[1] Vietnam (J.Cliff) - 4:48
[2] Born to Win (J.Cliff) - 2:47
[3] My Love Is Solid as a Rock (J.Cliff) - 3:46
[4] Don't Let It Die (J.Cliff) - 4:27
[5] Many Rivers to Cross (J.Cliff) - 2:38
[6] On My Life (J.Cliff) - 2:43
[7] Music Maker (J.Cliff) - 3:02
[8] My People (J.Cliff) - 3:29
[9] Wonderful World, Beautiful People (J.Cliff) - 3:08
[10] Fundamental Reggay (J.Cliff) - 2:57
[11] I Want to Know (J.Cliff) - 2:42
[12] Actions Speak Louder Than Words (J.Cliff) - 3:38
[13] Sufferin' in the Land (J.Cliff) - 2:56
[14] Under the Sun, Moon and Stars (J.Cliff) - 4:02
[15] House of Exile (J.Cliff) - 4:29
[16] Every Tub (J.Cliff) - 3:45
[17] Come into My Life (J.Cliff) - 2:48
[18] Oh Jamaica (J.Cliff) - 3:25
[19] I've Been Dead 400 Years (J.Cliff) - 2:37
[20] Give a Little, Take a Little (J.Cliff) - 2:25
The first artist in Lesley Kong's groundbreaking Beverly's label stable
in 1962, Jimmy Cliff has been a figure of major influence in the
internationalization of Jamaican music for thirty years. Bob Dylan
called Cliff's late-60s hit "Vietnam" the best protest song he ever
heard. Hearing that same tune led Paul Simon to travel to Kingston,
book the same rhythm section, engineer, and studio, and record "Mother
and Child Reunion," the first Yankee reggae song ever. Despite a number
of ska hits and an Island Records contract in 1967, it wasn't until he
was recruited to act in Perry Henzell's rollickingly hypnotic film The
Harder They Come that Cliff achieved true stardom. He sang a number of
his own compositions in the movie, including "Many Rivers to Cross,"
"Sitting in Limbo," and the title track, three standards that helped
make the soundtrack album one of the biggest sellers in reggae history.
The followup albums, however, were generally unfocused, their spotty
material spoiling Cliff's bid to become reggae's main exponent, a gap
rushed into and filled brilliantly by Bob Marley. By 1976, Cliff had
regrouped and enlisted Wailers tutor Joe Higgs to be his bandleader. A
yearly stream of albums followed, with songs as good as anything he
ever recorded ("Beyond the Boundaries," "Bongo Man"); and Cliff became
a mainstay on the international festival and touring circuit, achieving
huge fame in places like Nigeria, where he keeps a second home. Cliff's
style is a high, almost gospel plaint, with a keen rhythmic sense that
echoes Africa as well as R&B. A concert film, Bongo Man, was
released around 1980, as Cliff looked unsuccessfully for the proper
vehicle to follow up the worldwide penetration of The Harder They Come.
Cliff, a father figure to several generations of young musicians, can
still be counted on to deliver thoroughly professional shows and
recordings, like 1999's Humanitarian.