(he plays harmonica on the title track), The Midnight Special is also a record that best exemplifies Harry Belafonte's uniqueness as a recording artist. Belafonte's main strength as a performer has been his ability to effect unique interpretations of traditional material. Combining blues, big band, gospel, and soul, Belafonte utilizes mainly traditional material on one of his best programmed albums of the sixties. The folk warhorse "On Top of Old Smokey" becomes a bluesy, supercharged six-minute epic which generates excitement as it increases in intensity, only to fade away in its denouement. "Muleskinner" is country music legendJimmie Rodgers'