The Belafonte Folk Singers (originally known as The Belafonte Singers) were a vocal group who were active from 1957 to 1965. They were named after singer Harry Belafonte, for whom they originally formed in order to serve as a backing group for recording and concerts. The group was mostly led and conducted by

Robert De Cormier Robert Romeo De Cormier Jr. (January 7, 1922 – November 7, 2017), sometimes known as Robert Corman, was an American musical conductor, arranger, and director. He arranged music for many singers and groups, including Harry Belafonte and Peter, P ...

, also billed as Bob Corman.

Milt Okun Milton Theodore Okun (December 23, 1923 – November 15, 2016) was an American arranger, record producer, conductor, singer and founder of Cherry Lane Music Publishing Company, Inc. Okun transformed the careers of a dozen or more major U.S. a ...

sometimes conducted the group as well. The Belafonte Folk Singers usually consisted of 11-12 singers and musicians at one time, all male. Its members were mostly African American, although the group did included some white members. The group had a high turnover, and around 40 singers were a part of the group at one time or another during its eight-year existence. Garrett Morris performed with the group early in his career. The group released three of their own albums for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

, and sang backup on five albums by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba. Alumni of The Belafonte Folk Singers went on to form the De Cormier Singers,

The Phoenix Singers The Phoenix Singers were a trio of male African-American folk singers active in the early 1960s. The members Ned Wright, Arthur Williams, and Roy Thompson were all former members of The Belafonte Folk Singers. The trio was the musical guest on the ...

and the

Seafarers Chorus A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

Members

Members of The Belafonte Folk Singers included Earl Baker, Kenneth Bates, Harry Bessinger, Laurence Bogue, Ray Boguslav, Charles Coleman, Tim Conn, Joseph Crawford, Leslie Dorsey, James Eby, Jack Eddleman, Ken Emery, Cortez Franklin, Andrew Frierson, Scott Gibson, Joli Gonsalves, George Goodman, Milton Grayson, Bob Harter, Tom Head, Robert Henson, James Herald, Noah Hopkins, Garrett Morris, John Nielsen,

, Richard Pindle, Walter Raim, Earl Rogers,

Glenn Rowen Glenn Davis Rowen (January 22, 1933 - December 20, 1992) was a singer and member of the New York City Opera chorus. Biography Glenn Davis Rowen was born in Roswell, New Mexico, and was a graduate of Indiana University Indiana University (IU) i ...

, Charles H. Scott Jr., Sherman Sneed, Arman Stephanian, Billy Stewart, Millard Thomas, Roy Thompson, Paul Westbrook, John Wheeler, Arthur Williams and Ned Wright.

Awards

The Belafonte Folk Singers won the Grammy Award for Best Folk Recording at the

4th Annual Grammy Awards The 4th Annual Grammy Awards were held on May 29, 1962, at Chicago, Los Angeles and New York. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1961. Henry Mancini won 5 awards. Award winners *Record of the Year **Henry Mancini for "Moo ...

for their 1961 album ''Belafonte Folk Singers at Home and Abroad''. Two other albums on which they appeared won the same award: the 1960 Harry Belafonte album ''

Swing Dat Hammer ''Swing Dat Hammer'' is an album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2194) in 1960. It is a collection of chain gang work songs. The last cut is a collection of workmen conversations. At the Grammy Awards of 1961 ''Swing Dat Ham ...

'' and the 1965 album ''

An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba ''An Evening with Belafonte/Makeba'' is a Grammy Award-winning 1965 album by Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba, released by RCA Victor. It was the second outcome of the long lasting collaboration between Belafonte and Makeba, the first being th ...

''.

Discography

* ''Presenting The Belafonte Singers'', 1958 (as "The Belafonte Singers") * ''Cheers: Drinking Songs Around the World'', 1959 * ''...At Home and Abroad'', 1961

With Harry Belafonte

* ''

My Lord What a Mornin' ''My Lord What a Mornin is an album of spirituals sung by Harry Belafonte and released by RCA Victor in 1960. Allmusic entry for My Lord What a Mornin'Retrieved October 2009. The album was reissued in 1995 with additional bonus tracks. Track l ...

'', 1960 * ''

'', 1960 * '' Belafonte Returns to Carnegie Hall'', 1960

With Miriam Makeba

* '' Miriam Makeba'', 1960 * ''

The World of Miriam Makeba ''The World of Miriam Makeba'' is the third studio album by Miriam Makeba released by RCA Victor. It charted at #86 on the US album chart.Sylvia Lovina Chidi - The Greatest Black Achievers in History 2014 -- 1291909338 Page 129 "The Many Voices ...

'', 1963

With Harry Belafonte and Miriam Makeba

* ''

'', 1965 American folk musical groups Musical groups established in 1957 1957 establishments in the United States {{US-folk-band-stub