Jimmy Cliff, born James Chambers in 1944 during a hurricane that destroyed his mother's house in St. James, Jamaica, died today at age 81. His first recorded song, when he was 14, appropriately was about a hurricane. After that he tried various musical styles, including covers of some pop and rock hits and some original songs, with some success. After living in London for several years he returned to Jamaica. Thanks to his longstanding relationship with record producer Leslie Kong he began making music that appealed to Jamaican audiences.
In 1972, thanks to producer Perry Henzell, he became a movie star, playing Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin, a young man like Cliff who came from poverty and tried to make it in music, but unlike Cliff, was cheated by crooked agents and producers and so turned to dealing drugs. The movie, The Harder They Come, had a spectacular soundtrack that was released as an album in 1973. It includes cuts by Cliff as well as other reggae stars, including Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals.
The songs best remembered from the soundtrack are the uptempo, optimistic ones, the title track and "You Can Get It If You Really Want". But Cliff's music also reflects the difficulties he faced growing up, and knew he continued to face even after achieving success. For example, there's "Many Rivers to Cross," the song in the video at the top of this post.
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