Ballads, Blues and Boasters

AMG Review of Ballads, Blues and Boasters

Cary Ginell
All Music Guide

In the liner notes to this album, Harry Belafonte is credited with selecting songs "that are an integral part of life...songs with a beat and mood and feeling that speak of people." Even though his records were now conveniently dumped into the "Male Vocalists" section of record stores, Belafonte continued to explore the human condition through roots musical forms. Although the album contains work songs ("Black Betty") and even a protest number ("Back of the Bus"), the mood of this album is generally upbeat, unlike the somber depiction of pain and misery of Swing Dat Hammer. Highlights range from the rousing gospel numbers "Ananias" and "John the Revelator" to a uniquely catchy interpretation of Woody Guthrie's "Pastures of Plenty." Belafonte acknowledges contemporary folk singer-songwriters with his versions of Ian Tyson's "Four Strong Winds" and Mark Spoelstra's "My Love is a Dewdrop."