Paul Robeson - America's low octave

[agnosticnixie]

Deep bass voices like his are so rare. And to think he spent his last yeast sick from the stress of being kept a virtual prisoner in the US (he wasn't even allowed to cross the Mexican and Canadian borders, which at the time were open borders).

[LorentzElena32]

who else from today Afro-american youth is looking to express themselves in this magistral way?

[auroradawn23]

Thank you so much for uploading this! Beautiful song sung by a truly golden voice.

[MrNikodemus2]

a legend. the greatest bass ever.

[SatoTM2]

only 1 octave away xD...

[KareemAbawi]

He sounds just like my father... xD

[LightlyFried]

thats average deep....still good

[MinisterKGB]

Spasiba tovarish Veliky chelovek Paul! vy istinni kommunyst !

[acornnut1]

Wonderful! Thanks for your post.

[DanialWali]

is that einstein at 2:19?

[Dalek1230]

@DanialWali i think so

[CainTheMain]

@DanialWali Holy Crap, I think it is.

[soadrocks4]

@DanialWali ya

[soakchips]

john brown knew what needed to be done.

[abelitro12]

Warfield sang this song in the 1951 film version of Show Boat. I never forgot his voice and the song after seeing the movie...

[escobarsfriend]

the politics was the almost the only thing he sung about kiplingfan :D

[TheSnakeSkull]

I myself am also a bass singer, and believe me, it is a great feeling to be singing in bass. Sure, singing in a higher octave, such as tenor, is okay, but it stands nowhere to the fun of basso.

[raigekimaru]

I'm a baritone so I get a bit of both worlds. high notes can be fun too (when I go up to the A in Largo Al Factotum I feel like a bad ass) but it depends on your preference.

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru Or we miss out on both the high and the low Cs. =D But it is nice to find a baritone who sees the glass half full. xD

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

tenor high Cs are over rated. unless you're talking about Corelli or Bjorling, I think the most thrilling, dramatic notes in the tenor voice are A, Bb and B. most tenors tend to loose a lot of color and vocal weight on the high C and C# and sound thin, strangled or disconnected

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru Fair enough, though I don't think Pavarotti lost any timbre 'til the high D, and Juan Diego Flores can go up to E-flat and still sound great (though he's a Rossini tenor, so I guess that's not fair - that's like talking about Vladimir Miller as a typical bass =D). I'm a young baritone, so I can hit the A quickly in a scale, but I can't really sing it. About when did the high A manifest itself for you?

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

how did I forget Pavarotti? =D

well, I'm 20 at the moment, I would say I've had it since about 17. currently I think I'm more of a bass-baritone (I have an unusually dark, loud voice and my timbre is like a bass) but I'm hoping to be a dramatic baritone when I get older (don't wanna push my luck with that now though lol heard of too many great voices going by the wayside that way)

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru Seventeen? Wow, that's really high, really early for a baritone - you may end up as a dramatic tenor (like Araiza, who supposedly started as a bass-baritone, too). =D

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

it's possible, but my voice would have to change significantly. as it is now, I'm comfortable playing around with Rossini/Verdi bass roles (nothing serious of course, I don't want to destroy my chords lol)

[Taenyr]

@raigekimaru It sounds like you might be a young Sam Ramey. Jerome Hines said he was something between a bass and a baritone - but without the distinctive Germanic timbre of the "bass-baritone." As it happens, he is best known for his Rossini (and his many villainous roles, but I've heard him called a "Rossini" bass). How low can you sing - as in, project with color?

[raigekimaru]

@Taenyr

my timbre is definitely Italianate. it's warm and extremely dark as opposed to steely, bright and piercing like a Germanic voice. what's your voice like?

[peddletoneG]

Abso-freakin'-lutely!! I'd rather be an unknown bass in a so-so group than the best tenor soloist in the world to a colleague. Bass singing is the best. If you can't do it, you never know the feeling of your ribs moving your whole torso with those internal sonic hugs. You might hum your low notes, maybe your lowest scale, while hugging a gal who's ear is against your chest sometime. But Mr Robeson must have been something to hear in person!!

[mayflash67]

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,

The stars above in Heaven now are looking kindly down,

His soul goes marching on

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah

His soul goes marching on.

[mayflash67]

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave,

John Brown's body lies a-mouldering in the grave, But his soul goes marching on.

