Jimmy Cliff - Biography

This month sees Jimmy Cliff inaugurated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, here is a brief history of the man and his achievements.

The Honorable Jimmy Cliff, OM was born James Chambers, on1st April 1948, in Somerton District, St. James, Jamaica. The Jamaican singer, musician and actor is probably the best known Reggae artist, after Bob Marley, among mainstream audiences. With songs such as "Sitting in Limbo", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", and "Many Rivers to Cross", "The Harder They Come" and with covers of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" he helped popularize reggae across the world. As an actor he is probably best known for his film appearance in The Harder They Come.

Cliff began writing songs while still at primary school in St. James, listening to a neighbour's sound system. In 1962 his father took him to Kingston to go to Kingston Technical School where he ended up sharing his cousin's one rented room in East Kingston. He sought out many producers while still going to school, trying to get his songs recorded but without success. He also entered talent contests. "One night I was walking past a record store and restaurant as they were closing, pushed myself in and convinced one of them, Leslie Kong, to go into the recording business, starting with me," he writes in his own website biography. After two singles that failed to make much impression, his career took off when his "Hurricane Hattie" became a hit, while he was aged 14. It was produced by Kong, with whom Cliff would remain until Kong's death from a heart attack in 1971. Cliff's later local hit singles included "King of Kings", "Dearest Beverley", "Miss Jamaica" and "Pride and Passion". In 1964, Cliff was chosen as one of the Jamaican representatives at the World's Fair and Cliff soon signed to Island Records and moved to the UK. Island Records initially (and unsuccessfully) tried to sell Cliff to the rock audience, but his career took off in the late 1960s. His international debut album was Hard Road to Travel, which received excellent reviews and included "Waterfall" (composed by Nirvana's Alex Spyropoulos and Patrick Campbell-Lyons), which became a hit in Brazil and won the International Song Festival.
"Waterfall" was followed in 1969 by "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in 1970, both popular throughout most of the world. Bob Dylan even called "Vietnam" the best protest song he had ever heard. Also during this period, Cliff released a cover of Cat Stevens' "Wild World" as a single, but it was not included on his Wonderful World, Beautiful People album.
In 1972, Cliff starred in the (Perry Henzell directed) classic reggae film, The Harder They Come, which tells the story of Ivan Martin, a young man without funds who arrives in Kingston from the country, tries to make it in the recording business, but turns to a life of crime and finally dies on the beach in a shoot-out with cops. The soundtrack album of the film was a huge success that sold well across the world, bringing reggae to an international audience for the fist time. It remains the most significant film to have come out of Jamaica since independence. The film made its debut at London's Notting Hill Gaumont cinema on 1 September 1972. After a series of albums, Cliff took a break and traveled to Africa, exploring his newfound Muslim spirituality. (He subsequently renounced any formal religious belief.) He quickly returned to music, touring for several years before he recorded with Kool & the Gang for The Power and the Glory (1983). In 1984 Cliff appeared at the Pinkpop Festival in Landgraaf, in the Netherlands.
During the 1981 River Tour, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band added Cliff's little-known song "Trapped" to their live set; it achieved great prominence when included on 1985's We Are the World benefit album. The follow-up, Cliff Hanger (1985) won a Grammy Award for 'Best Reggae Album', though it was his last major success in the U.S. until 1993. Also in 1985 Cliff contributed to the song "Sun City", a protest song written by Steven Van Zandt and recorded by Artists United Against Apartheid to convey opposition to the South African policy of apartheid Cliff then provided backing vocals on The Rolling Stones' 1986 album, Dirty Work. While In 1988, his song "Shelter of Your Love" was featured in the hit film Cocktail.
In 1991 Cliff appeared at the second Rock in Rio festival in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He continued to sell well in Jamaica and, to a lesser extent, the UK, returning to the mainstream pop charts in the U.S. and elsewhere (#1 in France) with a version of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now" which featured in the film the Cool Runnings in 1993. In 1995 Cliff released the single "Hakuna Matata" (a collaboration with Lebo M), another soundtrack song this time taken from the Disney film The Lion King.

In 2002, Cliff released the album, Fantastic Plastic People in Europe, after first providing free downloads using p2p software. This album featured collaborations with Joe Strummer, Annie Lennox, and Sting as well as new songs that were very reminiscent of Cliff's original hits. In 2004 Cliff completely reworked the songs, dropping the traditional reggae in favor of an electronica sound, for inclusion in Black Magic. 2002 also saw also him perform at the closing ceremony to the Commonwealth Games.
In 2003 his song "You Can Get It If You Really Want" was included in the soundtrack to the film, Something's Gotta Give, while he also appeared in July the Paléo Festival in Nyon, Switzerland. At The end of that year the Jamaican government, under P.J. Patterson, honored Cliff on 20th October by awarding him The Order of Merit, the nation's third-highest honor, in recognition of his contributions to the film and music of Jamaica.
Cliff was also an inaugural member of the Independent Music Awards' judging panel to support independent artists. More recently, Cliff appeared on the Jazz World Stage at the Glastonbury Festival in 2008.
In September 2009, Cliff was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, following a campaign on his behalf by the American, Charles Earle. Cliff reacted to the news by saying, "This is good for Cliff, good for Jamaican music and good for my country".
On March 15th this year Cliff will attend the Waldorf Astoria in New York City to be inducted and become only the second reggae artist to receive such recognition, to which he richly deserves.

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