"JAMAICA FAREWELL" is a calypso song about the beauty of the West Indian Islands. The lyrics for the song were written by Lord Burgess (Irving Burgie). He was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1926. His mother was from Barbados, and his father was from Virginia. The song first appeared on Harry Belafonte's phenomenally successful album, Calypso. (The very first long playing album to sell over one million copies, and it charted for a record 96 weeks.) The single recording reached the top ten. The Kingston Trio, who led the folk revival of the late 1950s, took their name from the title of this song ("Kingston town"), though they only recorded it many years later, in 2006.

 THE ORIGINAL BY HARRY BELAFONTE:

Many other artists covered this song...Here are just a few of the better ones:

        Marty Robbins

   The Brothers Four

      The Kingston Trio

      Jimmy Buffett

Even a popular singer like Sam Cooke got on the Jamaica Bandwagon