Samuel Ramey " Ol` Man River "

This is the most beautiful version of this song I've ever heard. I have several versdions by Ramey, but this is the best.

Bravo, Samuel Ramey! Bravo! What a voice. What power of interpretation!

!!!WOW,that was Great!!!!

tempo troppo lento...

I like this even more thanthe one with Paul Robeson or William Warfield!

As a person who has no other connection to the USA than an endless admiration for its culture (the part of which are both this song and Ramey) I can say that Samuel Ramey ist one of the greatest basses in the world and that his interpretation of this song (regardless its verbal content and the cultural connotations) is awesome.

There is nothing "Ersatz" or fake about this song. In point of fact, I speak and understand German about as fluently as I do American English. I will stand by my opinions. Paul Robeson being a genuine African American artist was NEVER ashamed to sing this song. In fact, he made it his own during the course of his career. He sang it Truthfully and sincerely.

Wrong on just about every count. The parts in the original productions of Show Boat were NOT played by White people in blackface.The parts were written with the specific performers in mind. This song is NOT written in "ersatz ebonics" but rather the lyrics were written by a talented poet who would go on to write such ethnic oriented shows as "South Pacific", "The King and I", and "Flower Drum Song." The music was written in an american flavor by a european born composer. Ersatz? I think not

I'm sure you're a big fan of minstrel shows.
These other shows you've mentioned just open a huge can of worms. Don't even get me started on "The King and I" -- all these productions -- no wonder Marlon Brando sent Sacheen Littlefeather to refuse his Oscar.
Ok, so you agree that this song wasn't written by Black Americans. Ersatz is a German word... maybe you prefer the word "FAKE"...I'm "wrong on just about every count"? Read Wikipedia. Screw you. Elitist theater person.

Do not DARE to call me elitist. I spent 30 years of my life performing musicals like these honestly and truthfully. I know whereof I speak when I say that Art imitates life. If this is the case, then "Old Man River is as true to life as it gets considering the text of this song and placing it into the context of the African American experience of the late ninteenth century. Nothing "Ersatz" about that