![]() ![]() The first song they did together “Ruby Soho,” gave the two a chance to see how they worked together and offered Armstrong a chance to have an idol sing one of his songs. “I had never had the opportunity to hear his music, but it was a great thing how we hit it off in the studio.” “I was talking with Joe, talking about music and people, and Tim’s name came up,” Cliff says. Strummer, another top Armstrong hero, released his last three albums on the latter’s independent Hellcat Records label. The Clash’s co-founder Joe Strummer talked up Armstrong while he and Cliff were recording “Over the Border,” a song from Cliff’s 2004 album, Black Magic - a session that sadly was to be Strummer’s last before he passed away. But he had heard the younger musician’s name, with a premium recommendation. The two had never met before this project began, and Cliff was not really familiar with Armstrong’s music. ![]() “The drummer played some patterns I forgot we had done! It’s a reawakening to those things, knowing they are not lost, preserved by younger folk, passing them on.” “For someone like Tim having a great foothold on the traditions, it woke me up to some things that had been done,” Cliff says. Armstrong recruited his studio band, The Engine Room, to play on the sessions – featuring J Bonner (bass and percussion), Scott Abels (drums and percussion), Dan Boer (organ and percussion), Kevin Bivona (piano and lead guitar), with Armstrong producing and playing rhythm guitar. In fact, Armstrong’s great love for and knowledge of Cliff’s past music offered fresh insights for the artist. “At the same time, I am always looking for the new.” “I have great respect for what we did and what other people have done,” says Cliff, the only living musician honored with Jamaica’s Order of Merit and a 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee. ![]() Cliff himself has in recent years revived and revised the song to address the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, bridging his past and present. Simon introduced the song - which Dylan had called the greatest protest song ever written - as having inspired him to head to Jamaica and record “Mother and Child Reunion” with Cliff’s band. Additionally, Paul Simon featured Cliff’s 1970 song “Vietnam” in his electrifying 2011 concerts. ![]() It comes at a time in which Cliff’s legend has only grown, reaching new ears from many tastes and walks of life, with much more to come as the milestone anniversary for The Harder They Come is celebrated. The two also teamed on a forceful interpretation of Bob Dylan’s generation-defining - and generation-crossing - “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” a featured track on the upcoming all-star Dylan tribute album benefiting Amnesty International. Rancid’s affectionate portrait “Ruby Soho” brings the generations together, a full-circle journey of icon and acolytes. A version of the Clash’s “The Guns of Brixton” taps into the popular uprisings for freedom in the Middle East, not to mention the recent London riots, which took place as sessions for the album were underway. The above-quoted “World is Spinning” and the steely “One More” show an artist as engaged with - and troubled by - the state of the world as much as he was when he made such landmark songs as “You Can Get It If You Really Want” and the title song of the movie The Harder They Come, both game-changers that will mark their 40th anniversary in 2012. Together they bring fire to both compelling Cliff originals and a couple of pointedly chosen covers. The power and promise of the pairing jumps out from a five-song EP previewing the album. Teamed with producer Tim Armstrong - the Rancid front man who has cited Cliff as his most admired artist - Cliff is working on his first new album in seven years, a set which builds on his unparalleled history and points to a wide-open future. With a catalog that ranks among the most influential in global culture, Cliff remains a forceful voice of power and conscience, creating new music as vital and vibrant as ever. With a legacy stretching back nearly 50 years, the Honourable Jimmy Cliff is still standing as one of the prime movers and continuing shapers of modern music. ![]()
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