Music Monday: Folk Rewind with Harry Belafonte

lessons learned, music, social justice 2 Minutes

I was scrolling through the TV channels last night and I saw there was a show on PBS (our Public Broadcasting System channel that relies entirely on donations to operate) titled John Sebastian Presents Folk Rewind.

John Sebastian is the guy behind the theme song for the TV show, Welcome Back, Kotter.

I figured I had nothing to lose, so I selected the PBS Channel. As luck would have it, it was one of their fundraising shows, which meant every few minutes they would break away from the show itself and ask/beg for money from the viewers.

Despite such pleas, it didn’t take me long to get captivated by the show, and I ended up watching the entire show.

One of the first songs that caught my attention was this wonderful song from Harry Belafonte, performed on the Ed Sullivan show. My wife knew all the words, but it didn’t ring a bell with me:

There were so many other great performances on the show; here is the tracklist from the DVD that they were selling as part of the fundraising:

Track List:

*** song NOT in broadcast program

Do You Believe in Magic – Lovin’ Spoonful
Jamaica Farewell – Harry Belafonte
MTA – Kingston Trio
Worried Man – Kingston Trio
Where Have All the Flowers Gone – Kingston Trio
There’s a Meeting Here Tonight – The Limeliters
Michael – The Highwaymen
Don’t Let the Rain Come Down – Serendipity Singers
Today – New Christy Minstrels
Green Fields – The Brothers Four
500 Miles to Go – the Brothers Four
Simple Song of Freedom – Bobby Darin
Walk Right In – The Rooftop Singers
Seasons in the Sun – Rod McKuen
Lemon Tree – Peter, Paul and Mary
If I Had a Hammer – Trini Lopez
Turn, Turn, Turn – Peter Seeger and Judy Collins
A Mighty Day – The Chad Mitchell Trio
Blowin’ in the Wind – Chad Mitchell Tiro
Get Together – Jesse Colin Young of the Youngbloods
Eve of Destruction – Barry McGuire
My Back Pages – Roger McGuinn
Turn, Turn, Turn – Roger McGuinn
***  Elusive Butterfly – Bob Lind
***  Ballad of the Green Beret – Sgt. Barry Saddler
***  Land of Power and Glory – The Limeliters
***  Lonesome Traveler – The Limeliters
***  Mr. Tambourine Man – Roger McGuinn of The Byrds
***  Eight Miles High – Roger McGuinn of The Byrds
***  The Times They Are a Changin’ – Roger McGuinn of The Byrds
***  Rock and Roll Star – Roger McGuinn of The Byrds
***  Marvelous Toy – The Chad Mitchell Trio

So many great songs, that I can’t feature just one tonight. However, there is a good chance that I’ll feature a few more of these in future posts, but for tonight I think I’ll go with the following one:

Happy November…

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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45 thoughts on “Music Monday: Folk Rewind with Harry Belafonte”

  2. This is what I would call a warm and fuzzy post. So many familiar songs and groups. All Songs I grew up with. Brings back a lot of memories of my mother’s albums. Gotta love Harry Belafonte. His versions of Jamaica Farewell and Scarlet Ribbons top my list. I, like your wife, know all the words.

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  3. Oh, THAT Harry Belafonte song 🙂 I’m with your wife on this one.

    “The Banana Boat Song” is still my favorite. Maybe where bananas were available only around Christmas when I grew up. I remember eating one a day, so they will last. The image of picking up bunches of bananas was enchanting 🙂

    What a great artist! Political activist too, something to admire. I should share this with my son 🙂

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  6. I must be too young for once because I only recognize a few of these songs on the list. I can still remember most of the lyrics to Welcome Back by John Sebastian. I had a first-year teacher (quite popular) in high school we dubbed Kotter after the TV character and show.

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  10. I love the Harry Belafonte one – my mum used to play him to us when I was little. It reminds me of his Island In The Sun. Not so sure about the NCM one though – there are many more on that list that I would have chosen ahead of that! We get a version of your PBS here, but it seems to comprise boring documentaries, not the interesting shows like this one.

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    1. There were a few good songs on that list; something about the NCM one just appealed to me

      and out PBS sounds the same as yours. they only pull out these good shows during fundraising time; you can buy the DVD for a donation to PBS…

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      1. That sounds like the typical cynicism I’d expect from a marketing department! They recently ran a solo concert over there by Mary Chapin Carpenter, called One Night Lonely. It still hasn’t appeared here, though an audio version is on Apple Music. I guess we aren’t part of the official PBS catchment for fundraising, so my hopes may not come to anything. And if they did, I’d record it anyway 😂

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      3. It is, isn’t it! And when you have to raise funds like that to keep the channel going it concentrates the mind.

        Thanks, I’ll keep checking the schedules but I’m not hopeful – I don’t think I’ve ever seen them include a music show.

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  15. Both songs feature psst performances with genuine musical talent, without today’s blitz of glitz. I could listen to songs like these every day. You definitely have some classic songs for some of your future Music Monday posts.

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