warfield sang ol man river in showboat 1951.
warfield sang ol man river in showboat 1951.
who sang ol man river in showboat 1951?
warfield
warfield was also accomplished in acting and poetry recitation. he played the character de lawd in a celebrated hallmark hall of fame television production of the green pastures, a role he played twice on live tv (both versions survive as kinescopes). he appeared in two hollywood films, including a star-making performance as joe in metro-goldwyn-mayer's 1951 technicolor remake of "show boat". his other film was an overlooked item called "old explorers", starring james whitmore and josé ferrer. in a nod to "show boat", warfield played a cameo role as a tugboat captain. footage of warfield in "show boat" has been included in several tv shows and/or films, notably "that's entertainment!". warfield played his "show boat" role in two other productions of the musical – the 1966 lincoln center production, and a 1972 production in vienna. he sang ol' man river in three different record albums of the show – the 1951 motion picture soundtrack album on mgm records, a 1962 studio album featuring barbara cook and john raitt on columbia masterworks, and the rca victor album made from the lincoln center production.
william warfield
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.
ol' man river