Greatest Hits (2000)

About this title: Digitally remastered in 2000, RCA's triple-disc package Greatest Hits is a stellar overview of Harry Belafonte's career, covering 53 tracks spanning the years 1952-1972. While Belafonte is, of course, best known for popularizing calypso music, Greatest Hits doesn't place a disproportionate emphasis on that aspect of his career; instead, the collection is a testament to Belafonte's eclecticism and versatility. His voice may have been tailor-made for straight-ahead pop, but Belafonte was most at home on folk material, and his sources ranged far and wide. Not only from standard American folk ... read more

Tracks:

1. A-Roving [Traditional]
2. Chiminey Smoke [Gimbel/Coleman]
3. Shenandoah [Traditional]
4. Man Smart (Woman Smarter) [Span]
5. Jerry (This Timber Got to Roll) [Traditional]
6. Scarlet Ribbons [Segal/Danzig]
7. Gomen Nasai (Forgive Me) [Mayers/Hattori]
8. Suzanne (Every Night When the Sun Goes Down) [Belafonte/Thomas]
9. Matilda [Thomas/Belafonte/Th]
10. Venezuela [Traditional]
11. Hold 'Em Joe [Thomas]
12. I'm Just a Country Boy [Brooks/Barer]
13. Man Piaba [Belafonte/Rollins]
14. John Henry [Campbell]
15. Sylvie [Leadbelly/Campbell]
16. Jump Down, Spin Around [Luboff/Belafonte/At]
17. In That Great Gettin' up Morning [Belafonte/Luboff]
18. Unchained Melody [North/Zaret]
19. Come Back Liza [Attaway/Burgie]
20. I Do Adore Her [Lord Burgess]
21. Jamaica Farewell [Burgess]
22. The Banana Boat Song (Day-O) [Belafonte/Burgess]
23. Cucurrucucu Paloma [Méndez]
24. Mary's Boy Child [Hairston]
25. Once Was [Kennedy/Lorin]
26. When the Saints Go Marching In [Traditional]
27. Danny Boy [Weatherly]
28. Mama Look a Boo Boo [Melody]
29. Don't Ever Love Me [Burgess]
30. Coconut Woman [Belafonte/Burgess]
31. Angelique-O [Burgess/Attaway]
32. Island in the Sun [Belafonte/Lord Burg]
33. One for My Baby (And One More for the Road) [Mercer/Arlen]
34. God Bless the Child [Herzog/Holiday]
35. Cotton Fields [Leadbelly]
36. Delia's Gone [Corman/Okun]
37. Oh, Freedom [Okun/Corman/Belafon]
38. Jump in the Line [Somvel]
39. Land of the Sea and Sun [Burgie]
40. Angelina [Burgie]
41. Midnight Special [Traditional]
42. On Top of Old Smokey [Traditional]
43. Muleskinner [Traditional]
44. Michael, Row the Boat Ashore [Traditional]
45. This Land Is Your Land [Guthrie]
46. Try to Remember [Jones/Schmidt]
47. By the Time I Get to Phoenix [Webb]
48. A Day in the Life of a Fool [Bonfa/Sigman]
49. If I Were a Carpenter [Hardin]
50. Mr. Bojangles [Walker]
51. Abraham, Martin and John [Holler]
52. Scarborough Fair (Canticle) [Garfunkel/Simon]
53. Fare Thee Well [Eaton]

Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is further described below.