Harry Belafonte - Loving You Is Where I Belong (2016) [Hi-Res]

Eight long years after his last album was issued in America, Harry Belafonte emerged, like the proverbial groundhog on February 2, to see what the weather was like. As it turned out, he should have stayed underground, because Belafonte's one and only effort for Columbia turned out to be as dismal as his most listless albums for RCA in the 1970s. Unable to find enough contemporary product to work with, Belafonte used four songs from early-'70s songwriter Jake Holmes (a stalwart on his worst RCA albums) to round out this generally boring collection. Ralph McTell's "Streets of London" can be a poignant lesson in self-pity if not for Belafonte's mannered performance, and surely there must be a better Hoyt Axton song for Harry to sing than "Mary Makes Magic." Even Bob Dylan's "Forever Young," combined in a medley with the South African "Jabulani," misses the mark. A sorry effort for what once was one of the most versatile and exciting recording artists in history -- now relegated to being filed in the "has-bins" at record stores. -- Cary Ginell