Calypso is an album by
Harry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. , is an American musician, actor and social activist. One of the most successful popular singers in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso", a title which he was very reluctant to accept for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an...
, released by RCA Victor (LPM-1248) in 1956. The CD was released on April 28 1992 . It is the first full-length
gramophone LPA gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
to sell over one million copies (the singles
Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
's "
White Christmas"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about a White Christmas. It is the second-best selling single of all time, and won an Academy Award. The morning after Berlin wrote the song in 1940 at the poolside — he often stayed up all night writing — he told his...
" and
Tennessee Ernie FordErnest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country & western, pop and gospel musical genres.- Early years :...
's "
Sixteen Tons"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the realities of coal mining, first recorded in 1946 by U.S. country singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year. A 1955 version recorded by 'Tennessee' Ernie Ford appeared on the b-side of his cover of the Moon...
" 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.
Calypso is an album by
Harry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. , is an American musician, actor and social activist. One of the most successful popular singers in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso", a title which he was very reluctant to accept for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an...
, released by RCA Victor (LPM-1248) in 1956. The CD was released on April 28 1992 . It is the first full-length
gramophone LPA gramophone record, commonly known as phonograph record, vinyl record, or simply record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed modulated spiral groove usually starting near the periphery and ending near the centre of the disc...
to sell over one million copies (the singles
Bing CrosbyHarry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American popular singer and actor whose career stretched over more than half a century from 1926 until his death....
's "
White Christmas"White Christmas" is an Irving Berlin song reminiscing about a White Christmas. It is the second-best selling single of all time, and won an Academy Award. The morning after Berlin wrote the song in 1940 at the poolside — he often stayed up all night writing — he told his...
" and
Tennessee Ernie FordErnest Jennings Ford , better known as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American recording artist and television host who enjoyed success in the country & western, pop and gospel musical genres.- Early years :...
's "
Sixteen Tons"Sixteen Tons" is a song about the realities of coal mining, first recorded in 1946 by U.S. country singer Merle Travis and released on his box set album Folk Songs of the Hills the following year. A 1955 version recorded by 'Tennessee' Ernie Ford appeared on the b-side of his cover of the Moon...
" 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.
The tracks
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 Billboards
PopThe Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday; while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart.
It is a traditional Trinidadian
CalypsoCalypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and Tobago.- Caribbean history :The islands had a core population of descendants of African slaves and workers and remnants of the indigenes, while colonial masters changed rapidly bringing settlers from France, Spain and the...
folk song, sung from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading
bananaBanana is the common name for a herbaceous plants of the genus Musa, and the commonly eaten fruit it produces. They are native to the tropical region of Southeast Asia, and are likely to have been first domesticated in Papua New Guinea. Today, they are cultivated throughout the tropics.Banana...
s 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 song was also used in a famous dinner scene in
Tim BurtonTimothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, producer, writer and artist. He is famed for his dark and quirky films, such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, which he co-wrote and produced...
's
BeetlejuiceBeetlejuice is a American comedy horror fantasy film directed by Tim Burton, produced by The Geffen Film Company and distributed by Warner Bros. The plot revolves around a recently dead young couple who become ghosts haunting their former home, a quaint and quiet house on a hill overlooking the...
.
The third track, "
Jamaica Farewell"Jamaica Farewell" is a famous calypso about the beauties of the West Indian Islands often believed to be called "Kingston Town" due to its mention in the lyrics....
", is another 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 fourteen on Billboard's Pop chart, becoming the second hit from the album.
"Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" is featured in both
The SimpsonsThe Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie...
and
I Love LucyI Love Lucy is an American television sitcom, starring Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz, Vivian Vance and William Frawley. The black-and-white series originally ran from October 15, 1951 to April 1, 1960 on CBS...
.
Track listing
- "Day-O" (Banana Boat Song
"Day-O " is a traditional Jamaican folk song, the best-known version of which was sung by Harry Belafonte. The song is the best-known example of calypso music. It is a song from the point of view of dock workers working the night shift loading bananas onto ships...
) (William AttawayWilliam Attaway was an African American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter.-Early life:...
/Harry Belafonte) – 3:02
- "I Do Adore Her" (Lord Burgess
Irving Louis Burgie, better known as Lord Burgess, is a songwriter, born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926, or on July 28, 1924. His mother was from Barbados and his father was from Virginia....
) – 2:48
- "Jamaica Farewell" (Lord Burgess) – 3:02
- "Will His Love Be Like His Rum?" (William Attaway/Harry Belafonte) – 2:33
- "Dolly Dawn" (Lord Burgess) – 3:13
- "Star-O" (William Attaway/Harry Belafonte) – 2:02
- "The Jack-Ass Song" (Lord Burgess/William Attaway) – 2:52
- "Hosanna" (Lord Burgess/William Attaway) – 2:34
- "Come Back Liza" (Lord Burgess/William Attaway) – 3:03
- "Brown Skin Girl " (Norman Span) – 2:43
- "Man Smart (Woman Smarter)" (Norman Span) – 3:31