1998 Sunset Symphony - James Hyter - Ol' Man River

Mr. Hyter's final performance of Ol' Man River for the Sunset Symphony at the end of Memphis in May in 1998. Performed in Tom Lee Park on the bluff over looking the Mississippi River. Mr. Hyter passed away April 2, 2009.

[@asdfdsa45]

Spine chilling!! RIP This Symphony Orchestra is incredible. As for James Hyter, what a voice, it's saddening to know that he is no longer with us. I'm also saddened to learn that Maestro Balter is also no longer with us. R.I.P. Mr. James Hyter and Maestro Alan Balter.

[@cyelvington]

RIP James Hyter and Alan Balter. Both of them are sorely missed.

[@doughesson]

How many people remember the good years of the Sunset Symphony when you could spread out a blanket & enjoy the music without some drunk stepping in the potato salad?

[@priscillawatson7049]

wow! what a performance!

[@JoJoBeast]

The most epic version of this song

[@ricogerard]

Beautifully sung. May he rest in peace.

[@CherylECady]

Thanks for the info

[@maitejambrinarodriguez9045]

Maravillos version de una maravillosa cancon

[@timothyendsley4120]

It's me 4:21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@chatttraveler2392]

+Timothy Endsley The kid??

[@MemphisBelle11]

There was nothing to compare to thousands of Memphians holding hands and swaying during Mr. Hyter's "Old Man River."

[@rocky01ist]

Is it possible to find this?

[@stlpinstriping7772]

One of my favorite memories from growing up and living in Memphis was seeing James Hyter perform "Ol Man River" at the Sunset Symphony and in Debbie Nelson's production of "Showboat" at Bartlett Community Theatre. He was a very nice, humble man who genuinely loved people. Awesome performance that I hope you'll take a few minutes to watch.

[@jonahsahn]

I remember watching this on TV. They KEPT bringing him back. I was 13 years old. Fast forward to after college, I sang at his funeral. Amazing man.

[@marcpjoyner]

Chokes me up every time. Special time and place, with very special performers. Mr Hyter is a legend. I wish Memphis would bring the symphony back in some capacity at Memphis in May. It could use some class again.

[@Seamonkey555]

Oh how we cried that night, sitting on the banks of the ol' Mississippi, wind blowing through our hair, blankets one against the other as Memphis packed into every spot to say farewell to two of our greatest entertainers, Hyter and Balter, who gave their final bow that night. How many encores was it that night? 7 or was it more that night? I remember 10 was the record for a good many years! I like the anvil cam as well since I had never seen how that sound was produced. I just played this video for my young son. (my cassette tape is a bit weary and you really need to see it as well as hear it.) Hyter or Robeson (no Sinatra!) should be played for every young person in the South so they hear the pain that inspired those lyrics. I cried watching it this time as I did so many, many times in the 20 years we were blessed to call James Hyter a Memphian. May James Hyter and Alan Balter rest in peace- perhaps some will find them singing and conducting on the other side of the river. I agree with those Memphians who want Lou Beaman to take Hyter's spot in our tradition that brings Memphis In May to a close! I haven't returned since that night in '98 but I would for him!!

[@TheAutumnWind_RN4L]

Tremendously underrated comment. Thank you, sir.

[@gregfoote1094]

Now that I have been moved away for over 20 years, every time I think of being back home in Memphis, this is the song that always plays in the back of my mind. Each time I hear it, I'm picturing the river, the bluffs, the Big M Bridge lit up in the background and Mr. James Hyter's performance of Ol' Man River is quintessential Memphis and home.

[@horticasey]

I've been gone only 6...and it still gives me chill bumps and a SERIOUS case of nostalgia.

[@janetshea9572]

Memphis is a deeply southern town. Watching the blacks and whites sitting together and joining in the singing, I realize how far they've come since the days of segregation, only 4 decades earlier. When they had to change, they did. They've much to be proud of.

[@lilitharam44]

I remember watching that performance on TV at my Great Grandmother's house, with her and my Grandmother. They televised the Sunset Symphony then, I don't think they even have it anymore. So bittersweet, there won't be another like Mr. Hyter! I doubt that song would be allowed to be sung today, with all the political correctness, I'm sure someone would be offended.

