Digitally remastered in 2000, RCA's triple-disc package
Greatest Hits is a stellar overview of
Harry Belafonte's career, covering 53 tracks spanning the years 1952-1972. While
Belafonte is, of course, best known for popularizing calypso music,
Greatest Hits doesn't place a disproportionate emphasis on that aspect of his career; instead, the collection is a testament to
Belafonte's eclecticism and versatility. His voice may have been tailor-made for straight-ahead pop, but
Belafonte was most at home on folk material, and his sources ranged far and wide. Not only from standard American folk repertory and his beloved Caribbean, but jazz, blues, Appalachian folk, British folk, and slave spirituals and work songs, not to mention the wealth of material rediscovered during the 1960s folk revival.
Greatest Hits isn't the ultimate word on
Belafonte -- some of his individual albums remain important, essential works in their own right, particularly
Calypso -- but as a thorough encapsulation of his career, it's richly rewarding and virtually flawless. ~ Steve Huey