Critic's Review
Cary Ginell, All Music Guide
An otherwise fine retrospective of many of Harry Belafonte's best-known performances from the 1950s is spoiled by RCA producer Ethel Gabriel's insistence upon using the disastrous "electronic reprocessing" system (tinny high end on one channel, muffled low end on the other) that destroyed so many reissues in the 1960s and '70s. Although most of the monaural tracks were given the above separation treatment, three, "Hava Nagila," "When the Saints Go Marching In," and "Danny Boy," all from An Evening with Belafonte, were taken from the phony stereo master utilizing the even worse delay between channels, making them totally unlistenable. Three other tracks, "Mama Look a Boo Boo," "John Henry," and "All My Trials," are issued in true stereo, coming from the 1959 Belafonte at Carnegie Hall album. The recording of "Matilda, Matilda," identified as supposedly the rare 1953 single version, is instead the one featured on the 1956 Belafonte album. RCA's Legendary Performer series booklets are usually chock full of session sheets and discographical detail, but this album is nothing more than a souvenir program.
