Search - Harry Belafonte :: 28 Original Recordings

1954 "Mark Twain" Album Is Disc 2 of this Set! But...

Robert A. Jones | Eastern Oregon | 03/02/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a two-disc set, released on Prism Leisure of Enfield, Essex, England in 2004. No indication it was actually licensed by RCA. It appears to be a blatant bootleg, with Prism even claiming a copyright on it.



Contents:



Disc 1 - Favourite Love Ballads



1. Lean On Me

2. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes

3. How Green Was My Valley

4. Recognition

5. Deep As The River

6. They Didn't Believe Me

7. Close Your Eyes

8. Whispering

9. Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child

10. I Still Get A Thrill (Thinking Of You)

11. Farewell To Arms

12. Annabelle Lee

13. Venezuela

14. Simple, Simple, Simple

15. Only One Like Me

16. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes



Disc 2 - Favourite Folk Songs



1. Mark Twain

2. Man Piaba

3. John Henry

4. Tol' My Captain

5. Kalenda Rock (Mourning Song)

6. The Drummer And The Cook

7. The Fox

8. Soldier, Soldier

9. The Next Big River

10. Delia

11. Mo Mary

12. Lord Randall



Disc one is Belafonte as a crooner, which is not why I bought this set. I was searching for his very first LP, from 1954: "Mark Twain and other Folk Favorites". My older brother had a copy of the vinyl album, and I heard it many times when I was a kid. It appears to be unavailable on CD, but it is hidden away as disc two of this set.



That's the good news. The bad news is, the CD seems to have been mastered from a somewhat worn copy of the vinyl record. Strangely enough, the other disc obviously came from much better sources. The first track on disc two, "Mark Twain," sounds like it came from a record which had been played with a worn out stylus. "Man Piaba" is a great song despite the hissing on every word containing the letter "s" but it's a very annoying defect. "Kalenda Rock" suffers from additional surface noise at the beginning. Even "The Next Big River," which is only 23 seconds long, is marred by distortion.



What a disappointment! Will RCA / BMG ever reissue the "Mark Twain" album on CD?



If you want the songs on disc one, it's worth the price, but if you're after the "Mark Twain" album, go find a clean vinyl LP instead. You can always make your own CD-R from that."