Search - Harry Belafonte :: Ultimate Collection

Maybe The Best Overall Belafonte Hits Compilation Available

Selin Sekmen | 11/09/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"From personal experience, as well as reading reviews of many of the other Harry Belafonte CD's available - especially those advertising themselves as his "greatest hits" or "best of" - it is clear that many fans are still searching for the definitive collection of his hit singles. You wouldn't think it would be that hard to put one together as he only had 14 from 1952 to 1968, and one of those charted twice! Even this one, calling itself the "Ultimate" collection falls far short in that respect as it omits seven of those hits.



Career-wise, he pulled off the impossible when, at a time when many singers found their careers shunted to the sidelines by the advent of R&R in the mid-1950's, he successfully re-introduced something to the general North American buying public that, for a brief period anyway, captured their attention. Calypso. De sound of de islands, mon.



After going nowhere with Jubilee Records in 1949, he signed with RCA Victor and, in 1952, cut his first Calypso tune, Man Smart (Woman Smarter) which, b/w Jerry (This Timber Got To Roll), failed to chart. He then achieved his first hit with a cover of a 1950 Jo Stafford hit, Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair) which, with the backing of the Millard Thomas orchestra, reached # 30 Pop in December b/w Shenandoah. He then tried again with a Calypso record, but once more came up short as Matilda b/w Suzanne again failed to chart.



He then went back to another cover of a straight pop tune, Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me), with Henri Rene & His Orchestra, and this time made it to # 19 in April 1953 b/w Springfield Mountain, before finally scoring with his first Calypso hit, Hold 'Em Joe, from the Broadway show John Murray Anderson's Almanac in which Belafonte starred, and which topped out at # 30 in April 1954 b/w I'm Just A Country Boy, both with the backing of the Hugo Winterhalter orchestra. Neither the hits nor their B-sides are included here.



There then followed several more failed singles (The Fox/Man Piaba in 1954, Jump Down (Spin Around)/In That Great Gettin' Up Morning, and Come Back Liza (1955) before, and in the midst of the rocking sounds of The Green Door, Hound Dog, and Singing The Blues, hitting it big with an opening acoustic guitar lick, followed by "Down de way where de nights are gay and de sun shines daily on de mountain top, I took a trip on a sailing ship and when I reached Jea..maica I made a stop ..."



By Christmas 1956, Jamaica Farewell, which peaked at # 14 Billboard Pop Top 100 b/w Once Was, had been joined on the charts by Mary's Boy Child (# 12 b/w Venezuela) - both hits backed by the William Loris orchestra, and soon, no teen party was complete without those records and a copy of his follow-up LP Calypso. Banana Boat (Day-O), based on a Jamaican folk song, followed in early January 1957 going to # 5 Top 100 and # 7 R&B b/w Star-O, both with the backing of the Tony Scott orchestra. RCA then re-released Hold 'Em Joe, and this time it peaked at # 84 Top 100 in March, while the B-side, I'm Just A Country Boy, registered as a "follow-along" hit.



Then, with the Bob Corman orchestra, came the wonderfully whimsical Mama Look At Bubu, on some pressings shown as Mama Look-A Boo Boo (Shut You Mouth - Go Away), which reached # 10 R&B and # 11 Top 100 in April 1957, b/w a version of the West Indian folk song, Yellow Bird, which, titled Don't Ever Leave Me, made it to # 90 Top 100. The A-side is here but not the flip. That summer, again with the Corman orchestra, Cocoanut Woman got as high as # 30 Top 100 while the B-Side, Island In The Sun (from the film of the same name starring Belafonte), reached # 30 Top 100.



The Billboard Pop Top/Hot 100 and R&B singles charts were never again adorned by his Calypso sound, although he did very well with his LPs and personal appearances. In 1967, still with RCA Victor, he scored his first

Adult Contemporary (AC) hit when A Strange Song rose as high as # 5 that fall b/w Sunflower, and in June 1968 his cover of By The Time I Get To Phoenix reached # 38 AC b/w Sleep Late, My Lady Friend. None of those cuts are here either.



Not a bad compilation, and the sound is impeccable, but it's still one that leaves the fans of Harry Belafonte yearning for that one definitive collection."

Great listening

E. D. Rosetti | 01/23/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I have really enjoyed Harry Belafonte's Cd! As a kid, we always played these songs at gatherings and party's. I have not owned a recent copy of these old favorites and I was thrilled to be able to order the CD and have it arrive in time for my family gathering of 80 people! Us 12 kids, husbands, wives and all the nieces and nephews thoroughly enjoyed singing and dancing to our old favorites. Thanks, Amazon for making our party an even bigger success! The sound and quality of the CD are great!"