A monument to Jamaican music, Jimmy Cliff died on November 24, at the age of 81, after an attack of epilepsy and pneumonia, his wife announced. Before Bob Marley, he popularized reggae outside Jamaica thanks to his first hit, Many Rivers to Crossin 1969 (later taken over by Joe Cocker, among others), and The Harder They Comein 1972, the title song and film by Perry Henzell, in which he played the title character, made him the first international star in the genre. With Reggae Night (1983), he would retain his status, somewhat eclipsed in the 1970s by the aura of Bob Marley, who, unlike him and his 34 albums, had a remarkable career before the fatal cancer he suffered in May 1981.
However, it was Jimmy Cliff who allowed Bob Marley to record his first two solo songs, Don’t judge! And One Cup of Coffeeintroduced him to his producer, Leslie Kong, an ice cream salesman who had given his small label the same name as his shop: Beverley’s. Meeting in 2012 to promote his thirty-third album, Rebirth – for which he won the second Grammy Award for best reggae album of his career – Jimmy Cliff expressed his bitterness and jealousy towards Bob Marley and his group, The Wailers: “The first time I recorded a record, said the singer who was 68 years old at that time, I was given 1 shilling (40 cents of our current euro). The Wailers had better luck than me at Studio One: they were given 2 books per week (50 euros). I was only allowed 1 shilling, and I was sent away with a wave of the hand: “Here, schoolboy, get on your bus.” Then I met producer Leslie Kong. He was very nice, so I stayed with him. I think that’s why I got away with a lot of scammers, unlike my other colleagues. » And he, like a good friend, shared it with other street kids who, like him, had come from the countryside to try their luck in Kingston.
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