Editing Ol' Man River (section)

==Early versions==
"Ol' Man River" was first performed in the original stage production of ''Show Boat'' on December 27, 1927, by [[Jules Bledsoe]], who also sang it in the part-talkie 1929 film, although that film version had little to do with the stage musical. Bledsoe also recorded the song years later.<ref name="Redmond"/> The first known recording of the song was by "Kenn" Sisson and His Orchestra, recorded on December 27, 1927, with [[Irving Kaufman (singer)|Irving Kaufman]] on vocals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://secondhandsongs.com/performance/240006|title=Cover versions of Ol' Man River by "Kenn" Sisson and His Orchestra - SecondHandSongs|author=Jerome Kern|website=SecondHandSongs }}</ref> 

Hammerstein and Kern originally wrote the song "Ol' Man River" for the voice of baritone [[Broadway Jones (performer)|Broadway Jones]].<ref>{{cite book|title=A Life in Ragtime: A Biography of James Reese Europe|first=Reid|last=Badger|year=1995|isbn=9780195345209|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|page=307|quote="Henry 'Broadway' Jones was active in vaudeville and musical theater into the 1930s. In fact, Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein wrote "Ol' Man River" with Jones in mind." }}</ref><ref name="EB">{{cite book|title=Eubie Blake: Keys of Memory|first=Lawrence T.|last=Carter|year= 1979|isbn=9780913642108|publisher=Balamp Publishing Co.|quote="Later Jerome Kern went down to Florida. He heard a lot of black singers, and he decided to write the musical ''Show Boat''. And having heard Broadway [Jones] sing, he wrote the song " Old Man River " expressly for his voice."|page=62 }}</ref> Hammerstein had initially determined to cast in the role of Joe for the original production after hearing the singer perform in Palm Beach, Florida,<ref name="Carlin"/> and Kern later traveled down to Florida to hear him perform as well.<ref name="EB"/> Jones, a partner of [[Eubie Blake]], was offered the role but was not willing to take the salary that he was offered which was less than he was already making as a performer.<ref name="Carlin">{{cite book|title=Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race|year=2020|last=Carlin|first=Richard|publisher=[[ Oxford University Press]]|isbn= 9780190635930|url=https://archive.org/details/eubieblakeragsrh0000carl/mode/2up?q=%22Broadway+Jones%22|page=209}}</ref> Jones later performed the song in [[ Fanchon and Marco]]'s 1929 musical revue ''California Capers''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Eubie Blake: Rags, Rhythm, and Race|year=2020|last=Carlin|first=Richard|publisher=[[ Oxford University Press]]|isbn= 9780190635930|url=https://archive.org/details/eubieblakeragsrh0000carl/mode/2up?q=%22Broadway+Jones%22|page=212-213}}</ref>

The part of Joe in the original New York production was also offered to [[Paul Robeson]], but he too declined the part. Robeson later played the role in the 1928 London production and became closely associated with the song.<ref>{{cite book|title=Show Boat: Performing Race in an American Musical|first=Todd|last= Decker|year=2013|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=9780190250539|page=29-30}}</ref> Arguably the most famous rendition of the song, one that is still noted today, was sung by Robeson in [[James Whale]]'s classic 1936 [[Show Boat (1936 film)|film version of ''Show Boat'']].<ref name="Redmond">{{cite book|first=Shana L. |last=Redmond |title=Anthem: Social Movements and the Sound of Solidarity in the African Diaspora|url={{Google Books |TagUCgAAQBAJ|page=101|plain-url=yes}}|date=2014|isbn=978-0-7864-5747-2 |publisher=9780814770412|pages=101&ndash;108 |via=Google Books}}</ref> Robeson also recorded the song with [[Paul Whiteman]] and his Concert Orchestra in 1928, and multiple times in the 1930s.<ref>{{cite book|author=Brian Rust |author2=Allen G. Debus |title=The Complete Entertainment Discography, from the Mid-1890s to 1942|url={{Google Books |ezXaAAAAMAAJ|page=552|plain-url=yes}}|date=1973|isbn=978-0-87000-150-5 |publisher=Arlington House|pages=551–556 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

From the show's opening number "Cotton Blossom", the notes in the phrase "Cotton Blossom, Cotton Blossom" are the same notes as those in the phrase "Ol' Man River, dat Ol' Man River," but inverted. However, "Cotton Blossom" was written first, and "Ol' Man River" was written only after Kern and Hammerstein realized they needed a song to end the first scene in the show. Hammerstein decided to use the idea of the Mississippi River as a basis for the song and told Kern to use the melody that the [[stevedore]]s sang in "Cotton Blossom" but invert some of it, and slow down the tempo. This inversion gave "Ol' Man River" a tragic quality.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-12-11|title=Show Boat: Down the Mississippi Aboard the Cotton Blossom|url=https://www.johnstoncountync.org/ava-gardner/blog/post/show-boat-down-the-mississippi-aboard-the-cotton-blossom/|access-date=2021-08-15|website=www.johnstoncountync.org|language=en-us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title='Showboat'|url=https://www.npr.org/2000/04/17/1073053/npr-100-i-showboat-i|access-date=2021-08-15|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title='Ol' Man River': An American Masterpiece|url=https://www.npr.org/2003/05/31/1279965/ol-man-river-an-american-masterpiece|access-date=2021-08-15|website=NPR.org|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Agathiyan|first=B.|title=Subtle Racism in Edna Ferber's Showboat|url=https://www.infokara.com/gallery/15-july-2741.pdf|access-date=14 August 2021|website=infokara.com}}</ref>