Calypso
by Harry Belafonte

Calypso by Harry Belafonte
Year: 1956
Overall rank: 2,834th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 82 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1956 (16th)
Award Top 100 albums of of the 1950s (86th)
Award Best albums of all time (2,834th)

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Harry Belafonte bestography

Calypso is ranked as the best album by Harry Belafonte.

Harry Belafonte album bestography « Higher ranked
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Calypso
Lower ranked (9,537th) »
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Calypso rankings

Calypso rankings summary
Overall rank: 2,834th | 1950s rank: 86th | 1956 rank: 16th  Overall chart history
(Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). (Last updated: 4 hours ago).

Calypso collection

Calypso ratings

Average Rating: 
70/100 (from 82 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 82 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
40/100
 !
07/18/2026 00:00 xhitmanx  Ratings distribution  1,49377/100
 
65/100
 !
12/23/2025 23:45 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  15,32570/100
 
70/100
 !
09/13/2025 10:59 Tamthebam  Ratings distribution  23,21569/100
 
75/100
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07/19/2025 22:57 TastyandTemptin  Ratings distribution  3,17572/100
 
60/100
 !
06/22/2025 12:10 cicadelic  Ratings distribution  13,48173/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 69.6/100, a mean average of 68.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 69.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.8.


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Calypso favourites

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Calypso comments

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Rating:  
70/100
Anyone interested in diving into Calypso should probably check out this album, but don't forget to check out the Trinidadian Calypso from this era as well. Prior to Trinidad & Tobago's independence from the UK, a lot of Calypsonians used their music to talk about the systemic oppression of Trinidadian people by the British. Belafonte's music hits a bit of a lighter note more palatable for American ears at the time. All still wonderful music though.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
65/100
'Day-O' and 'Jamaica Farewell' are some favourites. Certainly an improvement from his previous effort on 'Belafonte'. A good album overall.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
60/100
This is fun, but not as strong as his previous album, Belafonte.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
not exactly my style but i thoroughly enjoyed it
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/12/2016 04:12 | #159416
Fun.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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