1956 HITS ARCHIVE: Mary’s Boy Child - Harry Belafonte (shortened U.S. single edit)

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Mary’s Boy Child (Lorin-Jester Hairston) by Harry Belafonte, orchestra conducted by William Lorin

During the 1950s, with few exceptions, a pop song that timed out at more than 4 minutes was less likely to attract a lot of U.S. radio airplay. So in 1956 the original 4:22 album track of “Mary’s Boy Child” (listen here: https://youtu.be/VUa1FqhcrP4 ) was heavily edited into the form that you hear on this 45rpm single. However, in England the 45 & 78 discs released the following year featured the complete version and spent seven weeks atop the UK record charts.

U.S. Pop Chart Peaks: Billboard 12, Music Vendor 14, Cash Box 25 - 1957 UK Peak (long version): 1

THE 1956 HITS ARCHIVE - here in one place, a good-quality library of original-release-version best-sellers and songs that made an impact that were either released or enjoyed a major chunk of their popularity within the calendar year 1956 (some were recorded in 1955).