Now THIS is why I started my blog, because it makes me stop and listen to some overlooked gems in the 1537 that would otherwise just be gathering dust and moaning to their more prominent neighbouring records*. Welcome one and all to Jimmy Cliff Struggling Man, a thoroughly underappreciated gem from 1973.
Struggling Man is a bit of an unlikely triumph. Jimmy Cliff was, umm, struggling when he cut this LP. His long time collaborator Leslie Kong had died and his last LP had been pretty mediocre, he didn’t realise that the US release of The Harder They Come was a year away from catapulting him to stardom, the songs here (only just over half of which were written by him here) are tinted by a slightly desperate optimism as though he was trying to convince himself things would be okay. It was and would get even better.
Now let’s lay down the lore. Jimmy Cliff has written and sung two of my favourite songs ever, one of which, ‘The Harder they Come’, I use as an aural crutch to get me through tough times**. Jimmy Cliff has my joint favourite singing voice, the existence of him and Al Green could almost persuade me of the existence of a benevolent deity who cares for his creation. True story. In Miltonic terms Cliff can sound at times like a fallen angel singing of the beauties of heaven, with that pure joy tinged with the ineffable loss of it all. In a word, soul.
Which is pertinent because Struggling Man is predominantly a soul album. Okay so it is a reggae-based one, but it is a soul album nonetheless. Like all his contemporaries Jimmy Cliff was influenced by all the myriad musical elements floating around Jamaica one of which was the constant bombardment by US radio. Whilst overly earnest musical romantics like me like to think of Jamaican music from the 60s/70s as a pure explosion of talent, the world was far too small, even then, for any culture to develop in a vacuum, without baleful commercial interests interfering. Which is what makes it all worthwhile of course, but that’s another discussion.
Soul? disentangle the beat and check out the prominent horn section on ‘When You’re Young’, it could be 1970s Aretha on her holidays; the relentlessly upbeat ‘Better Days’ could be a Marvin Gaye B-side circa What’s Going On, honest; or the last-song-in-an-uplifting-soul-musical vibe of ‘Come On People’. But the real soul jewel in the soul crown is the monstrously great ‘Can’t Stop Worrying, Can’t Stop Loving You’. A cover of a track by Traffic guitarist Dave Mason, this is straight heartfelt soul, with a great organ performance from, umm, someone^ who takes us firmly into territory that could almost be Led Zep in a contemplative mood, almost Joe Cocker at his best. I’m serious, try it.
Oh and Mr Cliff’s vocals are quite good on it too. One day I will use it to soundtrack the big climactic love scene in my first major Hollywood blockbuster. True story.
There are some top ranking tracks here, the title track^^, another belting tale of sufferance, striving and redemption and the bitter, yet alluringly jaunty, tale of the artist being exploited, conned and abandoned, ‘Going Back West’, a jaded, experienced counterpoint to ‘You Can get It If You Really Want’. Both are brilliant, how can you not love a song which tells you,
Struggling for recognition, identity and respect
I got a lot of promises, they told me not to fret
Said, “We will stand by you
If the going gets rough”
But when I started sinking
They didn’t even bluff (Going Back West)
Another fave is the purest hit of reggae on the album ‘Sooner or Later’, which has a very misty vibe to it indeed, along with a rhythm that I really can’t stay still to.
Now I’m not saying Struggling Man is a total success, there’s a few here that resonate much less with me like, ‘Those Good Good Old Days’ and the Paul McCartney-esque ‘I Can’t Live Without You’, maybe when I get mature enough I’ll like them a whole load more. Overall though this is a much-overlooked/under-appreciated LP.
Now, being the current reigning Mr Superficial 2015, I have to say one of the things I love most about Struggling Man is the cover. I’m a sucker for a well-drawn cover and the black ink drawings on the front and back covers here are exquisite, especially the depopulated back cover one. I have had to restrain myself several times from having a go at colouring it in. It is credited to David Dragon: Flying Colours.
Anyway, I can’t stay here praising all night.
Struggling man has got to move
Struggling man no time to lose
I’m a struggling man
And I’ve got to move on
616 Down.
Not made Spotify yet, so this is the best I can do, I’m pretty sure all the tracks follow sequentially.
*in this case The Harder They Come and Troubadour, in my obsessively alphabetized little world. And yes, I do believe my LPs come alive at night Toy Story-style.
**definitely one I want played at my funeral, in 2083. It’ll slot in really well after ‘Here Comes The Sun’, just before Soft Cell bring the curtain down with ‘Sex Dwarf’. True story.
