''Belafonte Sings of the Caribbean'' is an album by

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

(LPM-1505) in 1957. It followed his album of calypso music, '' Calypso'' (1956), which was a major commercial success in the United States, spending over half a year atop the ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albums chart. Although ''Sings of the Caribbean'' was less successful, only reaching number 17 on the chart, it nevertheless "consolidated the vogue for calypso". According to Cary Ginell of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, ''Belfatone Sings of the Caribbean'', being the singer's second set of songs from the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greater A ...

, "expanded the scope in both style as well as geography from the ''Calypso'' album", additionally noting the addition of orchestral arrangements.

Track listing

Side one

#"Scratch, Scratch" (Harry Belafonte,

Lord Burgess Irving Louis Burgie (July 28, 1924 – November 29, 2019), sometimes known professionally as Lord Burgess, was an American musician and songwriter, regarded as one of the greatest composers of Caribbean music.

Side two

"Haïti Chérie" (Lord Burgess, Belafonte) – 3:18 # "Judy Drownded" (Burgie) – 3:28 #" Island in the Sun" (Lord Burgess, Belafonte) – 3:21 # "Angelique-O" (Burgie,

William Attaway William Alexander Attaway (November 19, 1911 – June 17, 1986) was an African-American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter. Biography Early life Attaway was born on November 19, 1911, in Greenvil ...

) – 2:40 #"Lead Man Holler" (Lord Burgess, Belafonte) – 4:18

Personnel

– vocals *Millard Thomas – guitar *

Frantz Casseus Frantz Casseus (14 December 1915 – 3 June 1993) was a Haitian-American guitarist and composer. Born and raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, he spent most of his adult life in the United States where he immigrated in 1946 hoping to meet pia ...

– guitar *Victor Messer – guitar Production notes: *Joe Carlton – producer *

Bob Corman Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

– orchestra and chorus *D. C. Gunn – cover photo *

– liner notes

References

{{Authority control 1957 albums Harry Belafonte albums RCA Victor albums