Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come
Jimmy Cliff as Ivanhoe Martin
Listen/Download – Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come MP3
Greetings all.
Before we get started today I would like to get in a couple of plugs for things that I am, and you should, be interested in.
First off, if you happen to be in the vicinity of Florence/Northampton, Massachusetts, make sure you stop in to my man Andy Crespo’s outstanding new record store, Electric Eye Records, at 52 Main St, Suite 6 in Florence. Andy is a righteous dude and he has put together a very nice place to stop and dig for vinyl. He has excellent taste and it shows in the selection at Electric Eye. I was lucky enough to stop in recently and left with a big pile of LPs and 45s.
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Second-ly, and while we’re on the subject of Jamaican-related sounds, you should check out the new EP by the Twilights, in which they work in the old-school ska stylee with a touch of dub flavor added in. I’ve been listening and digging their sounds, especially ‘Singer Man’ and ‘The Lonely Man Rides Away’.
You can check them out on YouTube, and purchase the EP at their site, or in iTunes.
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If you follow the comings and goings of the Funky16Corners blog you know that I love Jamaican music, from ska, to reggae on up into dub.
I owe my love for these sounds to the late 70s Two Tone explosion, and its propagation through the mods that I hung out with during the garage days of the 80s.
I cannot say with any certainly when I first heard Jimmy Cliff’s ‘The Harder They Come’. It is by any measure one of the most ubiquitous classic reggae songs. The title song of a the cult movie of the same name, and covered by a grip of artists better known in the pop world, like Joe Jackson, Madness (both of which, unlike Cliff’s original, charted), the Jerry Garcia Band, Cher (?!?), Keith Richards and even Willie Nelson.
Jimmy Cliff is particularly interesting, in that he was one of the first Jamaican performers to make a significant dent in the US charts, with ‘Wonderful World, Beautiful People’ in 1969.
When I started to dig for info on ‘The Harder They Come’ I was shocked to discover that Cliff’s version doesn’t seem to have charted anywhere (thought the soundtrack album was a hit in Sweden and reached #140 on the US LP charts in 1973).
I’ve tried, but I can’t recall another song that is both so well known/appreciated, yet also as commercially unsuccessful.
That said, ‘The Harder They Come’ is (whether you’ve seen the movie or not) unquestionably an anthem that transcends its reggae origins (I’d be willing to bet that it’s one of the only reggae songs some people know).
It has a brisk, percolating rhythm – dig the way the lead guitar and the organ weave in and out of each other – a pleading vocal by Cliff and a chorus that’s pure gold.
It’s a stone classic, and I hope you dig it as much as I do.
See you on Wednesday.
Keep the faith
Larry
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Also, the brand new Funky16Corners ‘Keep Calm and Stay Funky’ stickers have arrived! The stickers are 4″ x 3″ and printed on high quality, glossy stock. They are $2.00 each, with free shipping in the US ($2.00 per order shipping outside of the US). Click here to go to the ordering page.
Themocracy