[@RobertSJHu]

Thank you James Hyter and Alan Balter for this beautiful southern ballad. Thanks to you both and Kelly Agee , and the Sunset Symphony in Memphis too for this glorious song. Gratefully, Robert S. J. Hu . May 30, 2020.

[@christophersmith8272]

When Memphis was Great... Miss these days as a kid!! I was blessed to be there that night..

[@knight_of_night_films]

me to, my dad used to always sing this song.

[@jenniferferguson8747]

So was I... As a young adult this night. But as a kid and a teen for many years! Miss it terrible!

[@charickter]

Memphis will be great again someday. In fact, it already is and never wasn't. In the souls of her people is a resilience and belief if the present and the future. Blue collar through and through. All heart. RIP Mr. Hyter and Maestro Alan Balter. May the percussionists be always on time.

[@Seamonkey555]

Doc Esquire, those "idiots" screaming where cheering Mr. Hyter on. Especially during the favorite parts when hit bass notes few can achieve! He would've never seen it as anything but praise to his ability. Perhaps you needed to be there to understand. Keep in mind that Mr. Hyter, a beloved Memphian had just just finished his, I believe, 7th encore so the audience was hyped. Especially knowing this was the last time we'd ever hear Mr. Hyter at the Sunset Symphony. The only thing I didn't like about the fans in this video were the girls kicking as if this song doesn't deserve respect. Typically what happened after Mr. Hyter had an encore or two, and you can see & hear this in the video, people would stand, lock arms, sway and sing along for the next 4-5 encores. I encourage you to go back and watch it again and you'll both hear (during the chorus) and see what I just described. Here we are, all different races, walks of life & religions having picnics on our different blankets for hours & hours and not really talking to the people doing the same around us UNTIL Mr. Hyter appeared. He brought us together, arm in arm, bridging a gap still sometimes present in this city unfortunately. But during his time on stage we came together, listening, understanding and becoming one group. He was able to make 15,000+ people become as one for a moment each year at the end of May! It was worth losing your voice to cheer him on I assure you.

[@robinnelsen7869]

No, it wouldn't have been his seventh, because one year they actually had to institute a rule limiting his refrains to four repeats. We all loved him, and he loved us.

[@josephperkins3416]

He got as many as 21 encores 1 year

[@mellowrebel4618]

@@robinnelsen7869 It was 7 I got to park my sister n laws van next to the stage because she was a quadriplegic.

[@heathermontgomery8502]

Exactly. Very emotional time for Memphis. I also agree about the kicking.

[@TheAutumnWind_RN4L]

Yeah, the can-can girls probably only listened to the "Old Man River..." portion of the song. The lyrics are quite miserable! And they've been somewhat censored. I can only imagine being stuck in the conundrum of being "Tired of living, and scared of dying...don't look up, and don't look down, you don't dare make, the mean boss frown". Misery. Not a dancing situation. However, the interlocking of arms, and swaying together with absolute strangers, of different races, in normally wet and muddy Memphis In May fashion; I think that is the exact response that the writer of this song, ammended and non-ammended, wished to evoke; solemnity and unification. I believe that Mr Hyter's version is superior to Mr Robeson's, in tonal and voice quality. I'm sitting here in 2020, looking at this, and I just don't understand why, 22 years later, my city is more divided than we were in May of 1998. RIP, Mr Hyter, Mr Balter. One last encore before bed...

[@auto5man]

Wow.....thanks for posting this. Brought tears to this Memphian's eyes. And I'm sure to many others who had the privilege of seeing one of Mr Hyter's performances live.

[@jakecoker794]

This seems to be where we peaked as society.

[@youtubefan8459]

True talent! Mr. Hyter''s version of this song is the only one I listen to. Grew up watching the Sunset Symphony on tv and made it down there a couple of times as a teenager including this one. Miss this so much.

[@jmcquown]

I love this! Thank you. Many years ago got to hear him sing this at the closing of Memphis in May but it several years earlier. Mr. Hyter singing that song (along with the orchestra) was a huge event at MIM. What a voice!

