I still like wih the last few lines being one of the most powerful I've heard Bing in the mid-1940s. The 1941 one is YouTube, but that's probably the least of the efforts as the melody was changed too much to fit his octave. The 1928 is the best one he recorded for commercial use though I find his 1954 Buddy Cole one and the later Crosby medley concert renditions to be the best.

Bing made  another recording of the song at a different tempo, which is not as good as the traditional versions.it is more of an up and down singing.
I prefer the beat of the 1920’s and then later towards the end of his life.
I have most versions by Bing.

I wouldn't say Bing's voice was worn out by 1945, but the song just doesn't suit him.

Richard Baker wrote:

Lobosco wrote:

. I think by the end of 1945, Bing's voice was worn out and it did not translate to a dramatic song like Ol Man River. 
 

David, did you really mean that?  In 1945 Bing still had considerably more than half of his singing career ahead of him, with many stirring and powerful performances to come!

In some ways Ol' Man River is a problem song. It oozes weariness and futility, the impossibility of improving human things in contrast to the river that keeps rolling along.

So it is only in the phrases about ol' man river keeping rolling along that strength is called for - but it is the frail weary human that is uttering those stirring phrases. So is he doing it as a frail human in awe of the mighty river or does he attempt to emulate the power of the river? 

The 1928 version is in a totally different league. Highly enjoyable but not really plunging into depths of emotion.

BTW I think it rather amusing to recount the story of Mrs Kern and Mrs Hammerstein who were together attending some function. Mrs Kern, introducing herself to a third party, said something to the effect that her husband wrote "Ol Man River" and Mrs Hammerstein interrupted to say that he didn't - it was her husband that wrote "Ol' Man River", while Mr Kern had written "Tum - Tum -  TumTum" etc.

(Kern wrote the music, Hammerstein the lyric)
 
 

Worn out might have been too strong of a word. I think that in 1945 his voice sounded tired. From singing non stop for the USO, records, movies, and radio shows I feel that his voice sounded weaker or strained as a result. Of course I just meant for the time he recorded Ol Man River. He had 32 years left to go.
 

Probably for ‘Til The Clouds Roll By, and thankfully Bing didn’t sing the intro with the “n****** all work on the Mississippi” part, although it wouldn’t surprise me if he would’ve changed similarly to Sinatra changing it to “here we all work on the Mississippi.”

Over time attitudes change and also meanings, which become a pain for one to adapt to a new meaning. One example is ‘gay’. When I was growing up it meant ‘happy’ e.g. the  Fred Astaire film - The Gay Divorcee.
One could be so happy and gay, you can now but it has an entirely different meaning.

I think gay is a little bit different than the n-word. I have still heard people say gay to mean happy. Gay doesn't necessarily have a derogatory meaning as the n-word does.

ModernBingFan0377 wrote:

I realize that, I was just using it as an example of how the general public will view a word today vs then, obviously the n-word was bad then, but not as many people realized it then as people do now.

That's so true. Imagine what words will be taboo in 2040!

Lobosco,
I just looked at the label you posted and it says Camarata but when I played it it is the normal arrangement. Must see if I can find earlier version with JST to see if that is the one with a different tempo etc.

Instead of the ‘n’ word it can/is substituted with - coloureds all work....: people all.....:
Can have blokes all work and women all work.
Easy enough to change in this instance but not always can one change a word or words in a song.
To me, Bing’s worst song would have to be - With this Ring I Thee Wed.

And I was the accidental cause by mentioning the original verse, which is ironic since I requested this version of Ol’ Man River, thus Lobosco created this thread to show the song I requested.

Colin Bratkovich wrote:

Ol Man River was defined  by Paul Robeson (also backed by Whiteman) in 1928.All subsequent versions by him or anyone else, have problems-EXCEPT for Crosby's exceptional (contemporary 1928) version., Bing's bouncy & jazzy dance band  (Whiteman) version is a  less serious vocal  & more fun. A true product of the REAL jazz age. ( Bing, the older man & voice  in 1945, should not have bothered).

Another excellent version is one Gordon MacRae did for Capitol Records. Excellent version but I agree Paul Robeson owned the song!