Victor Young(1899-1956)

His 1932 Brunswick Records 78-RPM album of six selections from Kern and Hammerstein's "Show Boat" was the first American album of songs from a Broadway musical. (The album also featured an overture and a finale.) Young arranged and conducted the songs, and some of his arrangements were very closely based on Robert Russell Bennett's original 1927 orchestrations, notably the instrumental introduction to "Ol' Man River". Featured in the cast were Helen Morgan and Paul Robeson, who were then appearing in the first Broadway revival of the show. The album was quite popular in its day. Columbia Records re-issued it in 1941, in the mid-1970's as an LP, and most recently as a CD. It was recently reissued as part of the huge (and ca. 2005, unavailable) CD set "The Ultimate 'Show Boat'", but is now apparently available on Naxos.