Soot and Stars
I AM SOOT!
Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte is not an artist I ever felt any depth for. My introduction to him was not a deep one by any means. In fact, my introduction came to him in about as cheesy an intro you can to an artist. It was in a comedy and if that's not cornball enough the comedy which the larger majority have already guessed is called Beetlejuice! Let's relive that scene shall we!
Listen, let's be honest! The song is campy as Hell! Even as a traditional song where you bear in mind the innocence and culture of it's creation! That song is great, the scene is great and they work well together! It's just not a song you hear where you would connect that to the singer and think more than novelty just like with Bobby McFerrin and that song where he expects you to just be ****in' happy all the time sans medication! Anyway, in my 70's thread a Harry Belafonte album came up. It was:
Belafonte By Request
and I'll be honest. I wasn't looking forward to it. I'd been hit by everything from Bongo beating bland Jazz to Ringo doing country which was more interesting than my Statler Brothers debacle. None were horribly bad but I wanted a rock album at that point and not Coconut guy trying to cover songs! It turned out even though a lot of songs were missing from my search that I slowly began to realize this guy can sing. Not only that but it was such a beautiful tone and may be the best of this type I've heard! Maybe he's not a writer but his tone is so awesome and unique that it's made me appreciate these type of covers in a way I couldn't pull out of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra (I've triiiiied with both), Tony Bennett, you name it, etc. The song that clinched the deal with me was his cover of Scarborough Fair. I've heard this song covered but this is the only version I've heard I'd put alongside the original. The original had the benefit of beautiful harmonies but the timing here tells a great story to set it on it's own:
[GROOVESHARK]36873299[/GROOVESHARK]
Here are some other examples of Harry's lesser known singing and interpretations:
Losing hand and Danny Boy
I'm a newb to this guy but I don't see anyone making a thread for him anytime soon! My purpose is twofold aside from honoring a great! Number one, I want you to be surprised and say "Hey, I've never heard this guy like this! Maybe I should delve deeper!"! Number two, for whoever lived this, whatever era of Belafonte it is, I want you to keep feeding me and helping me here what else he has up his sleeve! Have fun and Hell, post a fun coconut song if that's what you like!
Harry Belafonte is not an artist I ever felt any depth for. My introduction to him was not a deep one by any means. In fact, my introduction came to him in about as cheesy an intro you can to an artist. It was in a comedy and if that's not cornball enough the comedy which the larger majority have already guessed is called Beetlejuice! Let's relive that scene shall we!
Listen, let's be honest! The song is campy as Hell! Even as a traditional song where you bear in mind the innocence and culture of it's creation! That song is great, the scene is great and they work well together! It's just not a song you hear where you would connect that to the singer and think more than novelty just like with Bobby McFerrin and that song where he expects you to just be ****in' happy all the time sans medication!
Anyway, in my 70's thread a Harry Belafonte album came up. It was:Belafonte By Request
and I'll be honest. I wasn't looking forward to it. I'd been hit by everything from Bongo beating bland Jazz to Ringo doing country which was more interesting than my Statler Brothers debacle. None were horribly bad but I wanted a rock album at that point and not Coconut guy trying to cover songs! It turned out even though a lot of songs were missing from my search that I slowly began to realize this guy can sing. Not only that but it was such a beautiful tone and may be the best of this type I've heard! Maybe he's not a writer but his tone is so awesome and unique that it's made me appreciate these type of covers in a way I couldn't pull out of Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra (I've triiiiied with both), Tony Bennett, you name it, etc. The song that clinched the deal with me was his cover of Scarborough Fair. I've heard this song covered but this is the only version I've heard I'd put alongside the original. The original had the benefit of beautiful harmonies but the timing here tells a great story to set it on it's own:
[GROOVESHARK]36873299[/GROOVESHARK]
Here are some other examples of Harry's lesser known singing and interpretations:
Losing hand and Danny Boy
I'm a newb to this guy but I don't see anyone making a thread for him anytime soon! My purpose is twofold aside from honoring a great! Number one, I want you to be surprised and say "Hey, I've never heard this guy like this! Maybe I should delve deeper!"! Number two, for whoever lived this, whatever era of Belafonte it is, I want you to keep feeding me and helping me here what else he has up his sleeve! Have fun and Hell, post a fun coconut song if that's what you like!
I loved the interplay with Animal though! 
The comedic timing was awesome there! 
He has a great variety of Traditional Folk songs as well, Calypso was quite a success for him in 1957 (I think) though, but to have that diversity is just incredible. 
