An album focusing on music of chain gangs, this record is as explosive and powerful as any in Belafonte's catalog.
Accompanied again by the Belafonte Folk Singers and the occasional guitar and bass (with conductor Bob Corman credited under his real name, Robert De Cormier), Belafonte turns the hypnotic, rhythmic chants of Negro prisoners into riveting, passionate songs of unrelenting loneliness and shame ("Swing Dat Hammer"), torturous days laboring in the hot sun ("Go Down Old Hannah"), hatred for their captors ("Grizzly Bear") and even their guard dogs ("Here Rattler Here").
"Diamond Joe" features Belafonte expressing the prisoner's anger and despair as he faces an endless life on the rock pile.
It is one of the most chilling performances of his career.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Look Over Yonder | Harry Belafonte | Play | 02:56 | 6 MB | 0 MB |
| 2 | Bald Headed Woman | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:33 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 3 | Grizzly Bear | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:31 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 4 | Diamond JoeHarry Belafonte | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 5 | Here Rattler Here | Harry Belafonte | Play | 04:02 | 9 MB | 0 MB |
| 6 | Another Man Done GoneVera Hall, Alan Lomax, John A. Lomax, Ruby Pickens Tartt | Harry Belafonte | Play | 02:24 | 5 MB | 0 MB |
| 7 | Swing Dat Hammer | Harry Belafonte | Play | 04:43 | 10 MB | 0 MB |
| 8 | Go Down Old Hannah | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 9 | Rocks and Gravel | Harry Belafonte | Play | 03:52 | 8 MB | 0 MB |
| 10 | Talkin' an' Signifyin' | Harry Belafonte | Play | 05:59 | 13 MB | 0 MB |
| 38 mins | 88 MB | |||||
| 0 mins | 0 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Belafonte Folk Singers | Vocals |
| 2 | Harry Belafonte | Composer, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 3 | Bob Bollard | Producer |
| 4 | Robert DeCormier | Conductor |
| 5 | Vera Hall | Composer |
| 6 | Alan Lomax | Composer |
| 7 | John A. Lomax | Composer |
| 8 | Bob Simpson | Engineer |
| 9 | Ruby Pickens Tartt | Composer |
| 10 | Millard Thomas | Guitar |
| 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. |