Reggae pioneer dies at 81
The stars aligned at the Lenox Music Inn that sweet sunny afternoon in August 1976; and Jimmy Cliff’s star shone brightest.
It all felt perfect: the beautiful warm weather, the shared sense of happy anticipation, the usual friendly vibe at my favorite-ever venue.
So, when Jimmy Cliff and his band came onstage, the place was primed for joy. I’ve never felt such jubilation before or since, in hundreds, thousands of live concerts. We all surged to our feet on that sloping grassy hill, and stayed there through every song, every bit of banter.
That may have been reggae’s high-water mark, the early- to mid-70s when Cliff, Bob Marley and the Wailers and Toots and the Maytals all peaked. That’s not to diminish their later achievements, nor those of other powerful and accomplished reggae artists since then. (Check in with Sir Walford Saturday afternoons on WCDB-FM for guidance.) But those years were a sort of golden age, with Cliff at the forefront of that multiple cultural explosion – after “The Harder They Come” made him a movie star in 1972 as well as a musical giant. Wiki reports, “The film ‘The Harder They Come’ played in midnight screenings at the Orson Welles Cinema in Cambridge for seven years…”
Mourning Cliff’s death today at 81 in Kingston, reggae fan Keith Richards FaceBooked this today: “He wrote some of the most beautiful ballads that ever came out of Jamaica. Unbeatable songs, and the voice of an angel.”
All that, and fiery rebel songs, and musings on his homeland – all in the voice of an angel.
I feel grateful – blessed, really – for the half dozen or so times I saw him sing over the years.
The last time was at Jazz Fest in New Orleans, May 3, 2013. He played the Congo Square Stage that specializes in soulful, funky fare – and Cliff was every bit as magnificent then as decades before. His voice swung sweetly yearning or strongly emphatic and portrayed every emotional color in between; his timing impeccably rhythmic.
But most of all, he meant it; his soul came to us in every word.
Hoke's Jukebox 