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Music|Jimmy Cliff: 8 Essential Songs
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/arts/music/jimmy-cliff-songs.html
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A giant of Jamaican music, he gained international renown through the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” and helped establish reggae’s themes of struggle, resistance and uplift.
Nov. 24, 2025, 12:12 p.m. ET
Much like the main character he played the 1972 film “The Harder They Come,” Jimmy Cliff was born in the countryside of Jamaica and came to the big city as a young man with a stirring voice. And like the film itself, Cliff became an international symbol of Jamaica and its music.
Cliff, whose wife announced on Monday that he had died at 81, is one of the icons of reggae music, thanks in large part to “The Harder They Come.” The film and its soundtrack — which, in addition to Cliff, featured Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals, among others — introduced much of the world to the sound and look of reggae. It also prepared the global audience for the artist who would ultimately dominate the genre: Bob Marley.
Equally successful as a songwriter and a performer, Cliff — who was born James Chambers — was a key figure throughout the modern history of Jamaican music. His first hits, at the start of the 1960s, were in an upbeat new style that borrowed from American R&B: ska. By the end of the 1960s, Cliff was one of the musicians who helped transform that into reggae, with songs of protest, struggle and uplift.
Here is a sampling of his greatest work.
‘Hurricane Hatty’ (1962)
With a stage name given to him by the Jamaican music producer Leslie Kong, Cliff scored his first local hit in 1962 by borrowing from the news: Hurricane Hattie had been a major storm in the Caribbean in fall 1961. “I’ll be like Hurricane Hattie,” he sings over an easygoing groove of guitars, harmonica and sax.
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‘Miss Jamaica’ (1962)
Another delicious chestnut of early ska, in which Cliff — always attuned to the dramatic power of diction — exclaims: “You’re my Miss Jah-may-cah,” like he’s calling out the contest winner. Cliff, along with Marley, credited Fats Domino as a crucial influence, and you can hear it in this song’s luxurious, carefree bounce.
