Jumbie Jamberee is a calypso

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...

 song credited to Conrad Eugene Mauge Jr. In 1953 Lord Intruder

Lord Intruder

Lord Intruder was a calypsonian from Tobago who was active in the 1950s.He is known to have performed with the Trinidadian calypso tent The Original Young Brigade , whose ranks included The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Melody and The Mighty Bomber .He is credited with originating one of the most famous...

 released the song as the B-side to Disaster With Police. The song is also known as Zombie Jamboree and Back to Back. In the introduction to the Kingston Trio's version "Lord Invader

Lord Invader

Lord Invader was a prominent calypsonian with a very distinctive, gravelly voice....

 and his Twelve Penetrators" are credited with the song instead of Lord Intruder

Lord Intruder

Lord Intruder was a calypsonian from Tobago who was active in the 1950s.He is known to have performed with the Trinidadian calypso tent The Original Young Brigade , whose ranks included The Mighty Sparrow, Lord Melody and The Mighty Bomber .He is credited with originating one of the most famous...

.

Notable cover versions

• Jamaican mento singer Lord Foodoos recorded Back to Back for his 1957 Elektra album Calypso, an early production by Jac Holzman, who later produced The Doors
  The Doors
  The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
  
  , Nico
  Nico
  Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
  
   and The Stooges
  The Stooges
  The Stooges are an American rock band from Ann Arbor, Michigan first active from 1967 to 1974, and later reformed in 2003...
  
   among others.
• Jamaican mento group The Wrigglers recorded Back to Back for their 1958 album At The Arawak featuring Ernest Ranglin
  Ernest Ranglin
  Ernest Ranglin O.D. is a Jamaican guitarist and composer. Best known for his session work at the famed Studio One, Ranglin helped give birth to the ska genre in the late 1950s...
  
   on guitar.
• The Kingston Trio recorded Zombie Jamboree on their ...from the Hungry i
  ...from the Hungry i
  -Personnel:*Dave Guard – vocals, banjo, guitar*Bob Shane – vocals, guitar*Nick Reynolds – vocals, tenor guitar, bongos, conga*David "Buck" Wheat – bass-Chart positions:-External links:* *...
  
  album in 1959.
• The a cappella
  A cappella
  A cappella music is specifically solo or group singing without instrumental sound, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. It is the opposite of cantata, which is accompanied singing. A cappella was originally intended to differentiate between Renaissance polyphony and Baroque concertato...
  
  group Rockapella
  Rockapella
  Rockapella is an American a cappella musical group formed in 1986 in New York City. Their name is derived from the words "rock" and "a cappella". They sing original vocal music and a cappella covers of pop and rock songs; over time, their sound has evolved from high-energy pop and world music...
  
   has performed with numerous versions of this song.
• Harry Belafonte
  Harry Belafonte
  Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
  
   recorded five versions of the song (in 1962, 1964, 1966, 1972 and 1974). It first appeared on Belafonte's The Many Moods of Belafonte
  The Many Moods of Belafonte (album)
  The Many Moods of Belafonte is an album by Harry Belafonte, released by RCA Victor in 1962. The album features performances by South African trumpeter Hugh Masekela and vocalist Miriam Makeba.-Track listing:...
  
   and later became one of his signature songs.
• Harry Nilsson
  Harry Nilsson
  Harry Edward Nilsson III was an American singer-songwriter who achieved the peak of his commercial success in the early 1970s. On all but his earliest recordings he is credited as Nilsson...
  
   recorded a version of the song on his 1976 album …That's the Way It Is.
• The Jolly Boys
  The Jolly Boys
  The Jolly Boys is a mento band from Port Antonio, Jamaica. It was formed in 1955 and had great commercial success in the late 1980s and 1990s among reggae and world music fans...
  
   recorded Back to Back (Belly to Belly) on their Pop 'n' mento album in 1989.

Note: Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh

Peter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...

recorded a different song called Jumbee Jamboree with The Wailers in 1965. It was later included on the 1996 compilation The Toughest.