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Jimmy Cliff
James Chambers OM (born 30 July 1944), known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae musician to hold the Order of Merit, the highest honour that can be granted by the Jamaican government for achievements in the arts and sciences. Cliff is best known among mainstream audiences for songs such as " Many Rivers to Cross", "You Can Get It If You Really Want", "The Harder They Come", "Reggae Night", and " Hakuna Matata", and his covers of Cat Stevens's " Wild World" and Johnny Nash's " I Can See Clearly Now" from the film '' Cool Runnings''. He starred in the film ''The Harder They Come'', which helped popularize reggae around the world, and '' Club Paradise''. Cliff was one of five performers inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. Early life and education Jimmy Cliff was born James Chambers on 30 July 1944 in Saint James, Colony of Jamaica. He ...
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Reggae
Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term ''reggae'' more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument. Reggae is d ...
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Many Rivers To Cross
"Many Rivers to Cross" is a song written and recorded in 1969 by Jimmy Cliff. It has since been recorded by many musicians, including Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Joe Cocker, Percy Sledge, Little Milton, Desmond Dekker, UB40, Cher, The Brand New Heavies, Eric Burdon & The Animals, The Walker Brothers, Marcia Hines, Toni Childs, Oleta Adams, Linda Ronstadt, Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams, Chris Pierce, Arthur Lee and Jimmy Barnes. It was also performed in the Caribbean by Alison Hinds of Barbados and Tessanne Chin of Jamaica, the same place Jimmy Cliff himself is from. Background Cliff was aged 21 when he wrote and recorded the song in 1969. He stated he wrote the song due to the trouble he was having making it as a successful musical artist after originally finding success in his home of Jamaica, beginning at age 14, before moving to the United Kingdom. He commented, "When I came to the UK, I was still in my teens. I came full of vigor: I'm going to make it, I’m going to be up t ...
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Order Of Merit (Jamaica)
The Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system, and it is the fourth-highest honour awarded by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or distinguished citizens of other countries who have achieved international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour."National Awards of Jamaica"
Jamaica Information Service, accessed May 12, 2015.
The award can be held by no more than 15 living persons.Jamaica hails heroes today
", The Jamaica Observer, October 21, 2002.
It is not given to more than two people in any one year. Membe ...
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Jamaican Order Of Merit
The Order of Merit is part of the Jamaican honours system, and it is the fourth-highest honour awarded by the nation of Jamaica. The Order of Merit is conferred upon Jamaicans or distinguished citizens of other countries who have achieved international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour."National Awards of Jamaica"
Jamaica Information Service, accessed May 12, 2015.
The award can be held by no more than 15 living persons.Jamaica hails heroes today
", The Jamaica Observer, October 21, 2002.
It is not given to more than two people in any one year. Membe ...
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Club Paradise
''Club Paradise'' is a 1986 American comedy film directed by Harold Ramis and starring Robin Williams, Twiggy, Peter O'Toole, and Jimmy Cliff. Set in a fictional Caribbean banana republic, it follows a group of vacationers' attempts to create a luxury resort out of a seedy nightclub, and the series of increasingly unlikely events takes place. The film reunites director / co-writer Ramis with most of his SCTV co-stars – ''SCTV'' cast members Andrea Martin, Eugene Levy, Rick Moranis, Joe Flaherty, and Robin Duke play supporting roles in the film, as does co-writer Brian Doyle-Murray, a former ''SCTV'' staff writer. It was the final film of actor Adolph Caesar, who died in March 1986, four months before the film's release. Plot Jack Moniker is a Chicago firefighter who is injured on the job. Using his disability insurance payout, he retires to the small Caribbean island of Saint Nicholas, and buys a small property. Anthony Croyden Hayes, appointed by the British crown as governo ...
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The Harder They Come
''The Harder They Come'' is a 1972 Jamaican crime film directed by Perry Henzell and co-written by Trevor D. Rhone, and starring Jimmy Cliff. The film is most famous for its reggae soundtrack that is said to have "brought reggae to the world". Enormously successful in Jamaica, the film also reached the international market and has been described as "possibly the most influential of Jamaican films and one of the most important films from the Caribbean".Mennel, Barbara, ''Cities and Cinema'', Routledge, 2008, p.170. Plot Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin is a poor Jamaican man in desperate search of work. He leaves his rural home after his grandmother dies to live with his impoverished wastrel mother in Kingston, but is rebuffed. Before he can even locate her he has all his possessions stolen in a con by a street vendor he naively trusted. He later meets José, who takes him to see '' Django'', a Spaghetti Western. Excited by urban life, he tries to get a job but repeatedly fails. He fina ...
