Ol' Man River

For other uses, see Old Man River.
"Ol' Man River"
Sheet music for the song
Single by Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra with Paul Robeson and Mixed Chorus
Written1925
Published1927 T. B. Harms Co.[1][2]
ReleasedMay 1927[3]
RecordedMarch 1, 1928[4]
StudioLiederkranz Hall, New York City
GenreShow tune
LabelVictor 35912
Composer(s)Jerome Kern
Lyricist(s)Oscar Hammerstein II

"Ol' Man River" is a show tune from the 1927[5] musical Show Boat with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, who wrote the song in 1925. The song contrasts the struggles and hardships of African Americans with the endless, uncaring flow of the Mississippi River. It is sung from the point of view of a black stevedore on a showboat,[6][7] and is the most famous song from the show. The song is meant to be performed in a slow tempo; it is sung complete once in the musical's lengthy first scene by the stevedore "Joe" who travels with the boat, and, in the stage version, is heard four more times in brief reprises. Joe 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."[citation needed]

The song is notable for several aspects: the lyrical pentatonic-scale melody, the subjects of toil and social class, the metaphor to the Mississippi, and as a bass solo (rare in musicals, solos for baritones or tenors being more common).

Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra had a hit recording of the song in early 1928, in a much faster tempo than Kern and Hammerstein intended, featuring Bing Crosby on vocals and Bix Beiderbecke on cornet.[8] A second version was recorded on March 1, with Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra and bass singer Paul Robeson on vocals, sung in a dance tempo. The latter was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2006, and a 1936 rendition by Robeson also finished No. 24 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs 2004 survey of top tunes in American cinema. Its musical composition entered the public domain on January 1, 2023.[9]

Early versions

The song was first performed in the original stage production of Show Boat on December 27, 1927, by Jules Bledsoe, who also sang it in the part-talkie 1929 film, although that film version had little to do with the stage musical. Bledsoe also recorded the song years later. However, the most famous rendition of it, one that is still noted today, was sung by Paul Robeson in James Whale's classic 1936 film version of Show Boat. The role of Joe in the musical was originally written with Robeson in mind, but Robeson declined the role in the 1927 production due to scheduling conflict. Robeson, however, accepted the role for its 1928 London production and 1932 Broadway revival. He also performed the song three times in the show instead of the one originally written.[10] In New York, Bhupen Hazarika befriended him, who influenced him. He used music as the “instrument of social change” following the path of Paul Robeson who once told him about his guitar - “Guitar is not a musical instrument, it is a social instrument.” His song Bistirno Dupare which is based on the tune, imagery and theme of Robeson's Ol' Man River. This song is translated in various Indian languages, including Bengali and Hindi and sung by the artist himself, and is still popular.

The first known recording of the song was by "Kenn" Sisson and His Orchestra, recorded on December 27, 1927, with Irving Kaufman on vocals.[11] Robeson recorded the song with Paul Whiteman and his Concert Orchestra in 1928, and multiple times in the 1930s.[12]

From the show's opening number "Cotton Blossom", the notes in the phrase "Cotton Blossom, Cotton Blossom" are the same notes as those in the phrase "Ol' Man River, dat Ol' Man River," but inverted. However, "Cotton Blossom" was written first, and "Ol' Man River" was written only after Kern and Hammerstein realized they needed a song to end the first scene in the show. Hammerstein decided to use the idea of the Mississippi River as a basis for the song and told Kern to use the melody that the stevedores sang in "Cotton Blossom" but invert some of it, and slow down the tempo. This inversion gave "Ol' Man River" a tragic quality.[13][14][15][16]

Robeson's alterations to song lyrics

Beginning about 1938 to the end of his career, Paul Robeson changed a few of the lyrics of "Ol' Man River" when singing it at recitals but never in actual stage performances of Show Boat and not in the 1936 film version.[6] (In addition to the 1928 and 1932 stage productions as well as the 1936 film version, he appeared in a Los Angeles stage revival in 1940.) Except for the change of the word "niggers" to "darkies", the lyrics of the song as Robeson performed it in the 1936 film version of the show remain exactly as Oscar Hammerstein II originally wrote them in 1927. However, after 1938, Robeson would record the song only with the lyrics that he had used in his post-1936 concert recitals.

