Talk:Salena Jones

Year of birth

This is in the way of a question in respect to the facts as put forward in this article, and it is the first time I have ever had any input into Wikipedia, so please forgive me if I go wrong. The official Salena Jones website <www.salenajones.com> says that she changed her name from Joan Shaw to Salena Jones when she moved to the UK in 1965. By implication then, she is the same singer who recorder Evil Gal's Daughters Blues in 1954 under the name of Joan Shaw. This Wikipedia article gives her date of birth as 1944, and I can state quite categorically that there is no way that the singer on that title is only 10 years old. Likewise this Wikipedia article says she made her first recording He Knows how to Hucklebuck in 1949. At five years old???? Unless there is a completely different singer who went by the name of Joan Shaw I do not see how the 1944 birth date could be correct. Could someone please clarify this? Jemako39 (talk) 11:12, 19 April 2014 (UTC)jemako39

Can I clarify it? No. Is it interesting? Yes. I have the liner notes of a recent compilation album, Voodoo Voodoo, written by acknowledged expert Dave Penny, who writes:

"A resident of England since 1965, Selena Jones [sic] was a familiar figure on UK TV during the late 1960s and 1970s but few knew that the personable American jazz singer had started her recording career as far back as 1949 under her real name, Joan Shaw. Born Joan Elizabeth Shaw in Newport News, Virginia, in 1930 [sic] to an unmarried chorus girl, the young singer made her recording debut for Savoy in Detroit, aged 19 with Paul Williams' band (although she doesn't recall the circumstances and claims to have been just 11 at the time!), going on to make most of her early recordings in New York City for Abbey and Regal (1951), Coral (1952), Gem (1953), Decca and Jaguar (1954)."

Further investigation of reliable sources is required! Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:48, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

Here is a good source about Joan Shaw's career, from 1949. Ghmyrtle (talk) 14:53, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

Well, now. Here is a scan of the liner notes, by Leonard Feather, for the 1961 LP Joan Shaw Sings For Swingers - clearly by the singer who became Salena Jones, and acknowledged on her website as her first LP. It says:

"...She was born in Newport News, Virginia... Her uncle, known as Bootsie Swan, was a celebrated comedian, singer and dancer in vaudeville some years ago.... Joan began singing in amateur programs around town from the time she was 13. Within a couple of years she had graduated to local night clubs, and soon she had her first fling in New York, trying out in the amateur hour at the Apollo Theater. Soon after, in 1948, she was hired as band vocalist with a group led by Paul Williams.... After a year or so of this situation... Joan decided to try to make it as a single. My personal recollection of her goes back to around 1952, when she was part of a show at a place called Snookie's...."

All of that is consistent with a birth date of around 1930... not 1944. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:15, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

And there's more.... Virginia birth records show a Joan Elizabeth Shaw, born on January 29, 1930 [note: the same date, different year], in Elizabeth County, Virginia, and the 1930 US census shows a 3-month-old black girl of the same name living with her grandmother and other family members in the township of Wythe. By the 1940 census, aged 10, she was living with her mother and (presumably) stepfather in Newport News. Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:30, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

The book 60 years of recorded jazz 1917-1977, by Walter Bruyninckx, says of Joan Shaw here: "Real name Joan DeCosta. Singer, born in Newport News, Virginia on January 29, 1930. Her uncle was famous comic, singer and dancer Bootsie Swan. Began singing in local clubs when 15, with Paul Williams 48-49...". The same information is given by Leonard Feather here. Ghmyrtle (talk) 17:14, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

@Wysinger: As the editor who made these edits to the article back in 2007, can you shed any light on this? Where, for instance, did the 1944 birth year come from? Ghmyrtle (talk) 15:38, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

It strikes me that there are sufficient reliable sources to go with January 29, 1930. The other correlated evidence may be considered original research, but I think we should stick with the current wording in the article and await for other editors (if any) to disagree. The footnote is quite clear that there are conflicting dates.

Derek R Bullamore (talk) 18:45, 29 December 2015 (UTC)

@Derek R Bullamore: I can confirm that Salena's birth year is 1938, and that she is celebrating her 80th birthday this year in 2018. This is from discussions with Salena directly, and from her, as yet, unpublished autobiography. Tim Montgomery 17:21, 27 March 2018 (UTC)

As I'm sure you know, it is commonplace for performers (or their agents) to misrepresent dates of birth, often with the aim of improving their appeal or extending their career. While it may be possible to acknowledge in this article (per MOS:BLP) that 1938 has been suggested as a birth year, it cannot be taken as definitive. Nor can any other suggested date of birth. The article needs to reflect the uncertainty in published reliable sources. Ghmyrtle (talk) 12:12, 10 April 2018 (UTC)

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