Songs of Free Men is a studio album by Paul Robeson, recorded in early 1942 and released on Columbia Masterworks in 1943.
| Songs of Free Men | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1943 | |||
| Recorded | 1942 | |||
| Label | Columbia Masterworks | |||
| Paul Robeson chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard | Positive[1] |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Billboard |  [2] |
Track listing
editThe album was originally issued in 1943 as a set of four 10-inch 78-r.p.m. records, catalog number MM 543.[3]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Comments | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "From Border to Border" (from Quiet Flows the Don) | Dzerzhinky | Sung in English and Russian | |
| 2. | "Oh, How Proud Our Quiet Don" (from Quiet Flows the Don) | Dzerzhinky | Sung in English and Russian | |
| 3. | "The Purest Kind of a Guy" ("Joe's Birthday Song" from No for an Answer) | Blitzstein | Sung in English | |
| 4. | "Joe Hill" | Sung in English | ||
| 5. | "The Peat-Bog Soldiers" ("Moorsoldaten": song from a German concentration camp) | Sung in English and German | ||
| 6. | "The Four Insurgent Generals" (Spanish loyalist song) | Arr. Eisler | Sung in English and Spanish | |
| 7. | "Native Land" | Dunayevsky | Sung in Russian and English | |
| 8. | "Song of the Plains" (Red Army song) | Arr. Knipper | Sung in English and Russian |
Charts
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | [4] |
In 1998, the album had a re-release on CD with 17 additional tracks including "Ol' Man River" from Showboat.[5] It charted on Billboard's classical albums chart at number 47.[6] Later, in the critics' poll published at the end of the year, the magazine's editor-in-chief Timothy White would list it among the best albums of 1998, at number 10 (tied with another Robeson's album, The Peace Arc Concerts).[7]
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Top Classical Albums (Billboard)[6] | 47 |
References
edit- ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 27 March 1943. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 21 December 1968. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 7 April 2023.
- ^ "Paul Robeson - Songs Of Free Men". Discogs. Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
- ^ "Paul Robeson - Songs of Free Men: Recital". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 2023-04-09. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
- ^ "Paul Robeson - Songs Of Free Men". Archived from the original on 2023-04-07. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via www.discogs.com.
- ^ a b "Paul Robeson Chart History (Top Classical Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
- ^ "Billboard". Nielsen Business Media, Inc. December 26, 1998. Archived from the original on April 22, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023 – via Google Books.
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