KINGSTON, Jamaica – Two of reggae’s greatest artists, Jimmy Cliff and Gregory Isaacs were completely different personalities. In the late 1980s, the unlikely duo collaborated on Jealousy, a song produced by Gussie Clarke.
Written by Hopeton Lindo, it was never released as a single. Jealousy came out in 2011 as part of the Gregory Isaacs Reggae Anthology album. This was one year after Isaacs’ death.
Cliff, globally-famous for his role as Ivan in The 1972 movie, The Harder They Come, died on November 24 at age 81.
A prolific writer and artist, Lindo was part of Clarke’s Music Works camp in Kingston during the 1980s. It was there that he first met Cliff. Cliff’s many classic songs include Wonderful World, Beautiful People, Many Rivers to Cross and Sitting in Limbo.
Hopeton Lindo
“I was introduced to Jimmy Cliff by Gussie Clarke at Music Works studio and I was so impressed by the respect he showed me. I was working on a Gregory Isaacs album project at the time and Jimmy was eventually featured on the song Jealousy,” Lindo recalled.
Music Works was the hottest spot in dancehall-reggae in the late 1980s. The company produced hit songs by The Mighty Diamonds, Shabba Ranks, J C Lodge and Home T.
Clarke also produced Rumours, the 1988 song that proved to be Isaacs’ comeback hit. Cliff was also riding high. Two years earlier, he co-starred with Robin Williams in the movie, Club Paradise, and won the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album with Cliff Hanger.
Lindo says Cliff “loved the song” (Jealousy) and eventually recorded it with The Cool Ruler. Although it would be over 20 years before it would be released, Lindo considers writing a song for the superstar “a great achievement and a blessing.”
No date has been announced for Cliff’s funeral, but the Jamaican government says he will be given an official service.
Howard Campbell is a Jamaican journalist who has covered major events in that country, the Caribbean and South Florida for over 30 years. He has written for the Jamaica Observer, Gleaner Company and the Caribbean News Agency.
