by Cary Ginell
This is another of Belafonte's attempts to musically circumnavigate the globe, performing songs from a variety of world cultures. Songs from the West Indies, once a major portion of his repertoire, were reduced to one on this album. Joining him on this album is a junior high school choir from Queens, New York. The album is geared more toward children than Belafonte's previous efforts; included are such favorites as Woody Guthrie's &This Land is Your Land,& the Australian classic &Waltzing Matilda,& and the American cowboy song &My Old Paint (I Ride an Old Paint).& Highlights include the Japanese court song, &Sakura,& the beautiful Israeli love song, &Erev Shel Shoshanim,& and a South African song of celebration, &Mangwene Mpulele,& which was also sung by Theodore Bikel on his first Elektra 12-inch LP, An Actor's Holiday. By this time, Belafonte was becoming somewhat of a world ambassador; he relates his experiences in the album notes, his first.