[@pmcclaren1]

No one will ever take away our memories. This is when MEMPHIS was COMMUNITY who still love each other. This will never change.

[@CuzEyeLove]

Thanks so much for posting this. I remember Mr. Hyter from the 80's. Lots of good memories of good Ol' Memphis. A true icon!

[@tarheelmama]

I am so grateful my late husband and I were there that night to get to hear this great singer. Thank goodness he left us this rendition Ol' Man River from his beautiful & mighty voice. R.I.P. Mr. Hyter.

[@altheasyewart8616]

❤❤❤❤❤😢😢😢😢

[@Me112233]

One of the most distinguished non-commercial musicians of all time (he earned his living working for Blue Cross of Tennessee). I went down to Memphis in 1999, hoping to hear him play. But he orchestra director had died, and Mr. Hyter was not invited back to sing. When the symphony was over, the audience -- clearly dismayed that Old Man River had not been performed -- began to spontaneously sing, genuinely, yet in protest at the same time. The controllers of the park and bandshell cranked up some unrelated canned music to purposely drown out the audience. I never returned to Memphis in May. Shame on Memphis.

[@chevydude658]

Man this took me right to tears. What a great voice. My dad loved this song and always wanted to be able to sing. However, he was TERRIBLE! My little nephew sat on his lap one Sunday Morning in church and I was playing the piano. During devotional service my dad was singing hard and my little nephew put his hands over his ears. LOL! RIP dear Mr. Hyter.

[@TheSundogkb]

Mr. Hyter's "Ol'Man River" bring back memories that I can not describe, other than to say good ones. I moved to Memphis in 1986, met the "right" wife there, etc. It was our tradition to sing along (as best we could) with Mr Hyter. I just discovered this video and that he has passed. I will fondly remember him. our condolences to his family.

[@blkprince02]

This is really making me miss Memphis right now...

[@mikejaques6573]

13 people dislijked this!!!!??? Are you kidding me what are you tone deaf !!!???

[@babe0807]

so many memories come alive when I watch this. I miss Mr Hyter and the way he sings this song.... it gives me chills every time I hear him sing it..

[@catlover0987]

Noone could've sung this song any better than this wonderfully talented man! May you be with our Lord in Heaven.

[@christophersmith8272]

Not a single cellphone in the crowd!! See, you can really enjoy the experience without recording everything on a freaking phone while sharing it on FB..smh

[@CherylECady]

I love this song so much and James Hyter is one of the best singers of Ol Man River I have heard in a long time.

[@teresabarnes-matych]

🙏❣️✌️🇺🇸LOVE THIS! RIP Covenant School Angels🇺🇸✌️❣️🙏

[@stevec6455]

We sang this song on jump run when skydiving just before we jumped out of a perfectly good airplane and needlessly risked our lives. Oh wait, we were singing "Down by the River". Nevermind, good songs anyway.

[@Hazen75]

Were you jumping out of West Tennessee Skydiving’s King Air?

[@stevec6455]

No we were jumping out of John Robert's Twin Beech in Dallas Tx in 1973 and regrettably it was the same plane that Jim Croce's band crashed in Louisiana. @@Hazen75

[@meowboygacha]

Sometimes when I'm in the car my mom will sing Old Man River but she keeps forgetting the lines but ready on Scooby-Doo he was saying he said old man River and he cracked me up and my mom 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@bsngrl1]

Just wonderful to grow up with them❤💔🤩

[@jesuseduardostahlleija8986]

Una gran voz, para una gran canción, no cualquiera da la tesitura para aceptar el reto.. Salud2

[@endsley17]

holy crap im in the video i was 10 this brings back the memories

[@abcnielsen]

I remember that like it was yesterday, my wife and I were in the crowd with our young son who is now on his way to college.... It isn't the 1st of June until Mr. Hyter sings Old man River.

[@declansills1614]

James Hyter was fantastic singing this song. I've worked a venue several times during the Sunset Symphony in Memphis. Never saw him singing the entire song, but I sure heard him. Seems like everyone in hearing distance stopped what they were doing when he started singing. A moment to remember, always.

