Turn the World Around

Turn the World Around is an album by Harry Belafonte, released in 1977.^[2]

After nearly 20 years on the RCA Records label, Belafonte signed with CBS Records. After a series of Pop-oriented albums, Turn the World Around was a return to interpreting folk songs of other cultures. Gary Ginell stated in his Allmusic review: "It is an absolute triumph and one of the finest albums of his career." Although recorded in the US, it was only released overseas.

However, the title track became the focus of one of the most acclaimed performances on the successful television series, The Muppet Show, where Belafonte explained the artistic theme of the song before performing it with specially designed puppets that resemble African tribal masks. Series producer Jim Henson considered this production his best work on the series and featured it in numerous retrospectives of his art; Belafonte performed the song again at his memorial service.^[3]

Track listing

1. "Marching to the Fair" (Morris Goldberg, Shunmugan Pillay) – 5:44
2. "Auntie Mary" (Count Bernadino) – 4:32
3. "Olga" (Fitzroy Alexander) – 3:48
4. "Goin' Down Jordan" (Theophilus Woods, Irving Burgie) – 5:34
5. "Sunbird" (Pat Rosalia, Robert McKinnon) – 4:05
6. "New York Taxi" (Alexander) – 5:38
7. "Can't Cross Over" (Irving Burgie) – 4:44
8. "A Hole in the Bucket" (Harry Belafonte, Odetta) – 8:46
9. "Turn The World Around" (Belafonte, Robert Freedman) – 4:28

Personnel

• Harry Belafonte – vocals
• Falumi Prince – percussion, vocals on "A Hole in the Bucket"
• Dom Salvador – keyboards, musical director
• Keith Loving – guitar
• Scott Kuney – guitar
• Thelmo M. Porto – percussion
• Nana – percussion
• Dom Um Romão – percussion
• Steve Thornton – conga, bongos
• Brian Moore – keyboards
• Michael Tobas – drums
• Francisco Centeno – bass
• Gloria Agostini – harp
• Mauricio Smith – flute, saxophone
• Hal Archer – flute, saxophone
• Leopoldo Pineda – trombone
• Jose Rodrigues – trombone
• Howard Johnson – tuba
• Danny Cahn – trumpet
• Fred Jacobs – trumpet
• Babe Clarke – alto saxophone
• Larry Campbell – background vocals
• Vivian C. Cherry – background vocals
• Melvin Edmonston – background vocals
• Babi B. Floyd – background vocals
• Frank Floyd – background vocals
• Lani Groves – background vocals
• Milton Grayson – background vocals
• Hilda Harris – background vocals
• Pamela Kordon – background vocals
• Yvonne Lewis – background vocals
• Yolanda McCollough – background vocals
• Randy Peyton – background vocals
• Albertine Robinson – background vocals
• Maeretha A. Stewart – background vocals
• Gloria Turner – background vocals
• Betty Volenec – background vocals
• Arthur Williams – background vocals

Production notes:

• Harry Belafonte – producer
• Coldridg-Taylor Perkinson – vocal arrangements
• Kurt Munkacsi – engineer
• Vishek Woszczyk – mixing
• Eric Meola – photography
• Ed Lee – design

References

External links

• Belafonte and Friends discography site.
• Belafonte Tracks discography site.