Harry Belafonte Archives - Ramblin' with Roger

Belafonte album by Harry Belafonte

In That Great Gettin’ Up Mornin’

Here’s the answer to a trivia question you may have never thought of. “Belafonte is the second studio album by American recording artist Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in late 1955. The album was the first number one on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, topping it for six weeks before being knocked from the top spot by Elvis Presley’s self-titled debut album, also issued by RCA Victor.”

Here’s a playlist, not in song order, and a Spotify roster, which IS in order, plus a bonus track of La Bamba.

“Waterboy” (Avery Robinson) – 3:42
“Troubles” (Harry Belafonte) – 3:38
“Suzanne” (Belafonte, Millard Thomas) – 3:19
“Matilda” (Norman Span) – 3:11
“Take My Mother Home” (Hall Johnson) – 6:00
“Noah” (Belafonte, William Attaway) – 4:53
“Scarlet Ribbons” (Jack Segal, Evelyn Danzig) – 3:13
“In That Great Gettin’ Up Mornin'” (Norman Luboff, Belafonte) – 3:15
“Unchained Melody” (Hy Zaret, Alex North) – 3:18
“Jump Down, Spin Around” (Luboff, Belafonte, Attaway) – 1:54
“Sylvie” (Huddie Ledbetter, Paul Campbell) – 5:21

First? Really?

This confused me. There were albums before 1956, weren’t there? From Joel Whitburn’s The Billboard Albums: Billboard magazine began publishing a top five popular albums chart in 1945. This chart was published on a sporadic basis until the week of March 24th, 1956, when the chart first appeared weekly on a consistent basis.”

My father was a big Belafonte fan when I was growing up, so I became one too for a time.

Favorites: Harry Belafonte (1961-1964)

The listener actively looks forward to listening to the favorite band’s music more than any other music

J. Eric Smith, a blogger of my acquaintance, tried to answer the question, “So, who’s your favorite band?” Now I could answer The Beatles and be done with it. But like Eric, “I am so musically omnivorous.”

Moreover, there were periods when I was listening to TONS of compilation albums. The Warner Brothers Loss Leaders. A series of Atlantic Records collection of R&B, jazz, and blues. Actually several collections of blues (Chess, Alligator) and rock, pop, jazz, and country.

But I’m up for the challenge anyway. Eric’s rubric:

The listener actively looks forward to listening to the favorite band’s music more than any other music, and does so weekly, if not daily;
The listener seeks to have a complete collection of the favorite band’s work, and is willing to spend a little bit more money than usual to acquire it, with special attention paid to albums or singles that less-enthusiastic fans might never find or hear;
The listener never grows tired of the favorite band and its works, and anytime they come on the stereo or radio, no matter what the song, it is greeted with volume rising and singing along;
The listener seeks to learn more about the favorite band, and will often buy books or magazines or watch television or internet shows related to its members and their music;
The listener makes an effort to see the favorite band in a live setting as often as practically possible.

I’ll start at the very beginning. But 1) I’m not going to create links UNLESS I’ve not done it before, 2) I’m not going to limit it to bands.

The Everly Brothers (- 1960). My father had a bunch of singles. at least a couple of them were the Everly Brothers. So I began to recognize them on the radio.

Harry Belafonte (1961-1964). Most of these are from the My Lord What A Mornin’ album, which I finally bought on CD in the 2010s. From #10-#1:

Mama Look A Boo Boo
Matilda
Jamaica Farewell
March Down to Jordan
Mary’s Boy Child

Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)
Wake Up, Jacob
My Lord What A Mornin’
Banana Boat Song
‘Buked and Scorned

I should make a special note of There’s A Hole in My Bucket, which he performed with the late, great Odetta. I don’t recall hearing it at the time, but it was a song my father used to sing before my sister Leslie and I stole it from him.

BTW, if I had to pick a GROUP for the early 1960s, I’d be hard-pressed. Maybe The Drifters, based entirely on hearing them on the radio.

Music Throwback Saturday: Banana Boat

Harry Belafonte will be turning 90 on March 1, 2017

I knew the song Banana Boat (Day-O) by Harry Belafonte. Everybody knows that song, even fans in Japan, who would sing it TO Harry.

