Ol’ Man River
ARTICLES of GENERAL INTEREST
OL’ MAN RIVER
This story is set in 1938, just before the onset of war with Germany. Paul Robeson, a famous black singer and actor from America, visited Mountain Ash in the valleys and sang for the people who died in the Spanish Civil War. Rick was Mr. Robeson’s driver who brought him back from Mountain Ash.
“How long till we get to Cardiff Station?” asked Paul.
“We should be in Cardiff in about one hour, but your train won’t be arriving till five, so you have about a four hour wait.”
“That’s great” said Paul, “I can go and visit my friend for lunch in a village called Wenvoe.”
“Wilf Goodbody had lived in Wenvoe for around twenty years and had asked Paul if he had time to come to lunch in the local pub. Wilf was a director of the theatre in Cardiff and had met Paul on numerous occasions. When the car pulled up outside the pub, Wilf directed Paul to a room upstairs as the culture of the area and the time dictated, most people in Wenvoe had never seen or talked to a black person.
The two men had a great time in a snug upstairs of the Wenvoe Arms. Both men had a
lovely ploughman’s lunch and two pints of Scrumpy/Cider. They could hear the hustle and bustle of voices below them; it sounded like the pub was filling up. Paul looked out of the window onto the fields. It was a beautiful winter’s day in December, but it looked like a spring day over the village.
As Paul turned around to speak to Wilf, he heard singing rising from downstairs in the pub. Paul looked at Wilf as he heard “Men of Harlech” resonating through the floorboards. “I am sorry about that” said Wilf, “it’s the Barry Male Voice choir. They heard you might call in and would like to sing for you.”
The men went down the stairs towards the courtyard next to the First World War Memorial. There stood around thirty men, all dressed up in black tie suits finishing their song. There was a standup piano in the corner, and a big crowd gathered around the pub to listen to the choir. When the song was finished everybody clapped and the man on the piano came up to Paul. “Mr. Robeson, it would be our great pleasure to sing with you, if it’s possible?”
“Wilf” said Paul, “you are a scoundrel.”
“Ok” said Paul to the piano player, “do you know Ol’ Man River in C Major?”
“Yes” said the piano player “we were hoping you would say that.”
The next five minutes of music was fantastic, as Paul’s voice rode out into the village. At the end of the song everyone in the village seemed to be watching the free show. Paul shook each of the choir’s hands, gave Wilf a big hug, jumped into the car and headed towards Cardiff. As the crowd dissipated, Mrs. Jones said to Mrs. Thomas, “There’s lovely. You don’t see that in Wenvoe every day.”