In the Wall Street Journal, there is a highly knowledgeable and interesting article about Jimmy Cliff, “The harder they come”, and Reggae. It features excerpts with nice little anecdotes from an interview with Jimmy, Jackie Jackson and Hux Brown too. Hereby recommended! Via.

In 1969, I was at Dynamic Sounds Studio in Kingston recording a song I had written, “You Can Get It If You Really Want.” When we finished, I walked outside and met a gentleman named Perry Henzell, who had been waiting for me. He said he was making a movie and asked if I could write music for it.

Volkswagen fährt zum heutigen Super Bowl Sunday eine ziemlich durchgeknallte Kampagne mit Jimmy Cliff. Neben obigem Kampagnenvideo gibt es auch einen Clip für die Super Bowl Werbepause.

Hervorragendes Interview mit Jimmy Cliff über sein neues Album vom Guardian.

Reggae legend Jimmy Cliff [...] talks [...] about his new album, Rebirth, and how it marks a return to his roots. He explains how he first found out he had a gift for singing, [...] and why he calls dancehall ‘girls and cars and superstars’

Am 16. Juli erscheint das neue Album von Jimmy Cliff auf Trojan. Hier kann man sich “One more” als Teaser downloaden, und was soll ich sagen? Unfassbar gut, klingt genauso leidenschaftlich und einzigartig wie “The harder they come” vor 40 (!) Jahren. “Ship is sailing” und “Guns of Brixton” sind ebenfalls auf dem Album zu finden. Schon jetzt uneingeschränkte Empfehlung, das Album wird leider geil voll geil.

What do Lee Scratch Perry, Junior Murvin, Damian Marley, Big Youth, Yellowman, Dennis Alcapone, Ernest Ranglin, Sly & Robbie, Monty Alexander, Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Holt, The Mighty Diamonds, Leroy Sibbles, Freddie McGregor, Toots & The Maytals, Horace Andy, Jimmy Cliff, and Derrick Morgan have in common? They are all booked for the HUGE festival ‘Respect Jamaica 50th’ in London this summer. Superb. Read more…

Totally amazing documentary. A real must see! When it comes to vintage footage this is easily the single best documentary about Jamaican music I have ever seen. Definetly worth buying (here, e.g.) and I have no idea why it’s not more famous.

“Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music” was an impressive documentary made by director Mike Connolly for the BBC. It was originally shown in 2002 and the documentary traces the evolution of Reggae Music from Mento and Ska, all the way up to Roots, Dub, and Dancehall. [...] The documentary has been hard to find in recent years, and doesn’t get too many repeats, so it was with great pleasure that we found it had been made available to watch online.

Via Strictlythebest.

Jimmy Cliff tingelt durchs Nachtprogramm, um seine Sacred Fire EP (wir berichteten) zu pushen. Die EP, Shirts, Poster usw. usf. gibts hier.

Jimmy Cliff’s great “Guns of Brixton” is finally out on a stylish 7″. And there is even more: “Ship is sailing” could should become a new Jimmy Cliff classic: superb falsetto voice, melancholic and soulful lyrics, jumpy Reggae rhythm. You’ve been served.

A new book by David Katz, Reggae chronicler and author of “People Funny Boy: The Genius of Lee Scratch Perry” and “Solid Foundation: an Oral History of Reggae”, will be out on November 11th. It is called “Jimmy Cliff: An Unauthorized Biography” and will tell …

… the tale of how Jimmy Cliff battled poverty, controversy and prejudice to become a world-class musician credited with making reggae popular with a global audience. It is based on extensive interviews with the artist and his peers as well as press archives and other sources. (Source)

On Lawless Street you can take a glimpse at the book and even skip through some pages. My first impression is a very good one. The Gleaner reported about the book yesterday and describes Katz as …
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