[@doughesson]

Four times I was the mate on the towboat pushing the fireworks barge & yeah we heard him out in the middle of the river channel. Great times.

[@LChilds89]

I remember this like it was just yesterday.. My family and i would go every year just to see Mr. Hyter's performance... My Grandmother took me to Mr. Hyter's retirement party where they gave him a framed original sheet music

[@CP-py5gp]

Memphis ♥️

[@clairerobsin]

@4:21 ...even that little Kid knows the words to this Song!

[@jesuseduardostahlleija8986]

Excelente

[@nasuSremlE]

@313BigDaddy I'm uploading the last song (this one) of James Hyter's 1992 concert, An Evening of Spirituals, at Auburn. It was an honor meeting and singing with him. The first song includes quite a bit of him speaking. I hope you enjoy the concert. (There is only one song, "Give Us This Day," that was damaged to where I couldn't upload it.) I can't post a link here, but you'll find them on my channel.

[@newdem08]

This was also Maestro Balter's last conducting MSO.

[@Black_Cat_997]

Civilization defeats barbarism.

[@gerigustin2086]

Something about that Mississippi...

[@YHK_1.01]

You just can't beat the original. YK

[@frankreads8618]

I always loved the goofy percussionists, too!

[@waltercline3]

I love this old version of this great old song. I would like to share it with my friends. Thanks to Lindy and Gerrald.

[@Fentanyl3]

Brought tears to my eyes THANK YOU Mr. Hyter! and thank you to the poster as well.

[@melodyrrt]

My dad worked on the MS River as a teenager, and my granddad played with the Steamboat Strummers Banjo Group for years playing on these boats and other venues.

[@mustarddevil1]

Listening to Mr. Hyter sing Ol' Man River is one of the few things I miss about Memphis!

[@kevinfreeman7780]

If I'm not mistaken this was the TENTH encore that night!

[@prisschris10]

My dad is going to be SO GLAD I found this.

[@prosunroy7480]

Very beautiful song, soulful, song of river ,song of life ,

[@Fentanyl3]

Brought tears to my eyes I remember watching this year after year as a child. THANK YOU Mr. Hyter! and Thank you to the poster as well!

[@bingovegas4867]

WTF... rude ignorant people yelling out and screaming because THEY want to hear themselves. Try that on Broadway and you would be thrown out.

[@annamaedevlin1713]

TIMES KEEP ROLLING ON!

[@Rogue-cg1rm]

Magnificent… nothing more to say .

[@paradisepaul]

I have loved this song ever since I heard PAUL ROBESON sing it in SHOWBOAT in 1956 I was 5 Years old, it has remained with me my whole life and I would play it for democrats to let them know that we know what they were all about and what they did with our African-American brothers and sisters and now this man has re-vamped it and it’s just as beautiful now as it was when I first heard it this man is just awesome thank you so much kind sir ❤

[@rabibordoloi5359]

Nice sungs ol man missi sippi

[@sheldonbodryn1003]

I first saw and heard Paul Robeson sing this song in the movie when I was a young boy in the early 1950s. The movie was in color that time. Happy to have seen it on Turner several times. Makes me cry to imagine the pain and suffering of too many black folks.

[@mizansarder1119]

❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤

[@abooswalehmosafeer173]

"In the evening light,I saw the waters of the Ohio mingle with those of the Mississippi.I had dreamed of the Mississippi listening to the 'Old Man River',...."""Simone de Beauvoir Force of CirCumtance'

[@brendapetersen364]

Beautiful

[@ahugebear4674]

I've played it over and over just like Mr. Hyter sang it.

[@reginaceliafavareli7087]

Excellent performance!

[@adriancalin8688]

❤shamanta vinograd

[@sanjaykumar0028]

sentiment

[@dovbarleib3256]

He took all the racial elements out of the song, but the song was about slaves working on the Mississippi from Hannibal or S. Louis, MO to New Orleans.

[@danielle38134]

Omg! I couldn't believe this..how I miss this and the great James Hyter and Alan Balter..wonderful video...

