Riding high on the success of the
Calypso album,
Harry Belafonte went back to doing what he had started out to do: record a variety of folk songs from different cultures around the world. This album exhibited his widest scope of selections yet, including songs from Haiti ("Merci Bon Dieu"), Israel ("Hava Nageela"), and Mexico ("Cu Cu Ru Cu Cu Paloma"), the latter a six minute tour de force. Although
Belafonte would never score with a single as big as "Day O" again,
An Evening With Belafonte did include the West Indian Christmas song "Mary's Boy Child," which became a huge seller in Great Britain. It was becoming apparent that
Harry Belafonte was not interested in having hit singles, but only to present his albums as miniature lessons in global folk music. ~ Cary Ginell