Essential Robesen
A guide to his recordings There are plenty of Paul Robeson compilation albums to choose from, and you can find him both as a singer and as an actor on disc. Try
The Essential Paul Robeson,
a generous collection featuring highlights of his performances for Vanguard Records. You could also head to the recordings he made for his own Othello label in the 1950s. On my journey, a blend of spirituals and folk song, was reissued by the Smithsonian’s African American Legacy Recordings series in 2007, with a 34-page booklet featuring historical photos.
For a landmark in Robeson’s life, turn to Live
at Carnegie Hall – May 9, 1958
(Era, 1992). This captured his sell-out penultimate concert at the legendary venue, almost 30 years after he had first performed there.
In 2013, the Digital Gramophone Company brought to light two rare LPS from the archive, releasing them as Paul
Robeson Greatest Rarities Archive 56-57
on the major download platforms. One of the LPS, from 1957, features the transatlantic exchange between Robeson and The Miners’ Eisteddfod at Porthcawl.