Belafonte's 'Day-O' recorded 60 years ago
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Today's Morning Edition music is from "Day-O," one of Harry Belafonte's signature songs, which he recorded 60 years ago Tuesday.
It's derived from a Jamaican folk song originally sung by banana pickers who worked the night shift. The workers had to wait until a supervisor verified how many bananas they had picked before they could go home.
It's an example of the Jamaican music style known as mento, which had a big influence on the sound that became known as ska and reggae.
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