In the 1978 one-man play Paul Robeson, by Phillip Hayes Dean, there is a (perhaps fictitious) reference to the change in the lyrics - an unseen interviewer asks Robeson (played by James Earl Jones) about the original lyrics, and he responds "No, I don't sing it that way anymore".[17]

In the 1951 film version of Show Boat, as well as the 1962 studio recording and the 1966 Lincoln Center revival of the show, William Warfield sang only the introductory verse and the lyrics to the main section of the song, and omitted what could be considered a controversial section, in contrast to both Jules Bledsoe (who sang it in the prologue to the 1929 film version) and Robeson (who sang the whole song in the 1936 film). The section that Warfield omitted begins:

Niggers all work on de Mississippi,
Niggers all work while de white folks play...

In the 1936 film, the word "niggers" was changed to "darkies". Ever since the 1946 revival, the term has been changed to "colored folks", although there have been revivals that change the lines to Here we all work on de Mississippi,/ Here we all work while de white folks play. Al Jolson sang a version starting with "lots of folks work on the Mississippi." Also, the phrase "feared of dyin' " (rather than "skeered of dyin' ") has been sung in some recordings,[7] notably Lawrence Tibbett's 1930s version, Gordon MacRae's 1950s version (first heard on The Railroad Hour), and Frank Sinatra's 1946 performance, first heard in the film Till the Clouds Roll By.

Robeson's own 1938 changes in the lyrics of the song are as follows:

  • Instead of "Dere's an ol' man called de Mississippi, / Dat's de ol' man that I'd like to be...", Robeson sang "There's an ol' man called the Mississippi, / That's the ol' man I don't like to be"..."
  • Instead of "Tote that barge! / Lift that bale! / Git a little drunk, / An' you land in jail...", Robeson sang "Tote that barge and lift dat bale!/ You show a little grit / And you lands in jail.."
  • Instead of "Ah gits weary / An' sick of tryin'; / Ah'm tired of livin' / An skeered of dyin', / But Ol' Man River, / He jes' keeps rolling along!", Robeson sang "But I keeps laffin'/ Instead of cryin' / I must keep fightin'; / Until I'm dyin', / And Ol' Man River, / He'll just keep rollin' along!"[18] In Scene 7 of Act II of the show, Joe does sing this verse, but rather than singing "I must keep fightin' until I'm dyin", sings "I must keep livin' until I'm dyin,/ But Ol' Man River,/ He jes' keeps rollin' along!" According to the 1988 EMI album of Show Boat, these are Hammerstein's authentic lyrics for this reprise.

In recitals and in several of his many recordings of the song, Robeson also omitted the controversial section "Niggers all work on de Mississippi...", etc., with its middle portion "Don't look up/ An' don't look down/ You don't dast make / De white boss frown", etc., as well as its concluding "Lemme go ' way from de Mississippi/ Lemme go ' way from de white man boss, etc." . However, Robeson did include a portion of these lyrics in the 1932 4-record 78 rpm album of selections from Show Boat.

Gordon MacRae's version of the song, as performed on The Railroad Hour radio program (late 1940s or 1950s), changed the phrase "white man boss" to "big man boss".[19]

The Temptations, in their rendition on The Temptations in a Mellow Mood (1967), changed any references to the "white man boss" to "rich man boss", as well as "Here we all work while the white boys play" to "Here we all work while the rich boys play".

In 1988, EMI/Angel Records issued a 3-CD set of the complete score of Show Boat, starring Frederica Von Stade, Jerry Hadley, Teresa Stratas, and Bruce Hubbard, conducted by John McGlinn. On this album, the original 1927 lyrics of Ol' Man River were heard for the first time on a high fidelity stereo recording.

While Robeson's changes to the lyrics were mostly sung by himself, Leon and Eric Bibb together sang a changed version in their 2006 tribute album Praising Peace: A Tribute to Paul Robeson, and a clip exists of William Warfield singing the song with the changes that Robeson incorporated into it.[20]

See also

  • Spirituals – also known as Negro spirituals - is a genre of songs originating in the US and created by African-Americans describing the hardships of slavery
  • That Lucky Old Sun – a country-western song addressing similar themes and popularized by Frankie Laine

