Dr. Jimmy Cliff
“Wonderful World, Beautiful People”

By Abdul Muhsin — Photographer, By Kristy Horst

“IN 1969, “WONDERFUL WORLD, BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE” REACHED NUMBER SIX ON THE BRITISH CHARTS, AND NUMBER 25 IN THE UNITEDSTATES. A 2010 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE, JIMMY CLIFF IS REGGAE’S FIRST INTERNATIONAL STAR, AND REMAINS IT GREATEST LIVING AMBASSADOR. JIMMY CLIFF’S ICONIC TALENT TRANSCENDS MUSIC.”

It was a warm summer evening as we sat overlooking the beautiful Biscayne Bay in downtown Miami. Dusk was just forming when we began our conversation on the historical perspectives of Dr. Jimmy Cliff. “Nowadays everyone calls me Doc” he says proudly. “I have earned a degree from the university and I like that”. From that point ‘the Doctor’, as he likes to be called began his journey through the early days of his life. We will refer to Dr. Jimmy Cliff as ‘the Dr.’ throughout this article. He was born in Adelphi in the hills of St James. ‘The Doctor’ never talks about his age, when asked, he replies “I’m the living”. He does not look a day over 50 with a slim athletic build, smooth skin, and bright eyes. He still has that infectious smile. I had not seen him in quite some time but we reconnected as if we had just had our last conversation yesterday. Our conversation was reminiscent of the good old days.

Remembering his birth place in Adelphi, St James during a hurricane. During the storm the house he was staying in blew down and he was wrapped in a sheet and brought to a neighbors house for refuge. His face lit up when reflecting on the significance of that incident: being covered and protected from the violent storm and  since then believing that he has the resilience to go through anything and succeed in the end. “I have a thing with hurricanes, one of my first hits was about a hurricane, Hurricane Hattie”. He knew from an early age that music and acting were his true passions. It all began as a young child growing up with a strong church influence. After that memorable storm episode ‘the Dr.’ and his brother Victor went to live with their aunt in Windsor Lodge, St James. The family was very religious and ‘the Dr’s. first exposure to music came from going to church. “People would come from all around to hear this little ‘bwoy’ (Jamaican slang for ‘boy’) sing.” ‘The Dr.’ loved musicals at the local holiday fairs, these would eventually have a great influence on his musical development and increased his insatiable appetite for performing. He later moved with his brother to the town of Summerton to live with his father. He loved performing in school plays and really started looking for ways to improve his craft.

I loved the blues; a blues show wouldn’t miss me. I saw all the greats, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Moms Mabley, Flip Wilson — everybody. It was in New York that the young Jimmy Cliff met Chris Blackwell backstage after a performance at the world’s fair.

He reminisces, “I was King Sugar in a school play…… I am monarch of all I survey. My right, there is none to dispute. From the centre all around to the sea. I am Lord of the West Indies”. ‘The Dr.’ knew then that acting and singing were what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. He proclaims a love for acting more so than music. Performing on stage was a huge lift to the spirit of his young talent. His father, Lilbert Chambers, was a tailor and was much respected in Summerton. The villagers would call on him, ‘Brother Polly’, for extensive knowledge in all subjects. “My father read a lot and could speak on all subjects. Politicians, teachers, everybody who came to Summerton, had to ‘check’ (visit with) ‘Brother Polly’.” His father played an instrumental part in his early music and acting development. As a child ‘Brother Polly’ did not have much, but wanted his young son to gain proficiency in music and therefore gave him a choice between music lessons and buying a radio. ‘The Dr.’ chose the radio. At night the AM frequency on the radio could pick up signals from stations in New Orleans, Miami, and even Cuba.

‘The Dr.’ loved the Blues from New Orleans, R&B from Miami, and the Afro Cuban rhythms from Cuba. “I had a love for all of those things. Music and acting went hand in hand”. Cliffs father was adament about providing his son with a solid education and saw to it that the budding star would migrate to the city of Kingston as a teenager, to further his academics at Kingston Technical College. There he heard music on the radio and asked his woodwork teacher how those artists were able write their own music. The teacher replied, “Dem just write it! (They just write it)” At that point ‘the Dr.’ began putting lyrics and melodies together, and his writing career began. He had 4 songs written and before long his first recording “Daisy Got Me Crazy” was produced by up and coming Producer of the time, ‘Count Boise’. All the major producers at that time; Coxone, Duke Ried, King Edwards, Prince Buster, turned him down. The determination and perseverance instilled by his father and reinforced by his grandmother who said “uunoo lef him, him a go come to something (you leave him alone, he will make something of himself)”, would take the young ‘Dr’. from Count Boise, to Beverly’s Records with Leslie Kong, and ultimately to producer Chris Blackwell and Island Records. Cliff recalls “I remember going over to Coxone and telling him I had a song. Him sey (he said), ok, sing nuh (go ahead and sing)! So I began to sing and he was writing. All when mi finish and gone, Coxsone nuh even know sey mi gone. Him never pay me no mind (even when I had finished singing and left, Coxone did not know that I had gone, he ignored me)”.

‘The Harder They Come’. This, of course, was to the delight of the young ‘Dr.’
He hesitated, however, because he was doing so well in Europe.

