Talk:Cerys Matthews

Untitled

The following segment confuses me:

"had already collected 76 traditional folk songs with the idea of making an album of folk covers, but meeting Bucky Baxter changed all that. Upon her arrival in America in June, Matthews handpicked Baxter, who had played lap steel guitar for Bob Dylan and Ryan Adams. Her debut album, Cockahoop, was recorded in seven months and appeared on Blanco y Negro in the UK in May 2003."

Why would meeting a guitarist change the fact that she planned to release a solo album - which, according to the above paragraph, she then does anyway?

Also - it doesn't specify what exactly she handpicked him to do - did he help write the songs or did he just play guitar on the album, or even something else?

Sign your posts. It's not clear at all what the writer was trying to say. From what I know (and this is without verification, or I'd add it to the article), Baxter produced and co-wrote the album, which was all original contemporary country songs, not traditional folk covers. Canonblack 04:54, 29 May 2006 (UTC)

.,

Chronology

I formatted the page by chronology. I also reduced the tone of promotional puffery and slimmed the lead. It appears that people involved with Matthews may have been puffing up the page, not too seriously, but it's worth keeping an eye out. Span (talk) 07:49, 12 December 2013 (UTC)

School

I have added correct informaiton about Ms. Matthews' schools, published on her websited and confirmed by WP:OTRS ticket:2014012310009205. This has already been corrected once by another OTRS volunteer, please do not put us through the embarrassment of having to explain yet again why Wikipedia insists on being "definitively wrong", as it is causing distress and annoyance toMs. Matthes and it really is a trivial thing. I alos removed, at her request, her father's occupation, as he is long retired and values his privacy. I hope I odn't need ot rmeind you that Wikipedia is not a tabloid, there's no pressing reason to include things people would prefer us not to unless they are clearly relevant to their public life. Deliberately including trivia that a subject would prefer we don't would be dickish in the absence of a storng reason to include, after all. Feel free to contacte me directly if you want to discuss this. Thanks, Guy (Help!) 23:39, 29 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you for the explanation. The information was sourced, and as far as I know, the volunteer did not say, or write here, that there was an OTRS request. No party has written on the talk page to suggest there was ever an issue with content, so it is not surprising sourced material re-appeared. No comment, complaint or request as to this was made even in an edit summary in the last four years, that I can see. The article was wrong because she did not tell us it was wrong. Re BLP policy, it is important to respect her wishes, but it helps if we know what her wishes are. While it is not pressing to mention her father's profession or schooling, it is entirely standard in a biography article, such FAs William Shakespeare, Michael Jackson, J. K. Rowling and most others. It is also standard in biographical books, journals and essays to explore these aspects of a life. I have never before seen any suggestion that it might be tabloid-like or trivial. She may be uncomfortable with it, and request its removal, which is fine, but I would argue that it is a perfectly standard inclusion. Thank you. Span (talk) 00:09, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Hi all - that was me initially. Thanks Guy for the edit - as the material was not particularly contentious I was expecting the person who contacted OTRS to get back to me with a more appropriate source (even a primary one, as Guy used here). OTRS is not a magical mystery channel that people can use to bypass Wikipedia policies, so Spanglej's challenge of my edit was appropriate since all that was properly sourced, although of course even reliable sources are wrong sometimes. Sometimes invoking "courtesy" for the subject doesn't work too well and I tend to err on the side of Wikipedia process when the problem is not serious. In any event, thanks to both for resolving this. §FreeRangeFrog^croak 18:30, 31 January 2014 (UTC)

Exactly so. We ask for sources that meet policy; the strength of the required source is determined by the significance of the information. In this case it's trivial so a primary source suffices, especially since it's obvious in context how the secondary sources have misread the situation. For them, it's a minor factoid. For the subject, not so much. Guy (Help!) 00:33, 1 February 2014 (UTC)

Odd omissions

It is surprising that the article makes no mention whatsoever of the subject’s drug and alcohol issues. They are well documented, including in interviews she has given. , , , . I’m also puzzled by the omission of basic biographical details, like her father’s profession, although I see this has been discussed, and her relationship with Marc Bannerman. Lastly, the article seems rather out of date. I shall refresh it shortly, unless there are policy-based objections to doing so. KJP1 (talk) 13:37, 7 May 2021 (UTC)

I agree. 21:29, 18 May 2025 (UTC) Jontel (talk) 21:29, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

What was her father's profession? Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:37, 18 May 2025 (UTC)

I found this 'Her father Phillip was a doctor and her mum Pauline a former medical secretary. Matthews and her two brothers and sister were brought up to appreciate all types of music.' https://www.bigissuenorth.com/features/2020/11/cerys-matthews-bread-and-poetry/ Jontel (talk) 11:11, 19 May 2025 (UTC)

Many thanks. Looks like that would make a useful addition. (I assume "doctor" = General practitioner, there). Martinevans123 (talk) 11:51, 19 May 2025 (UTC)