^the copy of Struggling Man I was given has no inner sleeve and no credits on it at all. The big, mysterious internet is, mysteriously quiet about who played on the LP too. So all I can say is, hats off Mr Someone, you elevated a really great track to a rarefied plane of excellence attained by very few dudes ever. I will remember you for ever, for this.
^^made infinitely more famous by a girly cover version in The Walking Dead.
Check out Dave Mason: Jimi Was Absolutely the Best Ever
https://youtu.be/Zv-83Vhisi8
Hiya, link doesn’t work on my phone – I’ll check it later, but thank you so much for posting it for me!
Jimmy sings that song so perfectly.
Seems Jimmy Cliff is important to you. I only know The Harder They Come soundtrack which has some brilliant motivational songs.
Judging from the tracklist, Struggling Man also includes inspiring underdog music. Thanks for reviewing, I like “Can’t Stop Worrying”.
Hiya Chris, thanks for stopping by. You’ve definitely nailed it with ‘inspiring underdog music’, well worth a listen if you don’t know it.
By the title, I was expecting a Sweet review. But this is cool too!
I love coming here thinking I know my shit, and then you have records I’ve never seen before.
Thank you, that makes me happy – naming the posts is one of my favourite things.
If I hadn’t been given this, I’d never have heard it either. You gotta love some Jimmy Cliff though!
I’d wondered that — the naming of your posts. I usually guess wrong based on the titles, FYI!
Mwah-ha-ha! Foolish Earthling!
Ooooo I likes it the preciousssss…
Really enjoyed this one, sir. Enthusiastic and got me all “I need this”. The cover art is really pretty marvellous looking … again, “I need this”. Good work with the photos too – I particularly like the cat and the bike.
… I liked this one loads. Thanks.
Thank you very much J. I reckon you’ll pick this up for next to nothing in a record fair.
I think the bike has star potential.
There’s a joke in there about not filing alphabetically if it’s next to nothing. But I won’t …
…oh.
… that makes no sense.
*phones taxi*
It’s like you’re not getting enough sleep, for some reason.
Nothing like the desperate optimist of a fallen angel. I like it already. Also looking forward to your Hollywood blockbuster.
Cheers Danica! I’m sure ‘1537: The Movie’ is only days away from being commissioned, it’s what the people want.
I’m there!
Okay, okay I’ll hold the premiere in Toronto. Jeez!
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is in September, this feels tailor-made for a TIFF debut!
I won’t let my wife see that movie though. I don’t need to hear how dreamy 1537 is on a daily basis.
Don’t worry I had them cut out a lot of the bare-chested ‘Magic Mike XXL’ stuff from the script, I wanted the focus to be on me as an artist.
She said she read in a gossip mag that there was a scene with you dancing in your tighty whiteys “just taking those old records off the shelf, and listening to ’em by yourself.”
I’m glad to know this. It’s noted in my calendar. 🙂
Nice write up. I need this now. True story.
As for Dave Mason, I have 5 of his albums.
Start with Alone Together. Really nice guitar work. As an added bonus some come on coloured marbled vinyl.
Thank you, I’m not very objective where Mr Cliff is concerned.
I’ve never heard any Dave Mason and I only know Traffic in a greatest hits sort of way. So thanks for the tip.
It is indeed a wonderful cover. Love what you did with the Lego too.
Really enjoyed ‘The Harder They Come’ when I saw it as a student. Talk about downbeat endings. Though I guess there was a trend there, with everything from Butch Cassidy to Electra Glide in Blue ending badly for the protagonists.
I’ll have ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ at my funeral please.
Cheers Bruce. This one took me days and days – funny how that happens sometimes.
THTC was great, the end really shocked me when I first saw it aged 15, or so. My dad also had a great film called Countryman – who was basically Super-Rasta.
Funeral request duly noted. At this rate mine will be about 3 hours long and I’m a bit worried the guests may get a bit fidgety during the live sections of the whole ‘Wheels Of Fire’ LP.
Good point. Similarly, I’ve been re-thinking the programming of the entire Atomic Rooster album ‘Death Walks Behind You’.
Good choice! On the other hand if you can’t be indulgent then …
Do you have much by Traffic/Dave Mason? This has made me want to dig a little deeper into them too.
I have all the Traffic albums, and all the Steve Winwood albums but very little Dave Mason. He never did it for me really.
If you listened to Winwood’s ‘Talking back to the night’ in the mood of your JC album, I wonder what you’d make of it. It’s Steve’s under-rated near-classic (for mine) and I guess I should write about it. Another for the list…
Post please.
Any particular focus? It’s a pretty large wedge of albums!
How about ‘A Moron’s guide to …’, it’d work for me.