The Power And The Glory

Paul Robeson | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 2, 1991)
• Original Release Date: July 9, 1991
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0000027JZ
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #108,215 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For a Commie, he sang darn good about God!, March 23, 2002

By 

William E. Adams (Midland, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Power And The Glory (Audio CD)

Paul was the son of a preacher man who had been born a slave, so it seems natural that when he decided to begin his concert and recording career around age 30, he would present a program of spirituals first. While the ones on this collection were sung in the mid-1940's, his first records came out in 1927 on RCA with many of the same selections. I became a Robeson fan when, as a white kid of 14 with racist leanings, I heard his version of "Get On Board, Little Children" on a Vanguard folk sampler I checked out of the library. It was 75 seconds of magic that started me on a life journey away from prejudice, and it's on this disc. Other great performances here include "By N By"; "Every Time I Feel the Spirit"; "I Got a Home in Dat Rock"; "No More Auction Block For Me;" "Ezekiel Saw the Wheel"; "Der's a Man Goin' Round, Takin' Names" and my second favorite of his spirituals, "Balm in Gilead." If you like Black spirituals, you won't find any performances better than his. Mahalia Jackson and Harry Belafonte are great artists, but Paul got there first. Forget his pro-Russian political problems which cost him the final ten years of his career and his proper place as one of the greatest early civil rights champions. These songs involve a MAN trying to come to terms with his religious training, his cultural history, his artistic sensibilities, his frustration at being demeaned due to skin color. In his adult life he was attracted to the Soviet model despite its faults because color prejudice did not seem to be one of Communism's problems. Here we hear a born-once Christian presenting the songs of a people often in despair, when in his off-stage life he endorsed a society in which atheism was a cardinal virtue. To say Robeson was complex and conflicted would be to state the obvious. Also obvious is that he had a love for this material that transcends politics and eras. If you buy this disc, I think your love for the quality of his renditions and selections will also transcend politics, eras, race, and recording techniques.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars That mellow voice! That powerful song! That amazing man!, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Power And The Glory (Audio CD)

As a little child I grew up listening to these songs by Paul Robeson. The records are long gone, and imagine my surprise when I see them on CD! It's wonderful that another generation of children can be listening to these wonderful songs. I always thought that if God sang, he would sound like this!

Powerful spirituals--you feel the anguish, the joy, the strength!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an artist like no other, September 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Power And The Glory (Audio CD)

beautiful. true. moving. ask your kids to turn off that techno noise for a while, sit down, focus, and really listen... they just might discover a treasure.