Paul Robeson—African-American bass-baritone, stage and film actor, All-American football player, lawyer, and advocate for civil rights—was outspoken against racism, colonialism, and social injustice. Rutgers graduate, scholar of world cultures, and speaker of more than 20 languages, he worked tirelessly to break down political and racial barriers, and to build bridges between the peoples of this world. However, with the advent of the Cold War and the Red Scare following World War II, the political climate changed. Doors began to close for Robeson as concert halls and radio stations shut him out. In July 1950, the US State Department revoked the blacklisted artist’s passport thus preventing him from pursuing his successful international career as a singer and actor. But international audiences continued to honor and call out for him, and he found technologically advanced and effective ways to reach his communities all over the world.

Today, his remarkable voice and unrivaled stage presence live on in sound recordings and films. This 14-CD edition is the first ever release of his complete Columbia, Victor, and HMV recordings from 1925 to 1947. All of his American recordings have been meticulously restored from the original master discs and tapes, and 25 studio recordings—as well as his complete historic New York and London recitals from 1958—are here presented for the first time on CD. The richly illustrated 160-page book, with essays by Shana L. Redmond and Susan Robeson, pays tribute to a cultural icon of the 20th century.

FEATURES:

• The ultimate tribute to Paul Robeson, singer, stage and film actor, all-american football player, lawyer, and advocate for civil rights
• Blacklisted and erased from American history, many of Robeson’s recordings in the U.S. remained unreleased – until now
• Special 14-CD edition, documenting his complete major-label discography, recorded 1925–1947
• First release of Robeson’s groundbreaking Victor recordings on CD, 16 recordings reissued for the first time, 5 previously unreleased
• First restoration of Robeson’s famous 1944 Othello stage production with Uta Hagen and José Ferrer from the original 33 master disc sides
• His complete remastered Columbia albums (Songs of Free Men, Popular Favorites, Spirituals)
• First release of his historic 1958 recitals at Mother A.M.E. Zion Church, New York, and Royal Albert Hall, with 30 previously unissued recordings
• Richly illustrated 160-page book with essays by Shana L. Redmond and Susan Robeson, a wealth of photos and facsimiles from the archives of The Paul Robeson Trust, the Academy of the Arts, Berlin, and Columbia Records, plus complete discographical notes

PAUL ROBESON / VOICE OF FREEDOM: HIS COMPLETE COLUMBIA, RCA, HMV

Track List

1. Were You There? (When They Crucified my Lord) (2024 Remastered Version)
2. Steal Away (2024 Remastered Version)
3. Water Boy (2024 Remastered Version)
4. Joshua fit the Battle ob Jericho (2024 Remastered Version)
5. Bye and Bye (I'm Goin' to Lay Down Dis Heavy Load) (2024 Remastered Version)
6. Water Boy (2024 Remastered Version)
7. Li'l Gal (2024 Remastered Version)
8. I'll Hear the Trumpet Sound (2024 Remastered Version)
9. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (2024 Remastered Version)
10. On Ma Journey (2024 Remastered Version)
11. Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen (2024 Remastered Version)
12. Swing Low Sweet Chariot (2024 Remastered Version)
13. Down de Lover's Lane (2024 Remastered Version)
14. Hear de Lam's a-Cryin' (2024 Remastered Version)
15. Ezekiel Saw de Wheel (2024 Remastered Version)
16. Deep River (2024 Remastered Version)
17. I'm Goin' to Tell God All O' My Troubles (2024 Remastered Version)
18. I Got a Home in-a dat Rock (2024 Remastered Version)
19. Witness (2024 Remastered Version)
20. Ol' Man River (From "Show Boat") (2024 Remastered Version)
21. Ballad for Americans (2024 Remastered Version)
22. I Got a Home in-a dat Rock (2024 Remastered Version)
23. Witness (2024 Remastered Version)
24. Ol' Man River (From "Show Boat")
25. Since You Went Away "Seems Lak To Me"
26. Down De Lover's Lane
27. Scandalize My Name
28. Sinner Please Doan' Let dis Harves' Pass
