Jimmy Cliff: Excellent Reggae!

Jimmy Cliff is considered to be one of the best, well-known musicians within the genre of reggae.  Jimmy Cliff, whose real name is James Chambers, was born in Jamaica on April 1, 1948.  When he was just a child, his talent began showing… However, their career also started by those times and began appearing at parish fairs and local shows.  When he was 14 years old, he moved to Kingston and decided to use the surname “Cliff” as an allusion to the place he wanted to reach with his success.  At this point, Jimmy Cliff wrote two not very successful singles that went unnoticed.  Nevertheless, the producer Leslie Kong, one of the most recognized producers ever, was the one that made Jimmy’s first single successful.

Around 1964, Jimmy Cliff had got to be so famed that he was selected to be a Jamaican representative at the World’s Fair.  In this moment, Jimmy moved to Britain after signing to Island Records.  There, his international debut Hard Road to Travel was carried out.  Some time after he released some albums, Jimmy Cliff traveled to Africa, the place where he became Muslim.  In 1985, his album Cliff Hanger won a Grammy, and in 1993, he returned to the U.S., after selling mainly in Jamaica, with a complete success called “I Can See Clearly Now”, which is the soundtrack of Cool Runnings.

Jimmy Cliff is a key figure when talking about Reggae in general.  He relies on a really extensive list of albums, among which it is possible to find Another Cycle, Unlimited, House of Exile, Give Thanx, Give the People What They Want, The Power and the Glory, Save Our Planet Earth, Fantastic Plastic People, and his last one so far, Black Magic, which was released in 2004.  Besides, some of his songs have been covered due to their high-quality.  Hence, Jimmy Cliff is one of the best examples of reggae that, of course, will never be forgotten!