Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff, OM is a Jamaican ska & reggae musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer and actor. He is the only living 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...
NationalityJamaican
ProfessionMusician
Date of Birth1 April 1948
CountryJamaica
coming create gates known music opened people singer songwriter vehicle
It was the vehicle that propelled me to international stardom. I was known as a singer songwriter before that, but people did not know me as an actor. It showed the world where the music I contributed to create was coming from. It opened the gates for Jamaican music, internationally.
concrete grew hard miles outside people planet twelve
I grew up twelve miles outside of Montego Bay. In my early teens, I went to Kingston. It was like a different planet for me. In the country, people are kind. In the city, people are hard an' cold, like the concrete and steel.
began faster lived music people recorded reggae styles using
When I lived in the U.K., I recorded a lot of ska and rock-steady styles of Jamaican music. But people there weren't accepting it. So I began using a faster reggae beat.
people want might
People might say, 'Jimmy Cliff, you've done a lot, achieved a lot. What more can you want?
artist smell people
I visit studios. Just to get the feel, the smell, and see what other people are doing. Not only listening to the radio, but going to studios, greeting musicians and artists, just getting a vibe.
artist echoes people
Certain artists have a role to echo the echoes of the people and that's what I'll be doing on my next album.
people hollywood fantastic
If you go out to Hollywood you'll find a lot of fantastic plastic people there in the business and a lot of people in life generally. They find it so hard to be themselves that they have to be plastic.
people actors world
It was the vehicle that propelled me to international stardom. ("Harder They Come") I was known as a singer/songwriter before that, but people did not know me as an actor. It showed the world where the music I contributed to create was coming from. It opened the gates for Jamaican music, internationally.
country cities people
In the country, people are kind. In the city, people are hard an' cold, like the concrete and steel.
new-beginnings hands people
People in the Hall of Fame tend to clap their hands and say, 'OK, I've done it all,' but for me, it was a new beginning.
bit cliff guess jimmy outside step
With acting, you have to become someone else. That's the fun part of it for me - to step outside of yourself and become a character. I guess being Jimmy Cliff is a little bit of a character, too.
artist forgotten time
Now you can manufacture just about what you want and after just a little time the artist is forgotten and gone.
phase sought
It's phase we're going through. Eventually, what is real will be sought after again.
telling
I grew up in the church and had always questioned what they were telling me.