Jimmy Cliff

The first Jimmy Cliff album to achieve widespread success, Wonderful World (1970) predated the insanely popular The Harder They Come by two years. The album produced the highly regarded single "Vietnam," which drew praise from Bob Dylan and inspired Paul Simon to record "Mother and Child Reunion" in Jamaica using the same band.

Put the needle on Jimmy Cliff's Unlimited, and the grooves writhe like a poised snake, the
record grows hot with anger, and the air fills with the pungent smell of despair. But it's OK,
there's a way to hear it: Pay a pilot to fly over Jimmy's flat in Earl's Court, London, towing a
banner that says I'm Sorry, and while you're playing the record keep writing checks made
out to Jimmy Cliff. The songs are almost all about exploitation, of Jamaica, its mus... More >

If I told you that the two other great songs here are called "Many Rivers to Cross" and "Viet Nam," would you agree that naming this album after its "hit" amounts to false advertising? Yet running through all the protest and self-help is a good cheer independent of message--partly in the headlong tempos and drum explosions, partly in Cliff's own sweet fervor. (Grade - B+)