But looking on the charts for February 16, 1957, I found TWO songs with similar titles, the Belafonte song at #5 and The Banana Boat Song by a group called The Tarriers at #7, a recording that, to my knowledge, I had never heard.

The Tarriers was a folk trio of Eric Darling (d. 2008), Bob Casey, and the future movie actor Alan Arkin (guitars). Darling, who played banjo, replaced Pete Seeger in The Weavers from 1958 to 1962, then formed The Rooftop Singers with Willard Svanoe and Lynne Taylor (d. 1982), who sang with Benny Goodman and Buddy Rich.

Harry Belafonte, of course, is a living legend. Five years ago, I wrote about Belafonte on the occasion of his 85th birthday, which means he’ll be turning 90 on March 1, 2017.

The Tarriers’ Banana Boat Song got up to #4, but it was #1 in Detroit, Milwaukee, St Louis, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Toronto. It first hit the Top 10 on December 29, 1956, jumping from #21 to #9, staying in the Top 10 ten more weeks, for a total of 19 weeks in the Top 100.

Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat (Day-O) went from #14 to #9 on January 26, stuck at #5 for four weeks, but was in the Top 100 for a total of 20 weeks. It was #7 on the R&B national charts and got to #1 on the pop charts in Atlanta, New York City, Buffalo and Los Angeles.

Listen to:

Cindy, O Cindy – Vince Martin with the Tarriers (#9 in 1956) here or here

Banana Boat Song – The Tarriers here or here

Banana Boat (Day-O) – Harry Belafonte here or here

Walk Right In – The Rooftop Singers (#1 for two weeks in 1963) here or here

Tom Cat – The Rooftop Singers (#20 in 1963) here or here

Mama Don’t Allow – The Rooftop Singers (#55 in 1963) here or here

More Belafonte

November Rambling: Eddie, the Renaissance Geek, turns 50; Jaquandor’s book now available for purchase

The official video for Cuts Like a Winter by Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact

John Oliver’s Complicated Fun Connects for HBO. Perhaps John Oliver Is Outdoing The Daily Show and Colbert. In any case, Yet Another Study Shows US Satire Programs Do A Better Job Informing Viewers Than Actual News Outlets.

The Motion Picture Academy chose to bestow a special award to Harry Belafonte, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. “Belafonte’s remarks offer both a pointed and powerful rebuke of Hollywood’s past and a stirring inducement to continue the industry’s more recent progress on human rights issues.”

Re the Ferguson protests, which I saw described as “mind-bogglingly incomprehensible”: It’s Incredibly Rare For A Grand Jury To Do What Ferguson’s Just Did, as even Antonin Scalia could tell you. So Mark Evanier’s thoughts largely echo mine. Related: video showing the moments leading up to the fatal shooting by police of a 22-year-old Saratoga Springs, Utah man, Darrien Hunt.

6 Things You Might Not Think Are Harassment But Definitely Are (BECAUSE APPARENTLY WE NEED TO CLEAR A FEW THINGS UP).

Eddie, the Renaissance Geek turns 50 this month and deals with melanoma on his birthday AND a disappointing Election Day with amazing good humor. No brain cancer, but there is cancer in the liver. Here’s a piece about the Purple Power Port. Insight into how Eddie’s brain works.

Why your brain loves rewards and how playing an instrument benefits your brain.

Jaquandor’s book STARDANCER is available for purchase. Now he’s off working on the next one. Please note, the book will NOT be available in all of these formats!

The Unbelievable Skepticism of the Amazing Randi, Uri Geller’s archrival.

I thought the Grimm fairy tales I own were rather grim, but the Grimm brothers’ fairytales have blood and horror restored in new translation. Also, fairy tale truths revealed.

Rise of the “Dones” at church.

Dustbury notes Kickstarter duds and password rules.

8 things you should never feed to cats and dogs. Such as chocolate, which we’re running out of, anyway.

Stamping Out Danger and a spy needed a perfect passport — down to the staples.

On Veterans Day, Marvel Comics saluted Jack Kirby… for his military service.

New Bill Watterson comic because we can’t have enough Bill Watterson.

Someone was doing a search for sources of vinyl records and discovered this image. “Damn, if Sonny Rollins doesn’t have a doppelganger right here at Corporate Woods.”

