Roots Archives Forum

After the recent heated debates about Marley, I thought about another controversial figure in reggae......
A lot of roots fans consider Cliff as pop, not reggae. Most that I know only have "They Harder They Come" and, maybe, "Jimmy Cliff" in their collection.

Personally, I have always loved his music and really enjoy titles like:
Struggling Man
Music Maker
I am the Living
Give the People What They Want
Give Thankx
The Power and the Glory
Goodbye Yesterday
and more (can't stand Cliffhanger, though).

I know he's no Johnny Clarke or Cedric Myton but I still consider him as an important part of reggae. What do you think?? Does his impact stop at "The Harder They Come" or do many of you enjoy more of his LPs?

Couple nice tunes. Not the biggest fan myself, but if we were all the same it'd be a boring world.

my stance is similar to yours, jason. jimmy cliff was one of the first reggae artists I listened to along with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and Toots. i used to listen to the harder they come all the time, and then struggling man, and wonderful world beautiful people. I don't listen to these albums much anymore, but I would never get rid of them. i agree, they are an important part of reggae. jimmy cliff's sound is very poppy, but that doesn't mean it isn't reggae. I love listening to struggling man every once in awhile. that's my favorite album of his.

In Concert is a pretty good live album.
No my fav artist but I really like his music Don't care if it's pop reggae as long as I enjoy the music.
Struggling Man is also a very good album IMO.

"Vietnam" is one of the best anti-war tunes ever!

Funkyfred wrote:"Vietnam" is one of the best anti-war tunes ever!

Hands Down!

Inspired Paul Simon so much that he went to Jamaica and booked the same band, studio, and engineer, and recorded 'Mother and Child Reunion'

Along with Bob Dylan claiming that it was the best protest song he had ever heard.

No my fave but any artists that spreads reggae internationally and keeps reggae snowballing gets my respect.

Much respect to Jimmy Cliff for spreading reggae internationally and onto the masses which is always much appreciated from us rastaman and reggae enthusiasts which are greatful when reggae finds new listeners and in this case Jimmy Cliff`s style has done just that due to his commercial approach.Another great album of Jimmy Cliff is "Reggae Greats" a collection of his top hits.


Peace out!(tu)

Hail up the mighty sing and song writer Jimmy Cliff!!!
Can't take the great works of this man for granted.

One Love

So far no detractors. Must say I'm surprised. I'm like a lot of you in that I started listening to Cliff and went on to more "Jamaican" reggae (less crossover). I still check him, though. the Goodbye Yesterday comp is wonderful. Also, one of his latest, "Fantastic Plastic People" is not without it's charms and I'd argue that it is better than most other pop albums that came out recently.
I'm glad to see that Cliff is respected (if not a favorite) for people who contribute to this forum. Are there any more comments on what LPs are forum favorites?
I personally wish more people could hear "I'm the Living". It's a wonderful LP with a meditative quality that seems to bring together so many different parts of Cliff's sound.
I know some Rastas that don't like Cliff at all due to his Spirituality (he is, loosely, a Muslim). However, I am astounded at how effective he has been as an ambassador for peace and at how well loved he is amongst many African nations.