Listen No. 19 - Calypso by Harry Belafonte

Record Number 19: Calypso by Harry Belafonte

Genre: Calypso, mento

Context: Released in 1956, Calypso was the first LP to sell over a million copies. It outsold Elvis that year.

Notable facts: Calypso was just one part of Belafonte’s very broad musical output. Read about the range here:

He was also hugely active politically. And although it won’t be the first thing Belafonte is remembered for, he helped to secure a future for hip-hop in Cuba. In a 2002 interview, he commented 

“When I went back to Havana a couple years later, the people in the hip-hop community came to see me and we hung out for a bit. They thanked me profusely and I said, ‘Why?’ and they said, ‘Because your little conversation with Fidel and the minister of Culture on hip-hop led to there being a special division within the ministry and we’ve got our own studio.’

 My favourite track:  Hosanna

What critics made of it:  The success of the album led to ‘calypsomania’, with artists like Rosemary Clooney, Pat Boone and Robert Mitchum making recordings. I’d certainly like to get my hands on a copy of Mitchum’s ‘Is Like So….

But Belafonte came in for some criticism (which he’d been expecting, by all accounts.) Some saw him as inauthentic, an appropriator of a musical genre which has its roots in Trinidad and slavery. A link to a fine article is below:

Listening to this inspired me to: Find a copy of MIdnight Special