Talk:Don Covay

this needs to be cross-referenced or something with the full title of Mercy, Mercy, Mercy as used by both of the two top-charting versions of this song

In fact, I'd go out on a limb and say Mercy, Mercy, Mercy is the title of the song, as used by both (the Buckinghams and Cannonball Adderley) of this song's recordings that by the way out-performed on the Billboard Hot 100 anything that Don Covay ever did himself, unfortunately, or anyone else's recordings of any of his other songs, except for Aretha Franklin's and Chubby Checker's records. Lovingthesixties (talk) 04:58, 26 May 2011 (UTC)

Name

Anyone know where the name Covay came from? Stage name? Stepfather? So far I haven't found anything to explain it. Ghmyrtle (talk) 22:34, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

"His first US Atlantic release under the name Don Covay came out in ’65, "The Boomerang"[1] ... ".. his original start at Atlantic was under the name Pretty Boy in 1957", but no explanation of where "Covay" had come from. "1969 saw Don making overtures towards the white Rock market that Atlantic had taken by storm with the likes of Led Zeppelin and Vanilla Fudge, he re-launched himself as Don Covay and the Lemon Jefferson Blues Band and released an album, House of Blue Lights ..." Martinevans123 (talk) 22:44, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

This also quite a good source. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:48, 2 February 2015 (UTC) hard to believe this is Jimmy Hendrix

This seems to suggest that he was already known as Don Covay when he was a member of the Rainbows in 1955/56 - bop showaddywaddy..... Ghmyrtle (talk) 22:50, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

This 2010 book suggests the name of his first harmony group was "The Cherokees", as does this recent source Martinevans123 (talk) 23:34, 2 February 2015 (UTC)

Hmm... I think that most sources say Cherry Keys, and it's hard to find anything definitive one way or the other. This source is usually pretty authoritative, in my experience, and most books say the same. It may well be that the name Cherry Keys was a deliberate play on the word Cherokee... but I don't think we can be certain either way. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:42, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Stax recordings

This blog on Don Covay has an endearing quote by Steve Cropper regarding the rocky relationship between Don and Jim Stewart and also about the artist's character (it's in the paragraph starting with "All in all"). I saw no reference in the blog, but the quote can be found in Rob Bowman's Soulsville, U.S.A. where he adds "Covay's high energy level and extreme unpredictability were the antithesis of Jim Stewart's banker personality". I'd love to somehow include some of this illustrative anecdotal information in the article, but don't know whether it would be inappropriate or too gossipy ... Only found out about his passing thanks to WP and my watchlist. ---Sluzzelin talk 09:23, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

I'd urge you to include it in the chronological context. That book seems a perfectly reliable source. It's snippets like this that help provide a fuller and more interesting portrait of a musician, rather than just the usual endless list of records, labels and collaborators. Martinevans123 (talk) 10:05, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

I'm all for it as well. It seems well referenced, and I've come across references elsewhere to Covay's "unpredictable" behaviour. Sadly, my own skills here only extend to uninteresting stuff... " just the usual endless list of records, labels and collaborators." ; -) Ghmyrtle (talk) 10:25, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Thanks, both of you! (By the way, another blog, "Driving People Bananas" has the full quote as printed in Bowman). I'll give it a shot after looking for some more reference. Just be patient with this procrastinator, and I call no dibs on adding the info :-P ---Sluzzelin talk 10:43, 3 February 2015 (UTC)

Bad box on top of page

Don died more than 5 years ago and there's still a box talking about a living person --80.67.176.85 (talk) 19:40, 27 September 2020 (UTC)

Done. Bretonbanquet (talk) 19:50, 27 September 2020 (UTC)