Coral King story, Roland Hyde Photos
Jimmy Cliff Inducted In Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame By Wyclef Jean
New York, NY, March 15, 2010: The elegant setting at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City was taken over by legends of the world of rock and roll. On the same night artists from all over the world, including England, the US and Sweden were honored the island of Jamaica had one of their own in the presence of greatness as Jimmy Cliff is finally recognized as a worthy member of the ultimate music fraternity. Jimmy brought humility and artistic excellence center stage and represented the Caribbean with the utmost respect, class and a smile that lit up the room. His introductory video reel showed him in his youth as he became a star of the world. In his interviews he talked about how when you put your mind to something you love, in his case it was music, you’re always going to be successful. He spoke about how his music was born out of needs, identity, respect, and love indicating that the music is happy but it didn’t start out that way. It began with the oppression of the people. The great music is evolving and we never know what was going to evolve next.. He said he took the role of a shepherd for reggae, a role in which he opened gates for many artists to come.
As Wyclef Jean took the stage to induct Jimmy , he acknowledged that all of Jamaica was watching. He wanted to make sure the love was in the room for our honored guest and the people back home. He said, “When I ask you if everything is Irie, you need to say YES MON!” Wyclef talked about the first time he had a session with Jimmy at a studio in New Jersey and asked Jimmy to stay at his place. Jimmy obliged and Wyclef could not believe that he had just completed a studio connection with one of his boyhood idols, let alone wake up the next day with Jimmy Cliff at his home. Wyclef continued to speak about his obsession with listening to Jimmy as a child in church. “Jimmy helped to fulfill our needs.” He would take Jimmy’s songs and turn them into karaoke in church with Jimmy’s music. Wyclef ended the introduction by telling the crowd that Jimmy led the way and influenced all the kids from rural areas as a true inspiration to their lives. He said, “There were two people that always brought recognition to the Caribbean, Bob Marley, and the “God Father” Jimmy Cliff.
When Jimmy took the stage, he humbly said, “Blessed love to all. It is good to be here. I grew up listening to rock and roll music. My love of the great Rock and Roll artists was an inspiration. Music is about being inspired. Sam Cook, Ray Charles, Fats Domino, Jimi Hendrix were inspiration for all in Jamaica and in the Caribbean.”
Being honored is a step along the way on Jimmy’s journey in life . It is another stepping stone to higher heights. Jimmy acknowledged his grandmother, and his family for their contribution to his success and singled out Chris Blackwell of Island Records for helping him along the way. Jimmy talked about how reggae music is a music that was not conceived in the US and to be part of the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame is a great honor yet he could not be there without some help from great people in the music business. He thanked all the people of Jamaica, all the people of the Caribbean, all the people of Africa, and all the people of South America.
With tears in his eyes he said, “This was a new music form brought to the world. It brought a new culture to the US and the rest of the world. I am grateful to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It is a great honor, thank you all!”
With a voice as powerful as ever, Jimmy got on stage with Paul Schaffer, from The David Letterman Show, and his band to sing his songs “You Can Get It If You Really Want ”, “Many Rivers To Cross” and his acclaimed international soundtrack hit “The Harder They Come”. As Jimmy danced across the stage showing some of his moves from his days as a young rising artist you couldn’t help but join the crowd as they danced in the aisles and let Jimmy’s music of the Caribbean move the souls of all those present. By the time Jimmy completed his set he once again received the ever so deserving standing ovation this time from some of the world’s most famous names in Rock and Roll history from artists such as Bruce Springstein, Billy Joe Armstrong, Faith Hill, Carole King, Steven Van Zandt, Meryl Streep, Jackson Browne, Rob Thomas, Phil Collins, Abba, the BeeGees, Maroon 5, and more.
Still overwhelmed and emotional at the end of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican Superstar, Music Legend, Reggae Pioneer, Lead Actor of his phenomenal Documentary, “The Harder They Come,” and now Hall Of Famer, declared emphatically “I feel good! I’m inspired! My new album ‘Existence’ is already recorded, finished and will be released this summer.”
Jimmy Cliff (vocals, guitar; born April 1, 1948)
Jimmy Cliff was reggae’s ?rst international star and remains its greatest living ambassador, having taken the music of Jamaica to all corners of the world. He had hits outside of Jamaica as far back as 1969, when “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” reached Number Six in Britain and Number 25 in the U.S. Yet his career breakthrough came in the Seventies, with the release of the soundtrack to The Harder They Come. That album served as a primer on reggae music for the uninitiated, and half of its tracks were by Jimmy Cliff. They included three songs that have become reggae standards: the ebullient “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” the anthemic “The Harder they Come” and the hymn-like “Many Rivers to Cross.”
In addition to writing and singing those songs, Cliff starred in the ?lm. The Harder They Come was the ?rst feature ?lm written and directed by a Jamaican and shot on location using an all-native cast. Cliff played a budding singer from the Jamaican countryside who gets caught up in the renegade world of drugs and violence in the slums of Kingston. The movie became a huge success in Jamaica and a cult classic elsewhere. The soundtrack, released in America on Chris Blackwell’s Mango label (a subsidiary of his Island Records) in 1973, proved to be a steady seller, though it didn’t enter Billboard‘s album chart until March 1975 – still a full two months before Bob Marley and the Wailers ?rst cracked the U.S. charts with Natty Dread.
Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers in St. James, Jamaica. He adopted the stage name “Cliff” to acknowledge the heights he intended to climb. His ?rst recordings date back to 1962, and two of his songs (“Ska All Over the World,” “Trust No Man”) were included on a 1964 anthology, The Real Jamaican Ska, released in the U.S. on Epic Records. Hooking up with legendary Jamaican producer Leslie Kong, Cliff unleashed a string of hit singles in his homeland throughout the Sixties, including “Hurricane Hattie,” “Miss Jamaica” and “King of Kings.” He was among those chosen to represent Jamaica at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York.
Blackwell groomed Cliff to be the artist who would break reggae into the international mainstream. Cliff moved to London for a period to further that goal. Hard Road to Travel, his ?rst British album, was released in 1968, and the Top 10 success of “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” followed the next year. His controversial 1970 single “Viet Nam” was a minor British hit. That same year, his version of Cat Stevens’ “Wild World” – with Stevens producing and playing piano – went to Number Eight in the U.K. A cover of Cliff’s “You Can Get It if You Really Want” by Desmond Dekker, his friend and fellow Jamaican singer, soared to Number Two on the British charts in 1970 – a few years before the inclusion of Cliff’s original version in The Harder They Come. Cliff’s 1972 single “Trapped” was also produced by Cat Stevens. Subsequently covered by Bruce Springsteen, it received great exposure from its inclusion on the We Are the World charity album from 1985.
His last album for Island Records was 1973’s Struggling Man, at which point he signed with Reprise and embarked on a period of stylistic experimentation that included such albums as Another Cycle (a soul/pop album cut at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios), Unlimited and Brave Warrior. One of the standouts in his catalog, Give Thankx (1978), included the militant anthem “Stand Up and Fight Back.” In the early Eighties, he returned to rootsy reggae on Give the People What They Want (1981) and Special (1982). The latter album, his first for Columbia Records, was recorded at Channel One Studios in Kingston with some of Jamaica’s best producers and engineers. Cliff dubbed his touring band Oneness, and they performed all over the world, including Africa.
Cliff returned to movies with his appearance in the 1985 comedy Club Paradise (starring Robin Williams), set in the Caribbean. Cliff and Oneness toured with head-liner Steve Winwood in 1986. In 1993, Cliff’s recording of Johnny Nash’s early-Seventies hit “I Can See Clearly Now” – included on the soundtrack of Cool Runnings, a film about the Jamaican bobsledding team – became a Top 20 hit.
Jimmy Cliff’s role as a reggae pioneer was celebrated in 2003 with a Deluxe Edition reissue of The Harder They Come and a two-disc Jimmy Cliff Anthology.
“My role has always been as the shepherd of reggae music,” Cliff has noted. “When they wanted to bring reggae to America, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to England, they sent Jimmy Cliff. When they wanted to bring reggae to Africa, they sent Jimmy Cliff.”
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