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Cool Runnings
''Cool Runnings'' is a 1993 American sports film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Leon Robinson, Doug E. Doug, Malik Yoba, and John Candy. It is loosely based on the true story of the Jamaica national bobsleigh team's debut in competition during the 1988 Winter Olympics. ''Cool Runnings'' was released in the United States on October 1, 1993, to generally positive reviews. The film's soundtrack also became popular with Jimmy Cliff performing a cover of Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now", which reached the top 40 as a single in the United States, Canada, France, and the United Kingdom. Plot In November 1987, Jamaican sprinter Derice Bannock trains to qualify for the 100 metres in the 1988 Summer Olympics. He fails to qualify when fellow runner Junior Bevil accidentally stumbles, not only falling over himself, but knocking down Derice, and another competitor named Yul Brenner. Derice petitions for a re-heat, but committee leader Barrington Coolidge, though he pities De ...
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I Can See Clearly Now
"I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album I Can See Clearly Now (Johnny Nash album), ''I Can See Clearly Now'' and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and ''Cashbox (magazine), Cash Box'' charts. It also reached number one in Canada and South Africa. The song has been covered by many artists throughout the years, including a hit version by Lee Towers that reached no. 19 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1982, and another recorded by Jimmy Cliff for the motion picture soundtrack of ''Cool Runnings'' that peaked at no. 18 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1993. Writing and recording After Nash wrote and composed the original version, he recorded it in London with members of the Fabulous Five Inc., and produced it himself. The song's arrangements and style are both heavily ...
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Johnny Nash
John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit " I Can See Clearly Now". Primarily a reggae and pop singer, he was one of the first non-Jamaican artists to record reggae music in Kingston. Early life Nash was born on 19 August 1940 in Houston, Texas, the son of Eliza (Armstrong) and John Lester Nash. He sang in the choir at Progressive New Hope Baptist Church in South Central Houston as a child. Beginning in 1953, Nash sang covers of R&B hits on ''Matinee'', a local variety show on KPRC-TV; from 1956 he sang on Arthur Godfrey's radio and television programs for a seven-year period. Nash was married three times, and had two children. Career Signing with ABC-Paramount, Nash made his major label debut in 1957 with the single "A Teenager Sings the Blues". He had his first chart hit in early 1958 with a cover of Doris Day's "A Very Special Love". Marketed as a rival to Johnny Mathis, Nash als ...
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Wild World (song)
"Wild World" is a song written and recorded by English singer-songwriter Cat Stevens. It first appeared on his fourth album, ''Tea for the Tillerman'', recorded and released in 1970. Song meaning Stevens developed a relationship with actress Patti D'Arbanville and the two were a pair throughout a period of roughly two years. During that time, he wrote several songs about her, including "Wild World". The song is in the form of the singer's words to his departing lover, inspired by the end of their romance. Stevens later recalled to ''Mojo'': "It was one of those chord sequences that's very common in Spanish music. I turned it around and came up with that theme—which is a recurring theme in my work—which is to do with leaving, the sadness of leaving, and the anticipation of what lies beyond." Released as a single in late 1970, it peaked at No. 11 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart. "Wild World" has been credited as the song that gave Stevens' next album, ''Tea for the Tille ...
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Cat Stevens
Yusuf Islam (born Steven Demetre Georgiou; ), commonly known by his stage names Cat Stevens, Yusuf, and Yusuf / Cat Stevens, is a British singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. His musical style consists of folk, pop, rock, and, later in his career, Islamic music. He returned to making secular music in 2006. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014. His 1967 debut album and its title song "Matthew and Son" both reached top ten in the UK charts. Stevens' albums '' Tea for the Tillerman'' (1970) and ''Teaser and the Firecat'' (1971) were certified triple platinum in the US. His 1972 album '' Catch Bull at Four'' went to No.1 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and spent weeks at the top of several other major charts.Billboard – Catch Bull at Four
Allmusic. Retrieved 20 Oc ...
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Cover Version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original. History The term "cover" goes back decades when cover version originally described a rival version of a tune recorded to compete with the recently released (original) version. Examples of records covered include Paul Williams' 1949 hit tune "The Hucklebuck" and Hank Williams' 1952 song "Jambalaya". Both crossed over to the popular hit parade and had numerous hit versions. Before the mid-20th century, the notion of an original version of a popular tune would have seemed slightly odd – the production of musical entertainment was seen as a live event, even if it was reproduced at home via a cop ...
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