Songs of Free Men · Paul Robeson and Anti-Fascist Music

Type

Sound Recording

Creator

Robeson, Paul

Brown, Lawrence

Date

1943

Description

A complete four-disc 78rpm album set titled "Songs of Free Men," performed by baritone Paul Robeson with Lawrence Brown at the piano. Robeson sings in English, Russian, German, and Spanish. Released in 1943 by Columbia Masterworks (Set M-534), the tri-color (white, red, and black) sleeve features cover art by Alex Steinweiss: a hand with a broken shackle plunging a knife into a wormlike creature bearing a swastika emblem.

The interior of the sleeve contains a white page with black text providing context for the collection as a call against the destruction of fascism and for the liberation of peoples. This section features a portrait of Paul Robeson with a printed autograph and a statement from the artist:

"As one brought up on the songs of their own people, who expressed in them their sorrows, protests and hopes, I early felt closer to that music which comes directly from folk roots. The particular songs in this album have that folk quality and show in no uncertain way the common humanity of man. Beyond this, they issue from the present common struggle for a decent world, a struggle in which the artist must also play his part."

This specific copy includes hand-drawn markings on the Robeson portrait and on some of the disk labels.

Each black phonograph record features a blue and gold Columbia Masterworks label. Labels provide information about supporting musical sections and groups for certain tracks.

The back of the album is a solid red sleeve. The interior of the back sleeve features promotional information from the Columbia Recording Corporation, including their logo and office locations in New York, Hollywood, and Bridgeport.

Table Of Contents

1: "From Border to Border";
2: "Oh, How Proud Our Quiet Don";
3: "The Purest Kind of a Guy" (Joe’s Birthday Song);
4: "Joe Hill";
5: "The Peet-Bog [Peat-Bog] Soldiers" (Moorsoldaten);
6: "The Four Insurgent Generals" (Los Cuatro Generales);
7: "Native Land";
8: "Song of the Plains."

Publisher

Columbia Records

Columbia Masterworks

Format

Phonograph record

Extent

1 album (1 sleeve; 4 disks, 10 in. diameter)

Language

English

Russian

German

Spanish

Subject

Arts and Performances

Activism and Movements

Music