Calypso (album)

Calypso is the third studio album by recording artist Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor (LPM-1248) in 1956. The album became his second consecutive number-one album on the Billboard Top Pop Albums chart, where it stayed for 31 consecutive weeks.

Album information

The first track "Day-O (Banana Boat Song)" largely contributed to the success of the album and it is still the song for which Harry Belafonte is best known, reaching number five on Billboard's Pop chart.

It is a traditional Jamaican folk song, not a calypso, sung from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships. Daylight has come, the shift is over, and they want their work to be counted up so that they can go home (this is the meaning of the lyric "Come, Mr. Tally Man, tally me banana / Daylight come and me wan' go home.")

The third track, "Jamaica Farewell", is a calypso folk song about the beauties of the West Indian islands and a love left behind. This was the first album on which it was published. It reached number 14 on Billboard's Pop chart, becoming the second hit from the album.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	^[1]

Calypso is the first LP album to sell over one million copies. Several singles, including Glenn Miller's "Chattanooga Choo-Choo," Bing Crosby's "White Christmas," and Tennessee Ernie Ford's "Sixteen Tons" had surpassed 1 million copies previously. The album is number four on Billboard's "Top 100 Album" list for having spent 31 weeks at number 1, 58 weeks in the top ten, and 99 weeks on the U.S. charts. Allmusic gave the album 5 stars out of 5 and called it, "a record of inestimable influence".

Popular culture

"Day-O" was used in a dinner scene in the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice. "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" was also featured in Beetlejuice as well as The Simpsons and I Love Lucy episodes.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)"	Traditional, arranged by William Attaway, Harry Belafonte, Lord Burgess	3:02
2.	"I Do Adore Her"	Lord Burgess	2:48
3.	"Jamaica Farewell"	Lord Burgess	3:02
4.	"Will His Love Be Like His Rum?"	Attaway, Belafonte	2:33
5.	"Dolly Dawn"	Lord Burgess	3:13
6.	"Star O"	Harry Belafonte, Lord Burgess, William Attaway	2:02
7.	"The Jack-Ass Song"	Lord Burgess, William Attaway	2:52
8.	"Hosanna"	Lord Burgess, William Attaway	2:34
9.	"Come Back Liza"	Lord Burgess, William Attaway	3:03
10.	"Brown Skin Girl"	Norman Span	2:43
11.	"Man Smart (Woman Smarter)"	Norman Span	3:31

Personnel

Harry Belafonte – vocals
Millard J. Thomas – guitar (1, 4, 6, 7)
Frantz Casseus – guitar
Tony Scott and His Orchestra (2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11)
The Norman Luboff Choir (8, 9, 10)

Production notes:

Ed Welker – producer
Herman Diaz Jr. – producer
Henri René – producer ("Man Smart (Woman Smarter)")
Tony Scott – conductor
Broc Peters – chorus leader
Roy Stevens – cover photo
William Attaway – liner notes

References

↑ link

External links

Preceded by My Fair Lady by Original Cast Recording The King And I by Soundtrack The Eddy Duchin Story by Carmen Cavallaro / Soundtrack	Billboard 200 number-one album September 8–29, 1956 October 20 - December 1, 1956	Succeeded by Elvis by Elvis Presley

Belafonte Tracks discography site.

Harry Belafonte

Discography

Studio albums	Mark Twain and Other Folk Favorites (1954) Belafonte (1956) Calypso (1956) An Evening with Belafonte (1957) Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean (1957) To Wish You a Merry Christmas (1958) Belafonte Sings the Blues (1958) Love Is a Gentle Thing (1959) My Lord What a Mornin' (1959) Swing Dat Hammer (1960) Jump Up Calypso (1961) Midnight Special (1962) The Many Moods of Belafonte (1962) Streets I Have Walked (1963) Ballads, Blues and Boasters (1964) In My Quiet Room (1966) Calypso in Brass (1966) Belafonte on Campus (1967) Belafonte Sings of Love (1968) Homeward Bound (1970) Belafonte by Request (1970) The Warm Touch (1971) Calypso Carnival (1971) Play Me (1973) Turn the World Around (1977) Loving You Is Where I Belong (1981) Paradise in Gazankulu (1988)

