Issue No. 30 of Johnny Be Good features one of 45 songs from the book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John Pearson's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes). Each blog will spotlight a song from the book and a guest blogger’s color commentary. Click here to subscribe. Each issue of Your Weekly Staff Meeting will highlight the latest blog.
“The band's job always was to sell a song."
Today’s blogger: David K.
Song: #30 of 45
Title: "The Harder They Come"
Musician: Jimmy Cliff
Released: February 1973
I APPRECIATED THIS:
In my mind, the true meaning of this song is that the harder you play, the harder you fall. The song’s lyrics, written by Jimmy Cliff, speak about getting what is his while the sun shines. This Jamaican-born artist, who turned 80 this year, is a singer’s singer.
Many readers will remember Bob Marley, but I have always appreciated Jimmy Cliff, perhaps not as well known.
As Marc Myers points out in this chapter, “a handful” of artists were borrowing from rhythms that had originated in Jamaica. “For most people unaware of the music’s roots, the calypso-tinged style just seemed like a Caribbean beat added to folk songs.”
Examples: the Beatles' "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1968) and Paul Simon's "Mother and Child Reunion" (1972). Myers adds, “But the springy rhythms of ‘The Harder They Come’ opened the door for a new wave that influenced rock, soul and punk, from Eric Clapton's cover of ‘I Shot the Sheriff’ to the Police's ‘Roxanne.’”
Perhaps not everyone knows that this song was written by Jimmy Cliff for the movie soundtrack of “The Harder They Come.” He starred in the movie. The album was a collection of reggae singles from 1967 to 1972 “by leading Jamaican artists."
Read more in Marc Myers’ WSJ article, “The Song That Put Reggae on The Map” (Feb. 14, 2013).
Listen to “The Harder They Come,” sung by Jimmy Cliff. The Harder They Come soundtrack was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2008.
MY FAVORITE NOTES & QUOTES:
Jimmy Cliff tells Marc Myers:
• “The lyrics came from my past. I grew up in the church and had always questioned what they were telling me. Like the promise of a pie in the sky when you die. The second verse about oppressors trying to keep me down kind of reflected my own life—coming out of the ghetto in Jamaica and fighting the system. I wanted the song to have a church feel and to reflect the environment I grew up in—the underdog fighting all kinds of trickery.”
• ”The song for me was about social and artistic change. 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. On the record, the song ends with those odd organ chords. That was Winston [Wright]. He was a brilliant keyboard player. It was his decision to do that. He was good at adding those strange things you weren't expecting. When we finished, we all said, ‘Brilliant, wow, great!’ What you see on my face in the movie was genuine. I felt good. We all felt good. We knew the song was special.”
WHERE WERE YOU WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD THIS SONG?
I was playing in a rock and roll/R&B band in the Chicago area in 1973. I was familiar with Bob Marley and the Wailers—but hearing Jimmy Cliff’s song was something special! By the way, I was in the audience at what is now the United Center when Eric Clapton performed the Bob Marley song, “I Shot the Sheriff.” That was memorable!
JOHNNY BE...GOOD, BETTER, OR BEST?
• GOOD: The lyrics:
“Well, the oppressors are trying to keep me down
Trying to drive me underground
And they think that they have got the battle won
I say forgive them Lord, they know not what they've done”
• BETTER: Other songs on the soundtrack album for the movie include: “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and the anthem, “Many Rivers to Cross.”
• BEST: Hux Brown (lead guitarist) tells Marc Myers about filming the movie: “ We weren't concentrating on the movie cameras. We were focusing on giving the promoter a hit. The band's job always was to sell a song.”
Today's blogger, David K., mentioned that when he played in his band, he sometimes sang Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.”
THIS ISSUE'S COMMENTARY BY David K.
TODAY’S GUEST BLOGGER, David K., says that early on his father noticed his musical gifts—and encouraged them. So he learned to play the piano, drums, and guitar. He also sang in a band. His easy recall of artists from the 1960s and 1970s is amazing.
Today, David K. enjoys kicking back and strumming his two guitars, an Alvarez Yairi, and his Takamine (pictured). He appreciates a wide range of musical styles (“Everything!”) and especially enjoys “Little Steven’s Underground Garage” and “The Coffee House” channels on Sirius XM.
Read his review here on Song #3, “Shout,” by the Isley Brothers.
NEXT UP: Song #31 of 45, “Midnight Train to Georgia,” by Gladys Knight and the Pips, with commentary by Paul Palmer.
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It all started in 2023, when John Pearson read and reviewed a "fun" book, Anatomy of a Song: The Oral History of 45 Iconic Hits That Changed Rock, R&B and Pop, by Marc Myers. Read John's review here. Order from Amazon here. Listen to the book on Libro (9 hours, 34 minutes).
If you'd enjoy being one of 45 guest bloggers, along with John Ashmen, Dick Nelson, Suzy West, Dave Barton, Patsy Barton, Paul Palmer, Bill Butterworth, Jim West, Melinda Schmidt, Jason Pearson, Gary Rea, Callista Dawson, John Walling, Ed Barrett, Larry Beatty, Skye Matlock, Scott Anderson and others, read more here and contact John Pearson. Click here to subscribe to this blog and enjoy the toe-tapping musicians in each weekly blog post—reminding you of these iconic songs of yesteryear.