proved" out of it. It's not part of my plans to re-read the book with a copy of the WP article beside it, I'm afraid (!), but if the plagiarism-checkers head that way at any point, we should be prepared. Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:39, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

No one's going to lose any sleep over this, but RJ-related articles might be watched for similar activity. There are some here who are quick to act upon suspected plagiarism/copyvios. —Ojorojo (talk) 14:39, 20 May 2020 (UTC)

The riff

"Jones plays the riff on harmonica similar to what Clapton later used with Cream"

Actually the harmonica and guitar play the riff in unison. Jules TH 16 (talk) 15:09, 8 May 2021 (UTC)

Phooey on this "Faustian bargain" stuff - people, it's about Jim Crow laws, fer cri-yi ...

In the era of segregation, the policy of a white town or neighborhood might be that blacks' being there during the day, if hired by whites, (hello, y'know, servants? housemaids? shoe-shine at the Elks Club? kitchen staff? operating a truck for a delivery?) - would not be overly problematic, but: Woe Betide those with the wrong skin-color who "let the sun set on" their heads within the boundaries of said town or neighborhood. As just one example, my recollection is that in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, "Breakfast of Champions", there is a very explicit reference to all this. 71.176.128.182 (talk) 01:38, 28 April 2024 (UTC)