29. Weepin' Mary
30. I Want to Be Ready
31. My Lord What a Mornin'
32. De Li'l Pickaninny's Gone to Sleep
33. Git on Board Li'l Children
34. Dere's No Hidin' Place
35. Plantation Songs (Part 1): So Early in the Morning - Carry Me Back to Old Virginia - Old Folks at Home - Goodnight Ladies
36. Plantation Songs (Part 2): Away Down South in Dixie - Poor Old Joe - Oh Susanna - My Old Kentucky Home
37. Oh! Rock Me Julie
38. Oh Didn't It Rain
39. Mammy
40. Roll Away Clouds (From "Virginia")
41. Sonny Boy (From the 1928 Lloyd Bacon's Musical Movie "The Singing Fool")
42. Little Pal (From "Say It with Songs")
43. The Lonesome Road
44. Just Keepin' On
45. Mighty Lak' a Rose
46. Mammy is Gone
47. Hail De Crown
48. Exhortation
49. I Stood on the Ribber Jordan - Peter Go Ring dem Bells
50. Go Down Moses
51. High Water
52. Old Folks at Home "Swanee River"
53. Poor Old Joe
54. My Old Kentucky Home
55. Show Boat Act 1: "Ol' Man River"
56. River Stay 'way from My Door
57. Rockin' Chair
58. Medley of Spirituals
59. My Heart is Where the Mohawk Flows Tonight
60. The Folks I Used to Know
61. Yes Lord Oh Lord (Variation of "Mary Had a Baby")
62. Lil' Gal
63. Bear De Burden - All God's Chillun Got Wing
64. That's Why Darkies Were Born (From "George White's Scandals of 1931")
65. When It's Sleepy Time Down South (From the 1931 William A. Wellman's Movie "Safe in Hell")
66. Seekin'
67. Nearer My God to Thee
68. There is a Green Hill Far Away
69. Mah Lindy Lou
70. Ma Curly-Headed Babby
71. Pilgrim's Song
72. Roll the Old Chariot Along
73. Since You Went Away
74. Wid De Moon Moon Moon
75. Got the South in My Soul
76. Hush-a-bye Lullaby "Rock-a-bye Baby"
77. Round the Bend of the Road
78. Take Me Away from the River "Song from the Viper"
79. Swing Low Sweet Chariot
80. On Ma Journey
81. Bye and Bye - I'm Goin' to Lay Down dis Heavy Load
82. Were You There?
83. Swing Along!
84. Piccaninny Shoes
85. In a Narrow Street
86. Carry Me Back to Green Pastures
87. Lazy Bones
88. Blue Prelude
89. Medley I Pt. 1: Roll De Ole Chariot - Mary Had a Baby - Swing Low - Heav'n Heav'n
90. Medley I Pt. 2: Carry me Back - Mighty Lak' a Rose - Round the Bend of the Road - River Stay 'Way From my Door - O'l Man River
91. Fat Li'l Feller wid His Mammy's Eyes
92. Short'nin' Bread
93. Snowball
94. Water Boy
95. Doan' You Cry Ma Honey
96. Steal Away
97. Scarecrow
98. Wagon Wheels
99. So Shy
100. Piccaninny Slumber Song
101. St. Louis Blues
102. Mammy's Little Kinky-Headed Boy
103. Little Man You've Had a Busy Day
104. I Ain't Lazy I'm Just Dreamin'
105. Bandanna Ballads Op. 22: IV. The Banjo Song
106. Medley II: Lazy Bones - Scarecrow - Fat Li'l Feller - Wagon Wheels - Deep River - Ma Curly-Headed Baby - Carry Me Back to Green Pastures - Old Folks at Home
107. Love Song (From "Sanders of the River")
108. Congo Lullaby (From "Sanders of the River")
109. Canoe Song (From "Sanders of the River")
110. Killing Song (From "Sanders of the River")
111. Shenandoah
112. Jes' Mah Song
113. De Ole Ark's A-Movering
114. Ezekiel Saw De Wheel
115. Joshua Fit De Battle Ob Jericho
116. Honey Dat's All
117. Gloomy Sunday "Hungarian Suicide Song"
118. Ol' Man River (From "Show Boat")
119. Ah Still Suits Me (From "Show Boat")
120. Sleepy River (From "Song of Freedom")
121. Lonely Road (From "Song of Freedom")
122. Song of Freedom (From "Song of Freedom")
123. The Black Emperor (From "Song of Freedom")
124. Mam'selle Marie
125. Dere's No Hidin' Place Down Dere
126. Oh! No John!
127. Passing By: "There is a Lady Sweet and Kind"
128. Hammer Song
129. Li'l David
130. My Way (From "Jericho")
131. Golden River (From "Jericho")
132. The Wagon Song "Ho! Ho!" (From "King Solomon's Mines")
133. The Mountain Song "Climbing up" (From "King Solomon's Mines")
134. Lazin' (From "Big Fella")
135. I Don't Know What's Wrong (From "Big Fella")
136. Roll up Sailorman (From "Big Fella")
137. You Didn't Oughta Do Such Things (From "Big Fella")
138. Deep Desert (From "Jericho")
139. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
140. Minstrel Man
141. The Wanderer
142. Dere's a Man Goin' Round' Takin' Names
143. No More Auction Block
144. Work All de Summer
145. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?