Live albums	Belafonte at Carnegie Hall (1959) Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall (1960) Belafonte at The Greek Theatre (1964) En Gränslös Kväll På Operan (1966) Belafonte...Live! (1972) Belafonte Concert in Japan (1974) Belafonte '89 (1989) An Evening with Harry Belafonte and Friends (1997)

Compilations	Very Best of Harry Belafonte (2001) The Long Road to Freedom: An Anthology of Black Music (2001) The Essential Harry Belafonte (2005)

Collaborations	Porgy and Bess (1959) An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba (1965) An Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri (1966) Harry & Lena: For the Love of Life (1970) "We Are the World" (1985)

Related articles	Shari Belefonte (daughter) March on Washington Mississippi Freedom Summer

Billboard Year-End number one albums

1956–1975	1956: Calypso – Harry Belafonte 1957: Music from My Fair Lady – Original Cast 1958: Music from My Fair Lady – Original Cast 1959: The Music from Peter Gunn – Henry Mancini 1960: Music from The Sound of Music – Original Cast 1961: Camelot – Original Cast 1962: West Side Story – Soundtrack 1963: West Side Story – Soundtrack 1964: 'Music from Hello, Dolly! – Original Cast 1965: Music from Mary Poppins – Soundtrack 1966: Whipped Cream & Other Delights – Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass 1967: More of the Monkees – The Monkees 1968: Are You Experienced – The Jimi Hendrix Experience 1969: In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – Iron Butterfly 1970: Bridge over Troubled Water – Simon & Garfunkel 1971: Jesus Christ Superstar – Soundtrack 1972: Harvest – Neil Young 1973: The World Is a Ghetto – War 1974: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road – Elton John 1975: Elton John's Greatest Hits – Elton John

1976–2000	1976: Frampton Comes Alive! – Peter Frampton 1977: Rumours – Fleetwood Mac 1978: Saturday Night Fever – Soundtrack 1979: 52nd Street – Billy Joel 1980: The Wall – Pink Floyd 1981: Hi Infidelity – REO Speedwagon 1982: Asia – Asia 1983: Thriller – Michael Jackson 1984: Thriller – Michael Jackson 1985: Born in the U.S.A. – Bruce Springsteen 1986: Whitney Houston – Whitney Houston 1987: Slippery When Wet – Bon Jovi 1988: Faith – George Michael 1989: Don't Be Cruel – Bobby Brown 1990: Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814 – Janet Jackson 1991: Mariah Carey – Mariah Carey 1992: Ropin' the Wind – Garth Brooks 1993: The Bodyguard – Soundtrack 1994: The Sign – Ace of Base 1995: Cracked Rear View – Hootie & the Blowfish 1996: Jagged Little Pill – Alanis Morissette 1997: Spice – Spice Girls 1998: Titanic: Music from the Motion Picture – James Horner 1999: Millennium – Backstreet Boys 2000: No Strings Attached – NSYNC

2001–present	2001: 1 – The Beatles 2002: The Eminem Show – Eminem 2003: Get Rich or Die Tryin' – 50 Cent 2004: Confessions – Usher 2005: The Massacre – 50 Cent 2006: Some Hearts – Carrie Underwood 2007: Daughtry – Daughtry 2008: As I Am – Alicia Keys 2009: Fearless – Taylor Swift 2010: I Dreamed a Dream – Susan Boyle 2011: 21 – Adele 2012: 21 – Adele 2013: The 20/20 Experience – Justin Timberlake 2014: Frozen – Soundtrack 2015: 1989 – Taylor Swift

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