Paul Robeson - Ol' Man River (1928)

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OL' MAN RIVER (Jerome Kern & Oscar hammerstein II) Orchestra: Not given by EMI! Recorded 15 May, 1928 NOTE: Recording date 5/15/28 is probably correct as give by EMI. (They're the experts.) Why they don't credit the orchestra is incomprehensible. EMI is about to release the complete Robeson recordings, 1928 - 1939. Hopefully they will give orchestral accompaniment for all. This is an expensive CD set, costing about $60.00. On 6/30/08, it was still a "pre-order" on Amazon. Other 1928 recordings of 'Ol Man River by Robeson: * Victor 32912, charted 6/02/28 with Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra * Victor C-1505 Paul Whiteman & His Orchestra Ol' Man River" (music by Jerome Kern, lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II) is a song in the 1927 musical Show Boat, that tells a melancholy story of African American hardship and struggles of the time, related to the endless flow of the Mississippi River, from the view of a dock worker on a showboat. It is the most famous song in the show. It is sung complete, once, by the dock worker "Joe" who travels with the boat, and is re-sung three times more in brief reprises. The song is notable for several aspects: the lyrical major-key melody, the subjects of toil and social class, metaphor to the Mississippi, and as a musically rare bass solo (more common for baritones or tenors). "Ol' Man River" is sung first by Joe and a male chorus, and reprised by Joe and full chorus in the final scene, but twice reprised by him as a solo. He serves as a sort of musical one-man Greek chorus, and the song, when reprised, comments on the action, as if saying, "This has happened, but the river keeps rolling on anyway". --VARIOUS VERSIONS-- The song was first performed in the original stage production of Show Boat on December 27, 1927 by Jules Bledsoe. However, the most famous rendition of it, one that is still noted today, was sung by Paul Robeson in James Whale's 1936 film version of Show Boat (Robeson had first performed the song in the 1928 London production of the show and in the 1932 Broadway revival, and had even recorded it with Paul Whiteman's orchestra back in 1928).

Category: Music
Uploaded: September 28th, 2007 @ 3:11 pm
Author: bmcneese45a

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