Album Premiere: Jimmy Cliff, ‘Rebirth’
Click to listen to Jimmy Cliff’s album ‘Rebirth’
Next week, on July 17th, reggae icon Jimmy Cliff will release Rebirth – his first full-length album in eight years. You can stream the entire album right now exclusively on RollingStone.com, and pre-order the album on iTunes or Amazon.
Cliff helped introduce Jamaican culture to a global audience with his starring role as Ivanhoe Martin in 1972’s The Harder They Come and his contributions to the film’s classic soundtrack – including “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Many Rivers to Cross” and “The Harder They Come.” The 64-year-old legend has returned to the public eye since joining the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010.
For Rebirth, Cliff linked up with Rancid’s reggae-loving guitarist Tim Armstrong for a collection of vintage-sounding ska and reggae tunes. “I wanted to come back organized,” he says in a recent Rolling Stone profile.
Already this year Cliff, backed by Armstrong and the Engine Room, has rocked the main stage at Coachella and sat in with both Paul Simon and the E Street Band. “He just loves performing,” Armstrong says. “Whether it’s playing in front of three people or 30,000, he’s bringin’ it.”
Read more about Jimmy Cliff’s Rebirth in the July 5th-19th issue of Rolling Stone, on stands now.