Customer Reviews

At Carnegie Hall

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When this album was originally released, it was pressed on two 33-1/3 RPM Vinyl discs. Unfortunately: as it appears on this new cd format: almost two full sides of that original album are missing - and that is a real shame if you (like me!) are a Belafonte fan!
The original album included some tracks from the Carribean that are not found in these arrangements on any other - and to have failed to have provided them is astounding to me!
The tracks that are here are just as vibrant and memorable as ever - and deserve 5 stars - but to have failed to have actually re-mastered and produced the true original album fromat is unforgivable to a true fan!
The loss of those additional tracks and arrangements preclude their enjoyment by an entirely new audience who would love them as much as the original fans did!
Perhaps if we all send our feelings to the producers they will cease providing these inaccurate and short copies of great albums in the future.

I wish to thank Reviewer Santiago Millan Caballero for his warning. I bought the two CD set from Amazon in Germany and it is complete and wonderful. Now Amazon.com sells this same 2 CD set as "Live at Carnegie Hall [IMPORT]" made by BMG number B000006SUU. This record is a strong emotional experience.

As mentioned previously, if you had ever heard the entire concert on album you will be disappointed with this recording. They have cut out the fun stuff that went on, and a few of the more touching and difficult songs. Get the entire recording instead of this.

WATCH OUT! This is only half of the original LP recording. Get the full version if you know and love the original. (Live at Carnegie Hall (Import)).

Recorded on two nights in April, 1959, this CD contains only fifteen of the original nineteen songs, omitting "Take My Mother Home," "Man Piaba," "All My Trials," and "Merci Bon Dieu," songs that are included in another recording (Search Amazon for ASIN: B000006SUU). Though the editing is disappointing, the songs that remain are still some of Belafonte's finest work. Singing work songs and traditional folk songs for the first half of the concert, Belafonte switches, after the intermission, to novelty songs and some of the most famous of all his international folk songs before concluding, as he so often does, with "Matilda."

Opening with "Wake Up, Wake Up, Darlin' Cora," Belafonte stuns the audience with the impassioned song of a man who has a confrontation with his boss and must now take to the road, holding key notes for several extra beats to prolong the song's wailing sadness as he bids goodbye to "darlin' Cora." With his strong, slightly husky voice and ability to hold a note forever, he follows this with a Leadbelly song, "Sylvie," in which he changes the lyric from a work song to a jailhouse plea. The tempo increases throughout this set through "Saints" and "Day-O," and the audience participates.

The second set begins with the calypso novelty song, "Mama Look at Boo Boo," in which he plays the role of a man whose children say "My daddy can't be ugly so," a statement so ironic that even he chuckles. "Man Smart, Woman Smarter," continues the fun and the calypso beat, with hand-clapping, as he prepares the audience for several foreign folk songs--"Hava Nageela" (one of his most famous and most requested songs), "Danny Boy" (sung almost completely a capella), and "Cu Cu Ru Cu Cu Paloma," a charming Mexican song in which the orchestra makes bird sounds throughout.

Controlling his volume from a whisper to full-out wailing and the tempo from a slow ballad to wild calypso and street dance (in "Saints"), Belafonte is at his peak here, in total control of his audience. Though he usually sings with simple accompaniments, here he uses, on occasion, the full orchestra ("Saints," "Mama Look At Boo Boo"), incorporating trumpets ("Cu Cu Ru Cu"), strings, and flutes ("Come Back Liza). Though Belafonte was a star before this concert, this performance made him a superstar, a household name throughout the world. Though four great songs are missing from this edition, what remains still shows Belafonte at his peak, a landmark performance. Mary Whipple

The other reviews mention the four missing songs, but don't mention that some cuts (in particular, Matilda) were shortened, and that most of the patter between the songs was eliminated. On the original album, Belafonte explains the history of "Saints" and as an alternative sings it as an old English madrigal. Priceless.

One of the main reasons I still maintain a turntable is to play this album. The CD can't measure up.

Wonderful,wonderful.Belafonte at his best.But be careful.Buy the german BMG TWO-DISC issue,the complet concert at AMAZON.DE.

There's one thing I love about reading amazon reviews. Now I know what I didn't know, that there was a lot missing from the CD release of Live at Carnegie Hall.

This is one CD I've always gone back to, simply because it's neat. I named my first bird Sylvie because when she rode home with me for the first time she thought that song was so lovely that she sang along. Mama Look a Boo Boo, Man Smart (Woman Smarter), John Henry, and the delightful audience involvement in Matilda.... love it. Really I do.

Now all the reviewers (admittedly older than my tender years) have wised me up to the fact that not only are some of Belafonte's songs missing, but the rest of the evening's entertainment is missing as well. I find that to be a shame. I wish I had been there. I'm sure the night was magical, and I bet the record was better.

This CD though... I'll be honest, I still get a big kick out of it. And I'd buy a more faithful remastering of the originals, just in case there are some record producers out there reading the reviews.

This CD was actually released in 1989 and BMG doesn't tell you that the single disc release in not the complete concert. The complete concert is available as a two disc import from Germany and also available at this site. The import is worth the money. This release isn't.

This is one of my all-time favorite recordings. This was Belafonte was at his very best, and over the past 40+ years I have worn my LP to a hissing crackling frazzle. However...the very best cut from this album..and one of the most moving songs ever written by Belafonte, "Take My Mother Home" is missing from the CD. Did someone lose their mind???