Stories about Paul Robeson

Subject: RE: BS: Stories about Paul Robeson
From: GUEST,Com Seangan
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 07:37 AM

We all love Paul Robeson. But don't forget the campaign of hate that was waged against him in the US on account of his alleged Communist leanings. Christopher Lynch (who had toured with him) told me of the organised protest with picket when they arrived for a concert at San Francisco.

They performed to a near empty hall.

Subject: RE: BS: Stories about Paul Robeson
From: freda underhill
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 07:30 AM

hi Hilda

Paul Robeson sang at the Sydney Opera House in November 1960. He was invited there by the builders working on the site (the Building Workers Industrial Union - BWIU). They said they wanted him to be the first person to sing in the Opera House, so he sang under the skeletal roof that was up, to the building workers. They gave him a hard hat with "PAUL" printed on it, and he put it on and sang Joe Hill and other songs. sydney opera house


fred

ps i used to work for the BWIU in the late 80s as a cartoonist/illustrator for their newspaper!

Subject: BS: Stories about Paul Robeson
From: hilda fish
Date: 23 Jan 05 - 05:43 AM

I saw a thing on television last night about Paul Robson and I remember my mother telling me she had met him and that he had sung in the old black theatre in Redfern which at the time wasn't a 'theatre' but a place where homeless, alcoholic and so on Aboriginal people used to doss down. It was an old and very ratty building. And the famous Paul Robson went there and sang to these people! A friend told me recently how he heard Paul Robson singing to a whole lot of workmen in the dug out ditch which was later to become the Sydney Opera House. He said it was amazing - all the workers who had never heard of him, and there he was singing his heart out to them. The whole worksite stopped apparently and was so still that Paul Robson's voice could be heard clearly right across the site, which was massive. For my friend it was one of the most memorable experiences of his life. Even knowing these stories I had no idea that he was so politically active, and so brave, until this documentary I saw last night. Ås a singer he was awesome, but as a human being he now seems to me to be beyond magnificent. Anyone got any more stories about this wonderful singer?