Biography
Harold George Belafonte Jnr., 1 March 1927, Harlem, New York City, New York, USA. In recent years, the former ‘King Of Calypso’ has become better known for his work with UNICEF and his enterprise with the charity organization USA For Africa. Prior to that, Belafonte had an extraordinarily varied life. His early career was spent as an actor, until he had time to demonstrate his silky smooth and gently relaxing singing voice. He appeared as Joe in Oscar Hammerstein’s Carmen Jones; an adaptation of Carmen by Bizet, and in 1956 he was snapped up by RCA - Victor Records. Belafonte was then at the forefront of the calypso craze, which was a perfect vehicle for his happy-go-lucky folk songs. Early hits included ‘Jamaica Farewell’, ‘Mary’s Boy Child’ and the classic transatlantic hit ‘Banana Boat Song’ with its unforgettable refrain: ‘Day-oh, dayyy-oh, daylight come and me wanna go home’. Calypso became the first...
Read the Full Biography of Harry Belafonte
|
Find products featuring
Harry Belafonte
OLDIES.com on
|
