Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River

Subject: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 04:04 AM

Wall Street Journal, Weekend edition, December 13, 2014
"The Other National Anthem"

"Written to be sung by a black deckhand, 'Ol' Man River' is so well known out of context that it is virtually a folk song."

A Book Review By ETHAN MORDDEN
(INTRO. Only)
Before 'Oklahoma!,' "My Fair Lady," and "Gypsy," there was Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein's "Show Boat" (1927), the very first Great American Musical. The epic tale of a theater dynasty, traversing some 40 years as it moves from the Deep South to Chicago and back, "Show Boat" invented a format so bizarre that it was never used again: a musical comedy with the serious subject matter of a play (miscegenation, racism, family abandonment, alcoholism) and the passions of an operetta.

Further, "Show Boat" used its score to.......



Oxford University Press with a plethora of sound clips annotating the book.

you need to add your own. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol to the following.to create the link

                global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199389186/

Sincererly,
Gargoyle

for good reason guests cannot post direct hyper links.
This collection of clips is worth a good browse.

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 05:24 AM

Stan Freberg.

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: Mr Red
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 05:26 AM

call me a pedant but shouldn't that be Ol' Man River or even Ribber

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: squeezeboxhp
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 10:50 AM

Johm Bromley of Kimbers Men

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 10:57 AM

http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199389186/

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 11:39 AM

Hello, Squeezeboxhp. What a coincidence. I met Kimber's Men at the Portsoy Wooden Festival six months ago. They are a fine group, and if John Bromley is the cook with brown hair, I agree with you about Old Man River. What a beautiful, strong, warm bass voice he has.

The Journal reporter seems to think that a song becomes a folk song merely because a lot of folks know it. Wrong! This song is too challenging to be a folk song.
=========
I tried watching 'Show Boat' on DVD once. I couldn't stand it.

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: Bonnie Shaljean
Date: 18 Dec 14 - 01:21 PM

Nice site, Garg. Cheers -

Sincerestly, Bonnie

http://global.oup.com/us/companion.websites/9780199389186/

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: GUEST,.gargoyle
Date: 19 Dec 14 - 04:37 AM

The book is reviewed as one of the best of 2014'

A partial list of performers singing the song linked within the chapters.
Ray Charles
Aretha Franklin
The Caravans
Abner Jay
The Persuasions
Bill Pinkney and the Original Drifters
The Earls
The Flamingos
Delta Rhythm Boys 1957
Golden Gate Quartet 1938
The Revelers; 1928
ackie "Moms" Mabley, live recording; 1964
Mae Barnes, with Jo Jones, Buck Clayton, and Ray Bryant; 1958
The Ink Spots; 1959
Sammy Davis Jr., live 1958
Cab Calloway, live on television on The Ed Sullivan Show; 1964
Judy Garland, live on television on The Judy Garland Show; 1964
Potliquor 1970
Child 1968
The Jeff Beck Group, with Rod Stewart, vocal 1968
Cher
The Righteous Brothers 1965
Charlie Rich, 1964
Elvis Presley; 1968
Floyd Cramer 1963
Joe Williams 1965
Lou Rawls 1963
Albert Ayler 1964
Dave Brubeck Quartet 1959
The Dukes of Dixieland 1959
Andre Previn 1959
Lester Lanin and his Orchestra 1957
Al Hibbler, with the Ellingtonians
Frank Sinatra 1943, 1963, 1959 1994
Bing Crosby 1945
Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton
Silvertones, with Tommy McCook and the Supersonics
The All-American Boys Chorus 1997
Fred Waring and his Pennsylvanians, with Frank Davis 1946, 1950, 1960
Berlin Philharmonic Horn Quartet 2011
Jerry Thomas and his Hawaiian Orchestra, with Marcel Bianchi, Hawaiian guitar; 1945
Screamin' Jay Hawkins (LP: Black Music for White People); 1997
-Lawrence Tibbett
Cootie Williams and his Rug Cutters
Count Basie and his Orchestra 1966
The Tune Weavers; 1957
The Satisfactions; 1970
The Pied Pipers, with Paul Weston Orchestra; 1942
Camp Meeting Jamboree," Mills Blue Rhythm Band; 1937
Paul Robeson, with orchestra of the London Show Boat; 1928
(and fifteen more recording showing how Robeson evolved/changed the song)

So many, many more sound recording linked at the site.

Sincerely,
Gargoyle

What an astounding time to be alive.

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: kendall
Date: 19 Dec 14 - 08:45 AM

After Paul Robeson, no one.

Stan Freberg's United states of America is one of the funniest things ever recorded.

Subject: RE: Review: Who Should sing O'l Man River
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 19 Dec 14 - 09:54 AM

Willard White did a pretty damn good job in the London production opposite Cleo Laine a few (quite a few!) years ago- we saw it twice.

Rts