Legend of Jamaican music: Reggae pioneer with stormy origins: Jimmy Cliff turns 80

When Jimmy Cliff first reached the top of the Jamaican charts with the song “Hurricane Hattie”, the term reggae didn’t even exist. It was 1962 – the year Jamaica became independent from Great Britain and Cliff turned 18.

Four years earlier, James Chambers had moved to the capital, Kingston. He had given himself the stage name Cliff – inspired by the cliffs of his hometown of St. James in the northwest of the Caribbean island. As one of the last surviving reggae pioneers, he is celebrating his 80th birthday on Tuesday.

The name “Hurricane Hattie” comes from a severe hurricane in October 1961. So the start of Cliff’s career had something in common with the beginning of his life: According to his website, he was born during a hurricane – in a house that the storm then swept away.

Marley Supporters

“Hurricane Hattie” was a ska song – the genre that developed into reggae. Cliff’s music was not the only thing that contributed to the worldwide boom of reggae in the 1970s. Bob Marley, who was working as a welder at the time, showed up in his rehearsal room one day, Cliff said on the Australian radio show “A Breath of Fresh Air”. He recognized a poet in the future world star, took him to the recording studio and recorded his first three songs.

A few years later, Cliff indirectly gave Marley another boost. When Marley and his band, the Wailers, were stuck in London without money in 1972, they went to Chris Blackwell, head of the record company Island Records. “Their timing was good. Jimmy Cliff had left me just a week before,” Blackwell wrote in his memoirs. He signed the trio, whose international breakthrough followed shortly afterwards.

Cliff had already had internationally successful songs, including “Vietnam” – according to Bob Dylan the best protest song of all time. But he hadn’t earned much money, which is why he left Island Records.

Racism in London

Cliff also felt uncomfortable in London, where he had moved for his career. His landlady wanted to throw him out with the words “Don’t you know that black people are not tolerated here?” Shortly afterwards, however, she saw him on the TV show “Top of the Pops” and changed her mind, Cliff told Canadian broadcaster CBC.

Cliff’s song “Many Rivers to Cross” is about his time in London, but also about his ancestors crossing the Atlantic – in the opposite direction as slaves. It has been covered by Cher, Joe Cocker and Harry Nilsson with John Lennon, among others. Cliff’s original version was part of the soundtrack to “The Harder They Come”.

Star of Jamaica’s first feature film

The 1972 gangster film is considered the first Jamaican feature film. Its realistic portrayal of black Jamaicans was groundbreaking, and it also contributed a lot to the spread of reggae abroad – especially through the music of Cliff, who contributed the title song and “You Can Get It If You Really Want”, among other things.

Cliff also got the lead role, despite having only acted in school before. He plays a young man from the country who moves to Kingston to become a singer but falls into crime. The role has clear autobiographical elements. In reality, however, the story turned out better for Cliff, who won two Grammys and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.

Despite all the honours, he still feels connected to his humble roots. “Reggae is the cry and joy of the poor people,” he said on the CBC radio show “Q with Tom Power”.

It’s not over yet

Cliff revealed to Australian journalist Sandy Kaye last September that he was no longer able to walk well due to an accident. But he was happy. And his album “Refugees”, which was released two years ago, will not be his last record.