Who Should Sing Ol' Man River? The Lives of an American Song. By Todd R. Decker. New York: Oxford University Press, 2014. [241 p. ISBN 9780199389186. $31.96.] Illustrations, bibliographic references, discography, index.Who, indeed, should sing Ol' Man River? (p. 10). . . who has sung Ol' Man River? (p. 11). . . how should Ol' Man be sung? (p. 13)Who has the right to sing Ol' Man River? (p. 23)These are four questions that Todd Decker, the author of Who Should Sing Ol' Man River? The Lives of an American Song, asks in the opening of the book, where he provides comprehensive survey of the history of the performance of Ol' Man (from the musical Show Boat). He does not offer final answer, but he does provide worthwhile materials that address these central questions and that will allow the reader to continue considering the topic.One should not be too surprised that there are so many different versions of Ol' Man River, which was voted one of the ten most popular songs of the previous decade in 1933 and remains famous today. Countless performers, ranging from classical, Broadway, jazz, rhythm and blues, pop, Hawaiian style, and even rock and roll, have recorded or performed this song since 1927: Paul Robeson, Al Jolson, Count Basie, Rod Stewart, Judy Garland, Bix Biederbecke, Duke Ellington, Dizzy Gillespie, Andre Previn, Lawrence Tibbett, Ezio Pinza, George London, Robert Merrill, Frankie Avalon, the Ravens, Berlin Philharmonic Horn Quartet, and many others. With the advent of the television era, it was still heard often: for example, it was sung on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1953 (p. 157) and in 1959 featured in rare trio version by Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Dean Martin (p. 159). The song traveled across the ocean and has been performed by Chinese, Dutch, French, German, and Japanese singers in either English or translations.Decker divides the performance history of Ol' Man into different categories in nine chapters (the first chapter is an introduction): versions by Paul Robeson ( Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein originally planned to have Robeson play Joe, but he was unavailable for the initial 1927 production because of its delayed opening; he performed the role in London in 1928 and on Broadway in 1932); by swing bands (danceable versions, usually with faster tempo); parodies; easy-listening versions; interpretations by female and white-male singers, including Frank Sinatra, on records and television, and by African American performers. In each chapter the author provides detailed description of each performance, including live renditions in different venues, recordings, and on television. Decker collected varied opinions and reviews, helping the reader to form an overall assessment before making their own judgments.Although through this work Hammerstein tried to convey general idea of life in the African American laboring classes along the Mississippi River in the latenineteenth and early-twentieth centuries, some artists are made uncomfortable or even offended by the words and alter the lyricist's intentionally improper grammar throughout the text. As Decker says, Performers have the power to remake any song in their own image (p. 8). Once songwriter completes song, it leaves their control, and they can neither make demands upon musicians as to how to present it nor control the audience's reception. As for Ol' Man River, some would consider it offensive because of the lyrics. For example, in performance Robeson altered tired of livin' and feared of dyin' to I must keep on struggling until I'm dyin', and later it became I must keep fightin' until I'm dyin' at his 1947 Lewisohn concert (p. 39) as well as 1949 Russian concert (p. 41). In response to his changing of the words, Hammerstein released statement, which E. B. Rea described as a tongue-lashing in the Baltimore AfroAmerican (p. 41):I see by the papers that Paul Robeson believes that the words of 'Ol' Man River' should be changed. …