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah,

Glory, glory, hallelujah

His soul goes marching on.

[thisbetterbevalid]

There's a video of me singing this one time (when I had a cold) down an octave. It's called "John Brown's Body and Abide With Me".

[mayflash67]

What a voice! Very nice!!!!!

[raigekimaru]

this piece is made for a bass.

[kiplingfan1971]

Spasiba tovarich Robeson. His politics got in the way of his popularity in his time and in ours. But his voice in and of itself is amazing.

[TheObeahMan]

funny you should say that, i can't stand kipling because he was a right-wing racist ;)

oh and that he pressured his son into getting killed in ww1

and he was a dick

:P

[kiplingfan1971]

Just because you have a god given voice doesn't mean you have any common sense. A black communist in love with Stalinist Russia? Wasn't the brightest decision.

[tintintabulations]

@kiplingfan1971 At the time (1930s), when your country hated your guts (look up "the nadir of American race relations"), it actually did make sense. Many honorable, well-meaning people were tricked by the Soviets.

[CaptainBeetheart]

@kiplingfan1971 Paul Robeson was just a good voice to you? The man attended Rutgers and was valedictorian of his class there, and later went to Columbia Law School. Don't pretend he was stupid. Robeson criticised Stalin from the stage in the Soviet Union. Look it up. 

[QuarantaSette47]

@CaptainBeetheart If that were true, Stalin would have his tongue as a lucky charm, because Stalin was just creepy like that.

[CaptainBeetheart]

@QuarantaSette47 Evidently not, as it IS true and Robeson was buried with tongue in tact.

[spritjoggle]

@kiplingfan1971 Who should he have been in love with? His tormentors in the USA? He was not 'in love' with Stalinist Russia, he was with the reformers. He thought the American right were a bigger danger to world peace than Stalin. He wasn't far wrong.

[auroradawn23]

@spritjoggle Not just the American "far right", but also Fascism in Europe. Robeson like many progressive Americans and Western Europeans was first attracted to Communism in the 1930s, a few years before the show trials, when it wasn't yet clear to most that Stalin was also committing crimes. Many at that time viewed Communism as the only force that could defeat rising Fascism in Europe and racism in America. It wasn't just Robeson who held those views; many prominent figures held similar views.

[LanceCampeau]

What a masterful voice... If it were not for recordings like this today's youth would never know what real talent sounded like.

[NWKBricks1]

Great athlete, singer, actor, and activist.

[littlegreymen]

my favourite fellow traveller.

[Anglagard1]

I'm sorry, I accidentally gave you the wrong thumb sign. Although I feel more like a follower than a fellow traveler.

[nadireon]

awesome!!!

[Tristan1947]

a TRUE COMRADE WITH THE VOICE FROM HIS SLAVERY lands !!!!!!u.s.a.

[222mozart]

No !

James Earl Jones sounds like he.

[atticusbass92]

He sounds liek James Earl Jones

[pelageja23]

*****5*****

Very very nice!!!

[patukott]

It has also been said that, in terms of opera, bass means different things, depending on whether it is an Italian or Russian one, i.e. that Boris Godunov's mad scene is written for a distinctly lower voice than, say, "La calunnia". Haha, somebody is trying to display her scant erudition:)

[michaelwalsh1234]

Paul Robeson is the Daddy

[chowman007]

I would classify him as a Bass-baritone. He reminds me of Tennessee Ernie Ford, Beverly Shea, etc. Not Gerome Hines.

[cambrasmacho]

I guess not!

[mrtyles]

i must have an incredibly deep voice because even this is high for me.

[unclelance]

yeah they are low enough to be classified as bass i believe..i mean yeah of course there are lower singers..but yeah he's a bass definitely.

[hend1970rix]

your a loser.

[hend1970rix]

your a loser.

[haleyfan]

Beautiful Voice.

Great man

[dogtransport]

Why does he only do two verses? Too much "glory, glory, hallelujah."

[musicmaster333]

oh wow - can anyone do this better, I think not. Thanks for posting

[flysten]

Its the best version of have found ^__^

[pittville1]

What a wonerful voice, When you hear todays music by drugged up groups, you must ask youself, what generation had the cream, and what generation had the crap, Robeson a man for all seasons....

[ggghrz]

Great, great, great. Thanks for posting.

[lasalleman]

Great singer, fine man.