Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)

Subject: Obit: Harry Belafonte
From: GUEST,P
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 10:54 AM

Guardian article: Harry Belafante dies

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 11:15 AM

One of the best. A fighter for black civil rights (a close friend of Martin Luther King), including in the battle against apartheid and a campaigner against nuclear weapons. When he called George W Bush the greatest terrorist in the world, I found it hard to disagree.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 11:20 AM

Harry B: There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza,
                There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, a hole.

Odetta: Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry,
               Then mend it, dear Henry, dear Henry, mend it.


Now there was a team!

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 11:20 AM

There was a brief interview on NPR this morning, and I imagine that Fresh Air will play one of her past interviews with him on Friday.

Harry Belafonte, 96, Dies; Barrier-Breaking Singer, Actor and Activist
In the 1950s, when segregation was still widespread, his ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. But his primary focus was civil rights.

Harry Belafonte, who stormed the pop charts and smashed racial barriers in the 1950s with his highly personal brand of folk music, and who went on to become a dynamic force in the civil rights movement, died on Tuesday at his home on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was 96.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said Ken Sunshine, his longtime spokesman.

At a time when segregation was still widespread and Black faces were still a rarity on screens large and small, Mr. Belafonte’s ascent to the upper echelon of show business was historic. He was not the first Black entertainer to transcend racial boundaries; Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and others had achieved stardom before him. But none had made as much of a splash as he did, and for a few years no one in music, Black or white, was bigger.

Born in Harlem to West Indian immigrants, he almost single-handedly ignited a craze for Caribbean music with hit records like “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” and “Jamaica Farewell.” His album “Calypso,” which included both those songs, reached the top of the Billboard album chart shortly after its release in 1956 and stayed there for 31 weeks. Coming just before the breakthrough of Elvis Presley, it was said to be the first album by a single artist to sell more than a million copies.

Ken Sunshine, his longtime spokesman - first cousin, perhaps, to Randy Rainbow. :)

The rest of the obit is at the link.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 11:58 AM

Awwwww. What a guy and what a voice. Condolences to his family and loved ones. I feel an evening of Harry in the offing soon.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: GUEST,RJM
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 02:49 PM

Steve, good post

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: fat B****rd
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 03:25 PM

RIP Mr. Belafonte. I loved him in "Kansas City".

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 03:40 PM

He lived a long and colorful life. One of the best voices from his time. May he rest in peace.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 03:48 PM

De tamtam called but de lemon grass

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: Mrrzy
Date: 25 Apr 23 - 03:51 PM

The NPR appreciation

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: EBarnacle
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 09:23 AM

On Monday evening, I had an earworm of Jamaica Farewell. Still got it rolling around my head.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Apr 23 - 10:10 AM

Day-o was running through my head for quite a while. That song - anyone could sing along, I think that made it so compelling, yet the message was there for all.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: keberoxu
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 06:57 PM

When Flip Wilson had his television variety show,
Belafonte was a memorable guest artist doing a bunch of things.
He sang a song accompanied by a little white-haired Brazilian guitarist.

He was before my time somewhat --
my mother, watching him sing on television, sighed,
"He doesn't look a day older . . ."

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Apr 23 - 09:30 PM

Fresh Air today played an interview with him from 1993. He was asked about his raspy voice and gave an interesting answer, about his larynx allowing air to flow past when he spoke. He adapted his singing to avoid that raspiness.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: GUEST,jim bainbridge
Date: 29 Apr 23 - 09:15 AM

A telling moment (available on youtube) when on stage in the US with the classic English singer and beauty Petula Clark.
Petula was singing with Belafonte behind (of course!) when he dared to briefly touch her elbow in sympathy with the song-

This trivial event evoked sheer horror from the US media but showed their naked fear of any hint of equality between the races of that country.

Subject: RE: Obit: Harry Belafonte (1927-2023)
From: cnd
Date: 29 Apr 23 - 09:53 AM

The song has apparently been in their lineup for a couple years, but last night the Avett Brothers payed tribute to Belafonte at Merlefest by playing Jump In the Line

https://youtu.be/rmhWeaW-srY