146. Silent Night Holy Night
147. All Through the Night
148. Solitude
149. Mood Indigo
150. Summertime (From "Porgy and Bess")
151. It Take a Long Pull to Get There (From "Porgy and Bess")
152. It Ain't Necessarily So (From "Porgy and Bess")
153. A Woman Is a Sometime Thing (From "Porgy and Bess")
154. 7 Songs as Unpretentious as the Wild Rose: 3. Just A-Wearyin' For You
155. At Dawning
156. Song of the Volga Boatmen
157. An Eriskay Love-Lilt
158. Encantadora Maria
159. Goin' to Ride Up in de Chariot
160. Every Time I Feel de Spirit
161. Lay Down Late
162. Forgotten in E-Flat Minor
163. David of the White Rock
164. Trees
165. Songs My Mother Taught Me Op. 55 No. 4
166. Loch Lomond
167. Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes
168. Down de Lovers' Lane
169. Berceuse Op. 1 No 5
170. O Thou Silent Night
171. The Little Black Boy (From "Songs of Innocence")
172. Dear Old Southland
173. Jerusalem (And Did Those Feet in Ancient Time)
174. The Blind Ploughman
175. The Cobbler's Song (From "Chu Chin Chow - A Musical Tale of the East)
176. Oh Could I But Express in Song
177. Love At My Heart
178. Nothin'
179. The Rosary: "The hours I spent with thee dear heart"
180. A Perfect Day
181. Absent: "Sometimes between long shadows on the grass"
182. Black Eyes Russian Gipsy Song
183. Oh Promise Me (From "Robin Hood")
184. Plaisir d'amour
185. Sylvia
186. She is Far from the Land (Irish Folk Song)
187. Thora
188. Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
189. Sea Fever: "I must go down to the seas again" (Lento)
190. Ebenezer "Ton-y Botel"
191. Land of My Fathers
192. Deep River
193. Lord God of Abraham - Baal Chorus (From "Elijah")
194. Quiet Flows the Don: From Border to Border (2024 Remastered Version)
195. Quiet Flows the Don: Oh How Proud Our Quiet Don (2024 Remastered Version)
196. No for an Answer: The Purest Kind of Guy (Joe's Birhday Song) (2024 Remastered Version)
197. Joe Hill (2024 Remastered Version)
198. The Peat-Bog Soldiers (2024 Remastered Version)
199. The Four Insurgent Generals - Spanish Folk Song (2024 Remastered Version)
200. Song of the Plains "Meadowland" (2024 Remastered Version)
201. Native Land "Shiroka strana moya rodnaya" (2024 Remastered Version)
202. Balm in Gilead (2024 Remastered Version)
203. Chassidic Chant (2024 Remastered Version)
204. Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Israel (From "Elijah Op. 70") (2024 Remastered Version)
205. Berceuse Op. 1 No 5 (2024 Remastered Version)
206. Sunless: 1. Within Four Walls (2024 Remastered Version)
207. Song of the Plains "Meadowland" (2024 Remastered Version)
208. Ol' Man River (From the Film "Show Boat") (2024 Remastered Version)
209. Ah Still Suits Me (From the Film "Show Boat") (2024 Remastered Version)
210. Ma Curly-Headed Babby (2024 Remastered Version)
211. Mah Lindy Lou (2024 Remastered Version)
212. The House I Live in (2024 Remastered Version)
213. Wagon Wheels (2024 Remastered Version)
214. Sylvia (2024 Remastered Version)
215. It Ain't Necessarily So (From "Porgy and Bess") (2024 Remastered Version)
216. King Joe "Joe Louis Blues" (2024 Remastered Version)
217. Ol' Man River (From "Show Boat") (2024 Remastered Version)
218. Go Down Moses (2024 Remastered Version)
219. Balm in Gilead (2024 Remastered Version)
220. Bye and Bye (2024 Remastered Version)
221. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (2024 Remastered Version)
222. John Henry (2024 Remastered Version)
223. Water Boy (2024 Remastered Version)
224. Nobody Knows de Trouble I've Seen (2024 Remastered Version)
225. Joshua Fit de Battle ob Jericho (2024 Remastered Version)
226. Swing Low Sweet Chariot (2024 Remastered Version)
227. Every Time I Feel The Spirit (2024 Remastered Version)
228. I Got A Home In Dat Rock (2024 Remastered Version)
229. Gimme Your Han' (2024 Remastered Version)
230. No More Auction Block (2024 Remastered Version)
231. Great Gettin' Up Morning (2024 Remastered Version)
232. Hear Da Lam's A Cryin' (2024 Remastered Version)
233. Goin' to Ride Up in de Chariot (2024 Remastered Version)
234. I'll Hear the Trumpet Sound (2024 Remastered Version)
235. Ezekial Saw De Wheel (2024 Remastered Version)
