Subject: Lyr Add: OL' MAN RIVER (Hammerstein, Kern, Robeson
From:
Joe Offer
Date: 23 Feb 01 - 02:45 AM
Hi, Fred - I looked around the house for the "Peace Arch Concerts" CD, and it seems to have disappeared. I think he did the Peace Arch concerts in the early 1950's. Here's what I did find:OLD MAN RIVER
(Oscar Hammerstein II, Jerome Kern)
(transcribed from Paul Robeson Recording, November 8, 1947) There's an old man called the Mississippi
That's the old man I don't like to be!
What does he care if the world's got troubles?
What does he care if the land ain't free? Old man river,
That old man river
He must know sumpin'
But don't say nuthin',
He just keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along. He don't plant taters,
He don't plant cotton,
And them that plants 'em
Is soon forgotten,
But old man river,
He just keeps rollin' along. You and me, we sweat and strain,
Body all achin' and racked with pain,
Tote that barge!
And lift that bale!
Get a little drunk (1952: You show a little grit...)
And you lands in jail. But I keeps laughin'
Instead of cryin'
I must keep fightin'
Until I'm dyin'
And old man river,
He just keeps rollin' along. (1952: He'll just keep rollin' along) Source: Paul Robeson Songs of Free Men: A Paul Robeson Recital (Sony Classics CD) A more complete version of the lyrics is in the Digital Tradition database here (click). The dialect in the version in the database is quite strong - on the recording I transcribed from, Robeson has just a light touch of dialect. I also listened to a recording of Robeson performing the song at a 1952 civil rights meeting in Chicago - the 1952 version has two lines different from the 1947 recording, and I've shown the differences in parentheses. I have two early Robeson recordings of the song those are close to the version in the database, with the dialect a little thicker than in the later recordings. Wish I could find the Peace Arch CD. Somebody must not have put it back on the shelf where it belongs - and I'm the only "somebody" I can blame. I hope what I've given will suffice. -Joe Offer-
Well that "somebody" found the Peace Arch CD he misplaced. The concert was May 18, 1952, at Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Washington, one foot from the Canadian border. He was not allowed to travel to Canada because the U.S. had revoked his passport because of his political activities. The version of Ol' Man River is the same as the 1952 Chicago version above, except that he doesn't have the introductory "There's an old man..." verse.
He did a second Peace Arch concert August 16, 1953 - but the CD has no recording of the song from that date.
The sound quality of the Peace Arch CD isn't very good - it's easy to tell it was done outdoors on a temporary stage. The very best Robeson CD I've seen is Songs of Free Men. The sound quality is remarkable. Eight of the 25 cuts were recorded in 1947 with the Columbia Concert Orchestra. The other cuts were recorded with paianist Lawrence Brown in 1942 and 1945.
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