The Science Behind Why Some People Can Sing And Others Can’t.

Nice piece about Grace, who sings in my church choir.

The song Boy in the Bubble irritates me. More correctly, the fact that the 12″ version [LISTEN] hasn’t appeared on any Paul Simon album that I’m aware of bugs me. The only version I have I copied onto a cassette from a friend’s 12″.

The official video for Cuts Like a Winter by Rebecca Jade and the Cold Fact. Also, Bang Bang (Jessie J, Ariana Grande, Nicki Minaj) cover by Siren’s Crush, featuring Rebecca Jade (the first niece).

Music by Jayne Mansfield, backed by Jimi Hendrix.

When some network news program comes back from the break playing some old song, there’s a good chance the artist has died. Such was the case for Jimmy Ruffin.

To the surprise of absolutely no one, Dolly Parton has long been an icon to the gay community.

You know it’s All About That Baste and All About That Base (No Acid). This has become a cottage industry!

Elvis Costello goes grocery shopping, 1978.

Elvis Presley is dead, but how did he die?

Fans of music who like to flatly say U2 is no longer relevant need to define what they mean by that.

The Crosby, Stills and Nash cover photo. As opposed to Famous Album Cover Photos Uncropped to Reveal ‘The Bigger Picture’.

Remembering the pugilistic power of Rod Serling on the Twilight Zone.

A story about Welcome Back, Kotter’s John Sylvester-White who played the cranky school principal, Mr. Woodman.

Noel Neill is 95. Here are pictures from an earlier time.

It’s a floor wax AND a credit card.

Muppet galore: Quongo and Roosevelt Franklin (who I LOVED) and Frazzle and Gonzo’s enlightenment and Cookie Monster and John Oliver and clap, clap, clap. Also, “Sesame Street has a series online called Welcome to the Furchester Hotel, which is British but also features Elmo and Cookie Monster. It’s cute, and there’s a new 11-minute episode each Friday.”

Unlock the Secrets of your Poop.

GOOGLE ALERT (me)

A whale of a tale. Hat tip to Mr. Frog.

GOOGLE ALERT (not me)

Hanceville to seek a $160K grant for firefighter equipment. “Fire Chief Roger Green asked the council to approve applying for $159,547.76 through the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) program. The Cullman County Economic Development agency will write the grant for the fire department, Green said.” This is in Alabama, BTW.

That Big Box of Vinyl

Tosy and Cosh is a blogger that I used to enjoy reading, before he went on sabbatical back in 2009. I just discovered that he is back writing. Somehow, though, I missed his brief return from March to May 2011, during which time he did this piece That Big Box of Vinyl. It was really depressing, because it was subtitled “music you remember your parents listening to.” It included songs such as Colour My World by Chicago, which was his mother and father’s wedding song; it was also the song of my high school prom. Talk about feeling old.

I’ve previously shared some of the singles in my father’s collection. So here are some albums.

Harry Belafonte, as noted, was a huge influence on my father’s time as a singer of folk songs. From this Belafonte discography, I discovered the albums Dad owned. The album links have 30-second clips of each song.

The most important album for him had to have been My Lord What A Morning, from 1960. He performed most of the songs, especially Buked And Scorned. In fact, it was SO important that, just this year, I bought copies of it for the older of my sisters and for me. From Streets I Have Walked (1963), he got the arrangement of This Wicked Race. Dad also owned An Evening With Belafonte/Makeba (1965) and In My Quiet Room (1966).

I noted, a long while back, the importance of Pete Seeger’s “We Shall Overcome” album “recorded live at his historic Carnegie Hall Concert, June 8, 1963″. I found a four-song EP, featuring If You Miss Me at the Back of the Bus; Little Boxes; I Ain’t Scared of Your Jail; and We Shall Overcome. I also discovered a too-trimmed version of Tshotsholosa (Road Song). I own a version by Ladysmith Black Mambazo, and just this summer, I heard a performance by Peace Train, a South African pair of women, one white, one black, singing this tune.

Finally, Joan Baez, and specifically, the oddly-named Best of Joan Baez, from the early 1960s, was huge. Here’s So Soon in the Morning, with Bill Wood, which my father, sister and I used to perform together.