References

  1. ^ ""Ol' Man River"". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  2. ^ Library of Congress. Copyright Office. (1927). Catalog of Copyright Entries, 1927 Music For the Year 1927 New Series Vol 22 Part 3. United States Copyright Office. U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
  3. ^ "Victor 35912 (Black label (popular) 12-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  4. ^ "Victor matrix CVE-43122. Ol' Man River / Paul Whiteman Concert Orchestra ; Paul Robeson - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  5. ^ The Broadway League. "Show Boat - IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information".
  6. ^ a b Maslon, Laurence (13 October 2004). Broadway: The American Musical: Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon: 9780821229057: Amazon.com: Books. Bulfinch. ISBN 0-8212-2905-2.
  7. ^ a b "Lesson: Ol' Man River" (school lesson for Mississippi River), Michael E. Marrapodi, New Covenant Christian School, Ashland, Massachusetts, 2006, webpage: MassGeo-River Archived 2007-12-31 at the Wayback Machine: shows phrase "feared of dyin' " (rather than "skeered" of dying) as sung in earlier recordings.
  8. ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
  9. ^ "Public Domain Day 2023 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.
  10. ^ Redmond, Shana L. (2014). Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora. 9780814770412. pp. 101–108. ISBN 978-0-7864-5747-2 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Jerome Kern. "Cover versions of Ol' Man River by "Kenn" Sisson and His Orchestra - SecondHandSongs". SecondHandSongs.
  12. ^ Brian Rust; Allen G. Debus (1973). The Complete Entertainment Discography, from the Mid-1890s to 1942. Arlington House. pp. 551–556. ISBN 978-0-87000-150-5 – via Google Books.
  13. ^ "Show Boat: Down the Mississippi Aboard the Cotton Blossom". www.johnstoncountync.org. 2020-12-11. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  14. ^ "'Showboat'". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  15. ^ "'Ol' Man River': An American Masterpiece". NPR.org. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
  16. ^ Agathiyan, B. "Subtle Racism in Edna Ferber's Showboat" (PDF). infokara.com. Retrieved 14 August 2021.
  17. ^ Dean, Phillip Hayes (1997). Paul Robeson.: Phillip Hayes Dean, Phillip Hayes Dean: 9780822215158: Amazon.com: Books. Dramatists Play Service. ISBN 0-8222-1515-2.
  18. ^ Sarah Lennox (2011). "Reading Transnationally: the GDR and American Black Writers" in Elaine Kelly, Amy Wlodarski (eds.), Art Outside the Lines: New Perspectives on GDR Art Culture. Editions Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-3341-2. p.124
  19. ^ "OTR.Network Library (The Old Time Radio Network)". www.otr.net.
  20. ^ William Warfield performs "Old Man River" (Robeson version) on YouTube

Further reading

Read other articles:

Onde de gravité

Ne doit pas être confondu avec Onde gravitationnelle. Motif nuageux formé par les ondes de gravité en aval de l'île Amsterdam, une île volcanique de l'océan Indien En mécanique des fluides, on désigne par onde de gravité une onde se déplaçant sur la surface libre d'un fluide soumis à la gravité. En océanographie, les vagues en milieu ouvert ou le ballottement en milieu fermé constituent des exemples d'ondes de gravité. En météorologie, on observe des ondes de gravité cré�...

 

As It Is in Heaven

Untuk permainan panggung 2001, lihat As It Is in Heaven (permainan panggung). As It Is in HeavenPoster rilis teatrikalSutradaraKay PollakProduserAnders BirkelandGöran LindströmDitulis olehKay Pollak, Anders Nyberg, Ola Olsson, Carin Pollak, Margaretha PollakPemeranMichael NyqvistFrida HallgrenHelen SjöholmDistributorSonet FilmTanggal rilis 20 Agustus 2004 (2004-08-20) (Swedia) 30 November 2006 (2006-11-30) (Australia) Durasi132 menitNegaraSwediaBahasaSwediaInggrisAnggaran...

 

William Randolph

American politician (born 1650) For other people named William Randolph, see William Randolph (disambiguation). William RandolphPortrait by John Wollaston (c.1755)26th Speaker of the Virginia House of BurgessesIn office1698–1698Preceded byRobert CarterSucceeded byRobert Carter Personal detailsBorn1650Moreton Morrell, Warwickshire, EnglandDied21 April 1711 (aged 60-61)Virginia, British AmericaResting placeTurkey Island, VirginiaSpouse Mary Isham ​(m. 1676)​Ch...

GOES 4

NOAA weather satellite GOES-4GOES-D before launchMission typeWeather satelliteOperatorNOAA/NASACOSPAR ID1980-074A SATCAT no.11964Mission duration7 years (planned)8.2 years (achieved) Spacecraft propertiesBusHS-371ManufacturerHughesLaunch mass660 kilograms (1,460 lb) Start of missionLaunch date9 September 1980, 22:27 (1980-09-09UTC22:27Z) UTCRocketDelta 3914Launch siteCape Canaveral LC-17AContractorMcDonnell Douglas End of missionDisposalDecommissionedDeactivated9 October 1988&#...