Laughingly, years after much success with Jimmy cliff, Coxsone would say “bowy Jimmy a mon like you! (you are amazing). I was the only one that never passed through his hands ….. I never recorded with Coxsone or any of the major producers. I was walking down Orange Street in Kingston one night, and saw the Beverly’s Records sign and the song came to me about ‘Beverly’. So I decided to go in and see the people who owned the company, the Kong brothers.” It was Leslie Kong , from Beverly’s Record who upon hearing the audition said, that this “was the best voice he had heard in Jamaica” at that time and began recording the young doctor immediately. Cliff notes that “I never recorded for anybody else in Jamaica until I left and went to England with Chris Blackwell.”

Shortly thereafter, the young ‘Dr.’ left Jamaica in 1964 for the New York World’s Fair, performing as a solo artist. ‘Byron Lee and the Dragonaires’ was the house band.  On  his days off the young Cliff would visit the Apollo Theatre in uptown Harlem. There, he would see all the blues, R&B, and Jazz artists that he had grown up listening to on the radio in Jamaica. “I would get there in the morning and stay till (the) last show ended at night. This was a big education for me. I loved the blues, a blues show wouldn’t miss me. I saw all the greats: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Moms Mabley, Flip Wilson, everybody. It was in New York (that I) met Chris Blackwell backstage  after a performance at the World’s Fair. He came to seek me out; Chris Blackwell said “I’ve been trying to meet you in Jamaica. I think you should come to England””. The song King of Kings written by Jimmy Cliff, but recorded by someone else had gone into the British charts. “He always had his eyes (on) me from when I was at Beverly’s, with songs like One Eye Jack, King of Kings, etc”. Chris Blackwell convinced the young ‘Dr.’ to come to England. He said “you’re good, but there are plenty like you in New York”. Cliff recalls “I hesitated to take Chris Blackwell’s offer, because I liked New York. I was getting big write ups in Cashbox and Billboard magazines. Plus there were some other labels in New York that wanted to sign me and Byron Lee wanted to put me in his band and package me to the label.” Cliff did not like that deal. At that time there were no other Jamaican artists with the exposure of Jimmy Cliff outside of Jamaica. He was the pioneer of Jamaican music internationaly during the early sixties.

The young ‘Dr.’ decided to go to England after he saw the success of Millie Smalls with ‘My Boy Lollypop’, another Chris Blackwell production. He had his own band and toured clubs, colleges, and universities all around England. While in England the young ‘Dr.’ did a few recordings with Chris Blackwell, but was not too successful because many of the English musicians had difficulty capturing the Jamaican ‘vibe’ in the music. After years of frustration and not getting a hit record the young ‘Dr.’ decided to go back to Jamaica in the mid sixties, back to his foundation. Upon returning to Jamaica, the young ‘Dr.’ got an invitation to Rio de Janiero. He reminisces, “My career changed 360 degrees”. He entered the International Song Festival in Rio and was the most popular artist. The Brazilians loved him, even though he did not win. Brazil became the inspiration for more songs, ‘Wonderful World Beautiful People’ and ‘Many Rivers To Cross’ were two of the more popular songs written to date. He stayed in Brazil for 3 months and then set up a base in Argentina; he toured Chile and Uruguay doing all the festivals in those countries. By then getting a new band and teaching them the music had become a lot easier. The young ‘Dr.’ had become more proficient in guitar and the keyboard and was able to get the South American musicians to acquiesce to his wishes in creating the sound he desired. After working in South America for a few months Cliff decided to head back home to Jamaica. On the way to Jamaica he stopped over in Miami for a few days and continued to write songs for an album. This is where an interesting story about ‘Many Rivers to Cross unfolded’.  After a recording session, while in a studio in Miami, the musicians were just hanging around and the young ‘Dr.’ said he had another song he wanted to put down. He got his guitar, played the progression and the organ player ‘picked it up’ – in one take Many Rivers Cross was recorded and today it is a classic.

While back in Jamaica, Perry Henzell approached the young ‘Dr.’ to write some music for a movie (The Harder They Come). Soon after the request, Cliff was in England recording and touring. Perry, again approached the young Doctor, this time he asked him to play the main character in the film ‘The Harder They Come’. This, of course, was to the delight of the young ‘Dr.’.  He hesitated, however, because he was doing so well in Europe. Eventually, the tours wounded down and the opportunity to embark on his life long ambition of being an actor became too much to resist. He had heard of the main character ‘Rhyging’ as a child growing up, therefore the part was easy for him to adopt. So he not only wrote the music for the movie but also became the star of this classic. We all know the history of this beloved artist from the many hits that he has given the world. The young ‘Dr.’ grew into a music icon, with a hit movie. He has since had hit records spanning four decades and he continues to produce and perform. He is looking at more movie scripts and is also working on a new album that is scheduled to be released in 2010. He was the first artist from Jamaica to travel throughout the world with his music. He paved the way for many, including Bob Marley who he brought to Coxsone for his first recording “Judge Not”. Dr. Jimmy Cliff is a pioneer who is still blazing trails, reaching higher and higher. The Musical ‘The Harder They Come’ opened in Miami in late August of 2009 to rave reviews. The music of Dr. Jimmy Cliff is featured throughout the musical and the grit of the main character mirrors the tenacity and the drive that Cliff, the artist, still possesses. There is a special quality to this man that many people rarely see. He has a true concern for the oppressed and a real love for people in the struggle for freedom. There is an eternal youthfulness that emanates from his being. His joy and intellectual curiosity keep him engaged while searching for that next ‘Many Rivers’, ‘Wonderful World’, ‘The Rebel In Me’, ‘You Can Get It if You Really Want’, ‘Sitting in Limbo’, ‘Reggae Nights’ and so much more. There is a lot more on the horizon for Dr. Jimmy Cliff.  |  JP