An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba


An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba is a Grammy Award-winning 1965 album by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, released by RCA Victor. It was the second outcome of the long lasting collaboration between Belafonte and Makeba, the first being the appearance of Makeba in the song "One More Dance" on Belafonte's 1960 album, Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall.

Background

In the mid-1960s, Belafonte was very active in supporting emerging African artists as well as making African music known worldwide, and this album is an example of this activity. It includes classical African songs like Malaika as well as songs in African languages such as Zulu, Sotho and Swahili.

Overview

Despite the title, the album is not a collection of live duet performances by Harry Belafonte and Makeba. It is a studio album of 12 tracks, five by Belafonte, five by Makeba, and two duets. The songs are all African traditional tunes sung in tribal languages like Xhosa and Zulu.

Chart performance

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated July 10, 1965, peaking at No. 85 during an eleven-week run on the chart. The album debuted on Cashbox magazine's Top 100 Albums chart in the issue also dated July 10, 1965, peaking at No. 87 during a six-week run on the chart.

Reception

The initial Billboard review said that "The artistry of two exciting performers is combined for the first time on record and the result is a remarkable meeting of the musical minds and outstanding musical entertainment."
William Ruhlmann on AllMusic stated that "The real point of this album is to present a group of South African songs in more or less authentic fashion", adding "This is a powerful album of traditional South African music, and anyone buying it realizing that will be well satisfied."

Track listing

  1. "Train Song" – 3:08
  2. "'In the Land of the Zulus" – 2:30
  3. "Hush, Hush" – 3:03
  4. "To Those We Love" – 2:15
  5. "Give Us Our Land" – 2:27
  6. "Ndodemnyama Verwoerd!" – 2:05
  7. "Gone Are My Children" – 2:47
  8. "Hurry, Mama, Hurry!" – 3:25
  9. "My Angel" – 3:12
  10. "Cannon" – 2:47
  11. "Lullaby" – 2:46
  12. "Show Me the Way, My Brother" – 3:10

Personnel

  • Harry Belafonte – vocals
  • Miriam Makeba – vocals
  • Sam Brown – guitar
  • Eddie Diehl – guitar
  • Marvin Falcon – guitar
  • Ernie Calabria – guitar
  • Jay Berliner – guitar
  • William Salter – bass
  • John Cartwright – bass
  • Auchee Lee – percussion
  • Solomon Ilori – percussion
  • Chief Bey – percussion
  • Ralph MacDonald – percussion
  • Percy Brice – percussion
Production