 

Thisted railway station

Railway station in Thisted Municipality, Denmark Thisted StationThisted Banegårdterminal railway stationPlatform facade of Thisted stationGeneral informationLocationJernbanegade 297700 Thisted[1]DenmarkCoordinates56°57′9.5″N 8°41′17″E / 56.952639°N 8.68806°E / 56.952639; 8.68806Owned byDSBOperated byArriva[2]Line(s)Thy LinePlatforms2Tracks2ConstructionArchitectN.P.C. Holsøe[3]HistoryOpened20 April 1881Services Preceding station Arr...

 

Radio Patrol

American comic strip by Eddie Sullivan and Charles Schmidt For the 1932 film, see Radio Patrol (film). For the 1937 film serial, see Radio Patrol (serial). Radio PatrolMolly Day from Radio PatrolAuthor(s)Eddie SullivanIllustrator(s)Charles SchmidtCurrent status/scheduleConcluded daily & Sunday stripLaunch dateAug 7, 1933 (Aug 7, 1933)End dateDec 16, 1950 (Dec 16, 1950)Alternate name(s)Pinkerton, Jr.Sgt. Pat of Radio PatrolSyndicate(s)King Features SyndicateGenre(s)Crime, Adventu...

Cypripedioideae

Anggrek Cypripedioideae Anggrek dari genus Paphiopedilum Klasifikasi ilmiah Kerajaan: Plantae (tanpa takson): Angiospermae (tanpa takson): Monokotil Ordo: Asparagales Famili: Orchidaceae Subfamili: Cypripedioideae Genus Cypripedium Mexipedium Paphiopedilum PhragmipediumSelenipedium Cypripedioideae adalah jenis anggrek yang merupakan anaksuku dari Orchidaceae. Jenis-jenis anggrek dari anaksuku ini sering kali disebut anggrek sandal nona (lady's slipper) karena bentuk bunganya yang memiliki ka...

 

Wikipédia:Citez vos sources

Cette page ne traite que des principes de fond. Pour apprendre à rédiger et à mettre en forme les références et autres annotations au sein des articles, consultez les pages suivantes : Aide:Insérer une référence et Aide:Note. Ce texte est considéré comme une recommandation dans Wikipédia. Il décrit des exigences dont le principe et le contenu sont acceptés par un grand nombre de wikipédiens. Vous pouvez librement modifier cette page, mais il est conseillé d'utiliser la page de...

 

Dream (Jeong Eun-ji EP)

2016 EP by Jung EunjiDreamEP by Jung EunjiReleasedApril 18, 2016 (2016-04-18)Recorded2016GenreK-popballadLanguageKoreanLabelPlan A EntertainmentLOEN EntertainmentJung Eunji chronology Dream(2016) The Space(2017) Singles from Dream Hopefully SkyReleased: April 18, 2016 Dream is the debut extended play by the South Korean singer Jung Eunji. It was released on April 18, 2016 by Plan A Entertainment and distributed by LOEN Entertainment.[1] The EP sold 30,000+ copie...

Robert Schmidt (German politician)

German politician Robert SchmidtVice-Chancellor of GermanyIn office13 August 1923 – 6 October 1923ChancellorGustav StresemannPreceded byGustav BauerSucceeded byKarl JarresReich Minister for ReconstructionIn office13 August 1923 – 6 October 1923ChancellorGustav StresemannPreceded byHeinrich AlbertSucceeded byOffice abolishedReich Minister of EconomicsIn office10 May 1921 – 22 November 1922ChancellorJoseph WirthPreceded byErnst ScholzSucceeded byJohann BeckerIn ...

 

Kanata Hongō

Kanata Hongō Kanata Hongō (本郷 奏多?, Hongō Kanata; Sendai, 15 novembre 1990) è un attore e modello giapponese. Indice 1 Biografia 2 Carriera 2.1 2003-2006: Gli inizi 2.2 2007-2013: Crescente popolarità 2.3 2014-2018: Transizione nei ruoli e successo in Giappone 2.4 2019–presente: Rinascita della carriera 2.5 Vita privata 3 Filmografia 3.1 Cinema 3.2 Televisione 4 Doppiatori italiani 5 Note 6 Altri progetti 7 Collegamenti esterni Biografia Hongō è nato a Sendai, nella prefettura...