236. Poor Wayfarin' Stranger (2024 Remastered Version)
237. Hammer Song (2024 Remastered Version)
238. Dere's a Man Goin' Round (2024 Remastered Version)
239. I Know de Lord (2024 Remastered Version)
240. Git on Board Li'l Children (2024 Remastered Version)
241. L'il David (2024 Remastered Version)
242. Over the Mountain - Love will find Out the Way (2024 Remastered Version)
243. Balm in Gilead (2024 Remastered Version)
244. Freedom - Moravian Hussite Hymn (2024 Remastered Version)
245. A Mighty Fortress Is Our God BWV 80 (2024 Remastered Version)
246. Ode to Joy "Choral Section of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9" (2024 Remastered Version)
247. Oh No John! (2024 Remastered Version)
248. An Eriskay Love Lilt (2024 Remastered Version)
249. In a Place Far Far Away "Chinese Folk Song" (2024 Remastered Version)
250. Comments on Languages and Music of Many Lands (2024 Remastered Version)
251. Borris Godunov Act IV Scene 2: "Gospodi! Gospodi! Vozzri molyu" (2024 Remastered Version)
252. Othello the Moor of Venice: "Soft you a word or two before you go" (2024 Remastered Version)
253. Introduction of Lawrence Brown (2024 Remastered Version)
254. Didn't my Lord Deliver Daniel? (2024 Remastered Version)
255. Swing Low Sweet Chariot (2024 Remastered Version)
256. No More Auction Block (2024 Remastered Version)
257. Water Boy (2024 Remastered Version)
258. The Four Insurgent Generals (2024 Remastered Version)
259. We Are Climbing Jacob's Ladder (2024 Remastered Version)
260. Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child (2024 Remastered Version)
261. How Does the Keyser Live (2024 Remastered Version)
262. Mexican Lullaby (2024 Remastered Version)
263. Closing Thanks (2024 Remastered Version)
264. The Ballad of Joe Hill (2024 Remastered Version)
265. House I Live In (2024 Remastered Version)
266. Balm in Gilead (2024 Remastered Version)
267. L'amour de moi (2024 Remastered Version)
268. Symphony No. 9: Ode to Joy (2024 Remastered Version)
269. The Orphan Girl (2024 Remastered Version)
270. Chassidic Chant (2024 Remastered Version)
271. Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel? (2024 Remastered Version)
272. Swing Low Sweet Chariot (2024 Remastered Version)
273. Every Time I Feel the Spirit (2024 Remastered Version)
274. I'll Hear the Trumpet Sound (2024 Remastered Version)
275. Ezekiel Saw the Wheel (2024 Remastered Version)
276. No More Auction Block (2024 Remastered Version)
277. Scandalize My Name (2024 Remastered Version)
278. Git on Board Li'l Children (2024 Remastered Version)
279. How does the Czar Live (2024 Remastered Version)
280. An Eriskay Love Lilt (2024 Remastered Version)
281. An Eriskay Love Lilt - Encore (2024 Remastered Version)
282. Song of the Volga Boatman (2024 Remastered Version)
283. Song of the Volga Boatman - Encore (2024 Remastered Version)
284. Water Boy (2024 Remastered Version)
285. Oh No John (2024 Remastered Version)
286. Oh Thou Silent Autumn Night (2024 Remastered Version)
287. The Ballad of Joe Hill (2024 Remastered Version)
288. Ol' Man River (2024 Remastered Version)
289. Let the Rail Splitter Awake - Pablo Neruda (2024 Remastered Version)
290. Othello Act I Scene 1: Venice. A Street "Tush! never tell me" (2024 Remastered Version)
291. Othello Act I Scene 2: "Though in the trade of war I have slain men" (2024 Remastered Version)
292. Othello Act I Scene 3:"Here comes Brabantio and the valiant Moor" (2024 Remastered Version)
293. Othello Act II Scene 1: "The Moor! I know his trumpet!" (2024 Remastered Version)
294. Othello Act II Scene 3: "Welome Iago - we must to the watch" (2024 Remastered Version)
295. Othello Act III Scene 3: "Madam I'll take my leave" (2024 Remastered Version)
296. Othello Act III Scene 4: "Emilia where should I lose that hankerchief?" (2024 Remastered Version)
297. Othello Act IV Scene 1: "Will you think so?" (2024 Remastered Version)
298. Othello Act IV Scene 2: "You have seen nothing then" (2024 Remastered Version)
299. Othello Act IV Scene 3: "How goes it now" (2024 Remastered Version)
300. Othello Act V Scene 2: "It is the cause" (2024 Remastered Version)