Paul Robeson

My good friend Tully Potter posts about that great American singer Paul Robeson. Tully remarks on performances of Ol' Man River - and I am back in the Blue Hall in the Edgware Road. It's a 1930s Saturday afternoon matinee. Price of admission 4d. There on the screen, larger than life, is Paul Robeson in a prettily staged scene. Mississippi paddle boat being loaded with big bales of goods. The black and white film has its own particular lustre. 'Showboat' I think it was called.

'Get a little drunk, and you land in jail.'

Then there was King Solomon's Mines. Set in Africa.

AND ... there was How Green Was My Valley, which I saw in Caerphilly. Very appropriate because the film was set in Caerphilly. The local male voice choir is rehearsing for a big concert. It's Mendelssohn's 'Elijah'. And the singers are desolate because they have no bass soloist. They sing the lead-in - and stop. And, at that very crucial moment, this magnificent bass voice sweeps in from the street. "O Father Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." For a moment all in the hall is still and silent. Then they rush to the windows.

After all these years, the memory still plays on the heartstrings.

fc oxon 2017 august 19