Turn the World Around is an album by American singer Harry Belafonte, released in 1977.[ AllMusic entry for Turn the World Around] Retrieved November 2009.
After recording exclusively for the RCA Victor label since 1953, Belafonte signed with Columbia Records in the mid 1970s. After a series of pop-oriented albums, Turn the World Around was a return to interpreting folk songs of other cultures. Cary Ginell stated in his AllMusic review: "It is an absolute triumph and one of the finest albums of his career." Although recorded in the US, it was only released overseas.
The title track became the focus of one of the most acclaimed performances on the successful television series The Muppet Show, where Belafonte explained the artistic theme of the song before performing it with specially designed Muppets that resembled African tribal masks:
Series producer Jim Henson considered this production his best work on the series and featured it in numerous retrospectives of his art; Belafonte performed the song again at Henson's memorial service in 1990.
Track listing "Marching to the Fair" (Morris Goldberg, Shunmugan Pillay) – 5:44 "Auntie Mary" (Count Bernadino) – 4:32 "Olga" (Fitzroy Alexander) – 3:48 "Goin' Down Jordan" (Theophilus Woods, Irving Burgie) – 5:34 "Sunbird" (Pat Rosalia, Robert McKinnon) – 4:05 "New York Taxi" (Fitzroy Alexander) – 5:38 "Can't Cross Over" (Irving Burgie) – 4:44 "A Hole in the Bucket" (Harry Belafonte, Odetta) – 8:46 "Turn The World Around" (Belafonte, Robert Freedman) – 4:28
Personnel Harry Belafonte – vocals Falumi Prince – percussion, vocals on "A Hole in the Bucket & Auntie Mary" Dom Salvador – keyboards, musical director Keith Loving – guitar Scott Kuney – guitar Thelmo M. Porto – percussion Nana – percussion Dom Um Romão – percussion Steve Thornton – conga, bongos Brian Moore – keyboards Michael Tobas – drums Francisco Centeno – bass Gloria Agostini – harp Mauricio Smith – flute, saxophone Hal Archer – flute, saxophone Leopoldo Pineda – trombone Jose Rodrigues – trombone Howard Johnson – tuba Danny Cahn – trumpet Fred Jacobs – trumpet Babe Clarke – alto saxophone Larry Campbell – background vocals Vivian C. Cherry – background vocals Melvin Edmonston – background vocals Babi B. Floyd – background vocals Frank Floyd – background vocals Lani Groves – background vocals Milton Grayson – background vocals Hilda Harris – background vocals Pamela Kordon – background vocals Yvonne Lewis – background vocals Yolanda McCullough – background vocals Randy Peyton – background vocals Albertine Robinson – background vocals Maeretha A. Stewart – background vocals Gloria Turner – background vocals Betty Volenec – background vocals Arthur Williams – background vocals Production notes: Harry Belafonte – producer Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson – vocal arrangements Kurt Munkacsi – engineer Vishek Woszczyk – mixing Eric Meola – photography Ed Lee – design
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