The Many Moods Of Belafonte

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LP mono RCA LPM2574
LP stereo RCA LSP2574
LP Victor RA5166 Japan
LP Victor SHP5137 Japan
LP Victor RD7522 UK 
LP RCA 440.554S France
R2R tape RCA FTP1154

Stereo8 cassette RCA P8S1024

1962
Orchestra conducted by William Eaton
Ernie Calabria
- guitar, Millard Thomas - guitar,  Jay Berliner - guitar, Hugh Masekela - trumpet, John Cartwright - bass, Norman Keenan - bass, Bill Salter - bass, Percy Brice - drums, Ralph MacDonald - percussion, Auchee Lee - percussion, Danny Barrajanos - percussion and Julio Collazo - percussion


A1 Tongue Tie Baby # 3:51
A2 Who's Gonna Be Your Man # 3:42
A3 'Long About Now # 3:55
A4 Bamotsweri # (w. Miriam Makeba) 2:33
A5 I'm On My Way To Saturday # 2:45
A6 Betty An' Dupree # 5:19
B1 Summertime Love # 3:58
B2 Lyla, Lyla # 3:26
B3 Zombie Jamboree # 3:35
B4 Try To Remember # 3:24
B5 Dark As A Dungeon # 4:15

Belafonte's follow-up album to The Midnight Special is another record stressing the diversity of world music. This time, a small combo accompanies Belafonte on the various tracks, as opposed to the big band approach of his last album. Several crowd-pleasers were introduced on this album for the first time: the calypso "Zombie Jamboree," awhich soon replaced "Matilda" as Belafonte's epic audience participation song; and the showtune "Try to Remember," from the off-Broadway show The Fantasticks. The two highlights on the album are both songs dealing with American folk music. "Betty an' Dupree" is a classic murder ballad in the tradition of "Frankie and Johnny," performed with the intensity the subject matter commands. Country-western composer Merle Travis' "Dark as a Dungeon," a protest song dealing with the dreary, bitter life of the coal miner was inadvertantly recorded during a thunderstorm, giving the song a dose of ominous spontaneity. Two of Belafonte's proteges from South Africa are also featured: singer Miriam Makeba and jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela. Some of the ballads are weak when compared to the more dramatic highlights, but still, this is a very satisfying album.
~ Cary Ginell, All Music Guide
 

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