[@mizansarder1119]

❤

[@alicecroll9195]

The well deserved citation of William Warfield’s rendition of Old Man River in the film has photos of Paul Robeson. Robeson is most attached to this heartbreaking , timeless song. BUT he is different from Warfield - both magnificent, vocally & soulfully. It is my opinion that Paul Robeson would not support this interchange, one for the other. It is likely that more viewers saw the film with Warfield than saw Robeson. I feel strongly that the mention of Warfield on the internet be accompanied by images of him. And Robeson, of him. How blessed we are to have had that Showboat classic in the first place. Both renditions pull at the heartstrings, whether it’s heard for the first or 500th time. 🙏☯️

[@jamiej-ru7iz]

Wundervoll. ...💗

[@sandrakirk497]

Love this guy!! Best ever!!!

[@moffattF]

Wonderful voice-magnificent performance-only spoiled by sanitized lyrics.

[@Growthisinthedirt]

The river kept us all alive and fed ....a complicated relationship ❤

[@moffattF]

Wonderful voice-magnificent performance-only spoiled by sanitized lyrics.

[@elisaldoantoniolonghi1808]

Old man River, old man River, the most beautiful song in the World. Lá Piu Bella canzone del mondo.

[@frankreads8618]

When I was a kid, I always thought the conductor was the coolest because he combined a tuxedo with long hair.

[@wendyroach7285]

Beautiful voice. 🙏

[@JPlovesLIFE]

This is so awesome! I hope its okay that we used the audio track for video footage of the flooding Mississippi River. The video was marked as a response to you and I'm including it in my blog post that gives you credit.

[@aodangel39]

i miss singing with the symphony choir 1989-2001 but alan balter and james hyter were the best director and singer in all of america. the best times of my singing career was in the presents of these two very beautiful people. GOD BLESS AMERICA AND OBAMA.

[@AlexHai_Gondolier]

This gives me strength to believe in humanity

[@barbarabobbyscott1560]

Yes, this bring back memories of Memphis.

[@altheasyewart8616]

Treasure 😢😢😢😢😢😢😅😅😅😂😂😂

[@jatindas5169]

O Ganga behti hai kuon.

[@MyWalk3296]

💞💞

[@donaldsunny7836]

WWWWOOOOOOOOWWWWWW what a line "I'm tired of living, but scared of dying"

[@DocEsquire]

I wish that the idiots in the crowd would stop shouting and let the man sing the song himself. Come on people... Good singing Mr. Hyter. Rest in peace.

[@ahugebear4674]

Incredible

[@markcombrinck-hertz3649]

hi mark

[@KateneCotton]

Best audience out there

[@sheikdagod9592]

Why did he censor himself?

[@klagee1970]

?

[@sheikdagod9592]

@@klagee1970 I’m guessing you don’t know the original lyrics to the song

[@klagee1970]

@@sheikdagod9592 I guess not, but thanks for your reply. I understand your comment now. Can you tell me what part is changed?

[@klagee1970]

Never mind, I got it, "other folks." Yeah, I guess it was the setting, the audience was always very white (which is a shame considering the city's demographics). I agree that he shouldn't have had to do that though. I hope at least it was his decision and they didn't make him change the lyrics.

[@sheikdagod9592]

@@klagee1970 The song is about a slave longing for freedom. Every reference to “white people” is changed to “mean”. Honestly speaking knowing the lyrics and understanding the meaning of the song seeing a bunch of drunk white people doing a can can is insulting as all hell.

[@WillCrump-e5x]

I met Mr. Hyter back in 2001 when the Memphis Symphony and Chorus performed Bernstein's "Chichester Psalms" at Eudora Auditorium. He was such a gracious and dignified southern gentleman. I told him how much I loved hearing him sing "Ol' Man River" and expressed what a disgrace it was that he was no longer allowed to sing that wonderful song for Memphis in May Sunset Symphony. He told me he missed doing it. Many, many years ago Alan Balter brought the Memphis Symphony to the National Guard armory in Bolivar, TN and my family and I went to see the show. I met Alan. He too was such a nice man.