 

São Toméan Football Federation

São Toméan Football FederationCAFFounded1975HeadquartersRua João de Deus São ToméFIFA affiliation1986CAF affiliation1986PresidentDomingos MonteiroWebsitehttp://federacaosantomensefutebol.st/ The São Toméan Football Federation (Portuguese: Federação Santomense de Futebol — FSF) is the governing body of football in São Tomé and Príncipe. It was founded on July 11, 1975, affiliated to FIFA and to CAF in 1986. It organises the national football league and the national team. Its head...

Buddusò

Buddusò BuddusòKomuneComune di BuddusòLokasi Buddusò di Provinsi SassariNegaraItaliaWilayah SardiniaProvinsiSassari (SS)Pemerintahan • Wali kotaGiovanni Antonio SattaLuas • Total176,84 km2 (68,28 sq mi)Ketinggian700 m (2,300 ft)Populasi (2016) • Total3,871[1]Zona waktuUTC+1 (CET) • Musim panas (DST)UTC+2 (CEST)Kode pos07020Kode area telepon079Situs webhttp://www.comune.budduso.ot.it Buddusò (bahasa Sard...

 

Siger

Siger (bahasa Sunda: ᮞᮤᮌᮦᮁ, translit. sigeur) adalah perhiasan kepala khas Indonesia (yang lazimnya dikenakan oleh wanita) yang umumnya dibuat dari bahan logam (emas, perak, tembaga, kuningan, dsb), berbentuk melekuk dan terkadang menyerupai fauna (terutama kerbau dan burung), dan terkadang dihiasi dengan batu permata.[1] Mempelai wanita sedang mengenakan siger khas suku Sunda Salah satu tipe siger khas suku Jawa Terminologi Istilah siger secara etimologinya merupak...

 

Chinese palace

Imperial complex in China This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Chinese palace – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Hall of Supreme Harmony within the Forbidden City of Beijing A Chinese palace is an imperial complex where the court, ...

باريشفيل (نيويورك)

باريشفيل الإحداثيات 44°35′53″N 74°51′00″W / 44.598055555556°N 74.85°W / 44.598055555556; -74.85   [1] تقسيم إداري  البلد الولايات المتحدة[2]  التقسيم الأعلى مقاطعة سانت لورنس  خصائص جغرافية  المساحة 101.43 ميل مربع  ارتفاع 336 متر  عدد السكان  عدد السكان 2038 (1 أبريل 2...

 

Parliament of Madagascar

Legislative body of Madagascar This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.Find sources: Parliament of Madagascar – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Parliament of Madagascar Parlement de MadagascarTypeTypeBicameral HousesNational AssemblySenateSeat...

 

CECXG

Chemical compound CECXGIdentifiers IUPAC name 2-(1'SR,2'SR,3'SR)-2'-carboxy-3'-ethylcyclopropyl-2-(9-xanthylmethyl)glycine PubChem CID44329042ChemSpider28190823 NChemical and physical dataFormulaC22H23NO5Molar mass381.428 g·mol−13D model (JSmol)Interactive image SMILES c4cccc2c4Oc3ccccc3C2CC(N)(C(O)=O)C1C(C(=O)O)C1CC InChI InChI=1S/C22H23NO5/c1-2-12-18(20(24)25)19(12)22(23,21(26)27)11-15-13-7-3-5-9-16(13)28-17-10-6-4-8-14(15)17/h3-10,12,15,18-19H,2,11,23H2,1H3,(H,24,25)(H,26,27)/...

BuddyPress

BuddyPress 開発元 John Jacoby, Paul Gibbs, Boone Georges, Andy Peatling 最新版 5.1.0 / 2019年12月7日 (4年前) (2019-12-07)対応OS クロスプラットフォームプラットフォーム PHP, MySQL種別 ブログ、ソーシャル・ネットワーク・サービスライセンス GNU General Public License version 2公式サイト http://buddypress.org/テンプレートを表示 BuddyPressはAutomattic社が2008年から開発したオープンソースのソーシャ�...

 

Andrzej Mostowski

Polish mathematician Andrzej MostowskiMostowski in 1973Born(1913-11-01)1 November 1913Lemberg, Austria-HungaryDied22 August 1975(1975-08-22) (aged 61)Vancouver, British Columbia, CanadaNationalityPolishAlma materUniversity of WarsawKnown forArithmetical hierarchyMostowski collapse lemmaMostowski modelScientific careerFieldsMathematicsInstitutionsUniversity of WarsawDoctoral advisorsKazimierz KuratowskiAlfred TarskiDoctoral studentsAndrzej EhrenfeuchtMoshé MachoverHelena Rasiow...