Search - Paul Robeson, Elisabeth Welch :: Songs From Their Films

Paul Robeson is scarcely remembered today, so it is not surprising that American expatriate Elizabeth Welch is all but forgotten except in select British circles. This is most unfortunate, because she was a stage, screen, and cabaret artist of great dignity and musical beauty. Songs from Their Films contains 40 tracks taken from a dozen Robeson films made from 1936 to 1940. The songs here include Robeson classics such as Kern & Hammerstein's "Ol' Man River," the traditional "Water Boy," and the spiritual "Deep River." While these two talents were in full bloom in the pre-World War II era, Robeson and Welch rank as two of the greatest voices of the entire century. --Stanley Booth