Belafonte's second album includes songs featured in the Broadway production of Three for Tonight, which starred Belafonte along with Gower and Marge Champion.
The collection again featured a variety of material, which would become a hallmark with his albums up until the mid-1960s.
But now, for the first time, the power of Belafonte's interpretive skills become apparent, especially with songs culled from field recordings of chain gangs and southern prisons.
"Jump Down, Spin Around" and "Sylvie" were both popularized by Leadbelly.
The hammer song "Water Boy" and the spirituals "Take My Mother Home" and "Noah" are among the most powerful performances in Belafonte's career.
Also included is Belafonte's second recording of one of his most requested songs, the calypso "Matilda." This version was far superior to his first effort, released only on a single in 1953.
This album was swept along with the success of Belafonte's next release, the million-selling Calypso, and was #1 on Billboard's album charts for six weeks, remaining on the charts for over a year.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water BoyAvery Robinson | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | TroublesHarry Belafonte | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:41 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Suzanne (Every Night When the Sun Goes Down)Harry Belafonte, Millard Thomas | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | MatildaNorman Span | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:35 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Take My Mother HomeHall Johnson | Harry Belafonte | Play | 05:53 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | NoahHarry Belafonte | Harry Belafonte | Play | 04:52 | 11 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Scarlet Ribbons (For Her Hair)Evelyn Danzig, Jack Segal | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | In That Great Gettin' Up Mornin'Norman Luboff | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Unchained MelodyAlex North, Hy Zaret | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:21 | 7 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Jump Down, Spin AroundHarry Belafonte | Harry Belafonte | Play | 01:57 | 4 MB | 0 MB |
| 11 | SylviePaul Campbell, Huddie Ledbetter | Harry Belafonte | Play | 05:18 | 12 MB | 0 MB |
| 42 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harry Belafonte | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 2 | Paul Campbell | Composer |
| 3 | Evelyn Danzig | Composer |
| 4 | Hall Johnson | Composer |
| 5 | Huddie Ledbetter | Composer |
| 6 | Norman Luboff | Composer |
| 7 | Alex North | Composer |
| 8 | Avery Robinson | Composer |
| 9 | Jack Segal | Composer |
| 10 | Norman Span | Composer |
| 11 | Millard Thomas | Composer |
| 12 | Hy Zaret | Composer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |