Not too many people knew him as James Chambers, but that was Jimmy Cliff’s birth name, as he grew up in the remote village of Somerton, Jamaica, until he was 14 years old, when he opted for greener pastures in the capital city of Kingston.
He truly passed through many Rivers as a teenager, determined to have his songs charted on the world music stage. He, arguably, heralded Reggae music to the world, and the violent cultural underpinning of Jamaican life in the ghetto with the genre of music, and the political nuances laced with corruption at the time.
This was made possible by his widely acclaimed debut in the movie titled “The Harder They Come” where he played a starring role and provided the soundtrack in this popular crime movie in 1972.
Jimmy Cliff is truly a legend, with so many successful hit songs and a record-breaking thirty albums and more, in forty-plus years of bestriding the Island music world like a Colossus. From his “Wonderful World, Beautiful People” album in 1969 to his very latest album, a collaboration with Walshy Fire, titled “The Harder They Come The Remixes” released in 2024, the”Bongo Man” as he’s fondly called, remains consistent and agile even in old age.
This last album featured remixes of his hit songs like “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and “Many Rivers To Cross”. As a teenager, the 8th of 9 children from a humble background, Jimmy never allowed his background to put him and his aspirations on the ground despite many challenges. He released many singles that didn’t strike a chord with public acceptance, yet the Bongo Man kept going.
Just like he said in his 2003 interview with “The Independent”, coming to live in the City from the country home in Somerton was a gamble. “But by the time I got there, I was prepared to face whatever came. Even at that young age, I knew what I wanted to do …. I had no consciousness of money. It was about getting my art expressed”
Perhaps, this determination and focus early in life led to the creation of the legend, who later grew in his various arts to win his Country’s highest honour, the Jamaican Order of Merit, alongside Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer.
In his 50 years of a robust and consistent career as an Island music icon, Jimmy Cliff sang so many evergreen songs, depicting the state of our society and humanity in his day. His song of protest, “Vietnam” helped to raise his voice over the injustices of the superpower in a world divided into two ideological parts.
There’s no doubt that when the history of the voices that brought remarkable changes to our world is written, that of James Chambers, widely known as Jimmy Cliff, will be mentioned even as he says farewell to this “wonderful world of beautiful people”.
