 | This article is written like a review. (February 2024) |
| "Ol' Man River" | |
|---|---|
 Sheet music for the song | |
| Single by Paul Whiteman and His Concert Orchestra with Paul Robeson and Mixed Chorus | |
| Written | 1925 |
| Published | 1927 T. B. Harms Co.[1][2] |
| Released | May 1927[3] |
| Recorded | March 1, 1928[4] |
| Studio | Liederkranz Hall, New York City |
| Genre | Show tune |
| Label | Victor 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]
- ^ ""Ol' Man River"". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Victor 35912 (Black label (popular) 12-in. double-faced) - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Retrieved 2021-08-15.
- ^ "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.
- ^ The Broadway League. "Show Boat - IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information".
- ^ Maslon, Laurence (13 October 2004). Broadway: The American Musical: Michael Kantor and Laurence Maslon: 9780821229057: Amazon.com: Books. Bulfinch. ISBN 0-8212-2905-2.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved April 30, 2017.
- ^ "Public Domain Day 2023 | Duke University School of Law". web.law.duke.edu.