An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba

An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba is a Grammy Award-winning 1965 album by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, released by RCA Victor. It was the second outcome of the long lasting collaboration between Belafonte and Makeba, the first being the appearance of Makeba in the song "One More Dance" on Belafonte's 1960 album, Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall.

An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba
Studio album by Miriam Makeba and Harry Belafonte
Released	1965
Recorded	RCA Victor Studio A, New York City
Genre	World music
Label	RCA Victor
Producer	Andy Wiswell
Harry Belafonte chronology
Ballads, Blues and Boasters (1964) An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba (1965) An Evening with Belafonte/Mouskouri (1966)
Miriam Makeba chronology
Makeba Sings! (1965) An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba (1965) The Magic of Makeba (1966)

Background

In the mid-1960s, Belafonte was very active in supporting emerging African artists as well as making African music known worldwide, and this album is an example of this activity. It includes classical African songs like Malaika (with the English title My Angel) as well as songs in African languages such as Zulu, Sotho and Swahili.

Overview

Despite the title, the album is not a collection of live duet performances by Harry Belafonte and Makeba. It is a studio album of 12 tracks, five by Belafonte, five by Makeba, and two duets.^[1] The songs are all African traditional tunes sung in tribal languages like Xhosa and Zulu.^[1]

Chart performance

The album debuted on Billboard magazine's Top LP's chart in the issue dated July 10, 1965, peaking at No. 85 during an eleven-week run on the chart.^[2] The album debuted on Cashbox magazine's Top 100 Albums chart in the issue also dated July 10, 1965, peaking at No. 87 during a six-week run on the chart.^[3]

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[4]

The initial Billboard review said that "The artistry of two exciting performers is combined for the first time on record and the result is a remarkable meeting of the musical minds and outstanding musical entertainment."^[5]

William Ruhlmann on AllMusic stated that "The real point of this album is to present a group of South African songs in more or less authentic fashion", adding "This is a powerful album of traditional South African music, and anyone buying it realizing that will be well satisfied."^[1]

Track listing

1. "Train Song" (Mbombela)– 3:08 (Harry + Miriam)
2. "'In the Land of the Zulus" (Kwazulu) – 2:30 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
3. "Hush, Hush" (Thula Thula) – 3:03 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
4. "To Those We Love" (Nongqongqo)– 2:15 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
5. "Give Us Our Land" – 2:27 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
6. "Ndodemnyama Verwoerd!" – 2:05 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
7. "Gone Are My Children" – 2:47 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
8. "Hurry, Mama, Hurry!" – 3:25 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
9. "My Angel" – 3:12 (Harry + Miriam)
10. "Cannon" – 2:47 (sung by Miriam Makeba)
11. "Lullaby" – 2:46 (sung by Harry Belafonte)
12. "Show Me the Way, My Brother" – 3:10 (sung by Harry Belafonte)

Personnel

• Harry Belafonte – vocals (1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 12)
• Miriam Makeba – vocals (1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10)
• Sam Brown – guitar
• Eddie Diehl – guitar
• Marvin Falcon – guitar
• Ernie Calabria – guitar
• Jay Berliner – guitar
• William Salter – bass
• John Cartwright – bass
• Auchee Lee – percussion
• Solomon Ilori – percussion
• Chief Bey – percussion
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Percy Brice – percussion

Production

• Andy Wiswell – producer
• Conducted by Jonas Gwangwa and Howard Roberts
• Arrangements by Jonas Gwangwa
• Harry Belafonte – executive producer, liner notes
• Bob Simpson – engineer

Charts

Chart (1965)	Peak position
US Billboard Top LPs[2]	85
US Cashbox Top 100 Albums[3]	87