h/t Andrew Mangan, DK staff
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by Kenny Monrose, Researcher, Department of Sociology, University of Cambridge
<small>Kenny Monrose does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. The University of Cambridge provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.View all partners</small>
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Cliff’s music had a knack of reflecting world events in the moment.
“I have a dislike for politicians as they’re not truthful people. It’s the nature of politics that you cannot be straight, you have to lie and cheat,” said the reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who died on November 24 at the age of 81.
Cliff was born James Chambers on July 30 July 1944 in Somerton, Saint James Parish, Jamaica. Long before luminaries such as Bob Andy, the Wailers, Lee Perry and others had made an indelible mark on Jamaican popular music, Cliff had taken the genre to “foreign” – not just to the US or the UK but around the world. Suffice to say Cliff was reggae’s first international star.
His career started seriously with ska recordings for legendary Chinese-Jamaican producer Leslie Kong on his Beverly’s label. As well as being a musician, Cliff acted as an artist and repertoire representative, finding and developing new talent for Kong.
Cliff, at the request of singer Desmond Dekker, invited Bob Marley to record his first song Judge Not at Federal studios in 1962. In the same year, Cliff recorded Hurricane Hattie, a number about the tropical cyclone that devastated the Caribbean, significantly British Honduras, in 1961.
Some of Cliff’s subsequent early hits included Miss Jamaica and King of Kings, both of which showcased his lyrical dexterity on the frenetic tempo of ska.
Cliff had a knack of reflecting world events in his music at any given opportunity. By the end of 1960s, through his material he became one of the strongest advocates of the growing anti-war movement, typified by the 1968 recording Vietnam.
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