James Chambers OM, known professionally as Jimmy Cliff, is a Jamaican ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul musician, multi-instrumentalist, singer, and actor. He is the only living reggae 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.
The Harder They Come is the soundtrack album to the film of the same name, released in 1972 in the United Kingdom as Island Records ILPS 9202. It was issued in February 1973 in North America as Mango Records SMAS-7400. It peaked at No. 140 on the Billboard 200. In 2021, the album was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
Sean Paul Ryan Francis Henriques is a Jamaican rapper and singer who is regarded as one of dancehall and reggae's most prolific artist of all times.
Desmond Dekker was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. Together with his backing group the Aces, he had one of the earliest international reggae hits with "Israelites" (1968). Other hits include "007 " (1967), "It Mek" (1969) and "You Can Get It If You Really Want" (1970).
"Israelites" is a song written by Desmond Dekker and Leslie Kong that became a hit for Dekker's group, Desmond Dekker & the Aces, reaching the top of the charts in numerous countries in 1969. Sung in Jamaican Patois, some of the song's lyrics were not readily understood by many British and American listeners at the time of its release. Despite this, the single was the first UK reggae #1 and among the first to reach the US top ten. It combined the Rastafarian religion with rude boy concerns, to make what has been described by Allmusic as a "timeless masterpiece that knew no boundaries".
Leslie Kong was a Jamaican reggae producer.
"Red Red Wine" is a song originally written, performed and recorded by American singer Neil Diamond in 1967 that appears on his second studio album, Just for You. The lyrics are written from the perspective of a person who finds that drinking red wine is the only way to forget his woes.
"The Guns of Brixton" is a song by the English punk rock band the Clash, originally released on their 1979 album London Calling. It was written and sung by bassist Paul Simonon, who grew up in Brixton, South London. The song has a strong reggae influence, reflecting the culture of the area and the reggae gangster film The Harder They Come.
"Mother and Child Reunion" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the lead single from his second studio album, Paul Simon (1972), released on Columbia Records. The song reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in March 1972.
"I Can See Clearly Now" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Johnny Nash. It was the lead single from his album, I Can See Clearly Now (1972), and achieved success in the United States and the United Kingdom when it was released in 1972, reaching number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Cash Box charts. It also reached number one in Canada and South Africa. The song has been covered by many artists throughout the years, including a hit version by Lee Towers that reached no. 19 in the Dutch Top 40 in 1982, and another recorded by Jimmy Cliff for the motion picture soundtrack of Cool Runnings that peaked at no. 18 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1993.
"Many Rivers to Cross" is a song written and recorded in 1969 by Jimmy Cliff. It has since been recorded by many musicians, including Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, Joe Cocker, Percy Sledge, Little Milton, Desmond Dekker, UB40, Cher, The Brand New Heavies, Eric Burdon & The Animals, The Walker Brothers, Marcia Hines, Toni Childs, Oleta Adams, Linda Ronstadt, Annie Lennox, Bryan Adams, Chris Pierce, Arthur Lee, Ted Leo, Jimmy Barnes, and Chitral Somapala. It was also performed in the Caribbean by Alison Hinds of Barbados and Tessanne Chin of Jamaica, Cliff's native nation.
The Pioneers are a Jamaican reggae and soul vocal trio, whose main period of success was in the 1960s. The trio has had different line-ups, and still occasionally performs.
"Come On Home" is a song recorded by American singer-songwriter Cyndi Lauper and released in August 1995 as the third and final single from her greatest hits album, Twelve Deadly Cyns...and Then Some (1994). Different versions of the song appears on the International and US releases of the album. For the single release, an edit of the US version with a runtime of 3:50 was used. It peaked at number 11 on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, and was also a moderate hit in a few countries, where it charted in the top twenty or the top forty.
It Mek was a 1969 hit song by the Jamaican musicians Desmond Dekker & the Aces. After being re-released in June 1969, the single reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The track was written by Dekker and his record producer, Leslie Kong, and was recorded in Jamaica with the brass accompaniment added in the UK. It spent eleven weeks in the UK chart, and by September 1970 had sold over a million copies worldwide. A gold record was presented by Ember Records, the distributors of Dekker's recordings.
"The Harder They Come" is a reggae song by the Jamaican singer Jimmy Cliff. It was first recorded for the soundtrack of the 1972 movie of the same name, in which it is supposed to have been written by the film's main character, Ivanhoe Martin.
Now That's What I Call Reggae or Now Reggae is a triple-disc compilation album released in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2012.
"007 (Shanty Town)" is a 1967 rocksteady song by Jamaican band Desmond Dekker and the Aces, released as a single from their debut album of the same name. It was also a hit for Musical Youth in 1983. "007 (Shanty Town)" has been called "the most enduring and archetypal" rude boy song. Its title and lyrics refer to the cool imagery of films such as the James Bond series and Ocean's 11, admired by "rudies".
Paul Douglas is a Jamaican Grammy Award-winning drummer and percussionist, best known for his work as the drummer, percussionist and bandleader of Toots and the Maytals. His career spans more than five decades as one of reggae's most recorded drummers. Music journalist and reggae historian David Katz wrote, “dependable drummer Paul Douglas played on countless reggae hits."
"Trapped" is a 1972 song written and recorded by reggae artist Jimmy Cliff and popularized by Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s.
Anthony Mossop, known professionally as Tony Tribe and Tony Kingston, was a Jamaican vocalist. He charted at No. 46 on the UK Singles Chart with a reggae version of Neil Diamond's "Red Red Wine", becoming Trojan Records's first UK chart entry, and inspired UB40's version, which charted at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart and the Billboard Hot 100. He also performed at the 1969 Caribbean Reggae Festival. He then moved to Canada and released several singles there including "I Am the Preacher", which charted at No. 65 on the RPM charts, and then an album.
