On the Road: Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff talks to Louise Flind about why he loves Africa and feels energised by water – except when he has to pack wet clothes
Is there anything you can’t leave home without? My passport.
Something you really miss? I miss my family: my boy and my girl, Lilty and Aken, and my wife, Latifa.
Do you travel light? I think I travel fairly light but, if it’s going to be a long tour, my suitcase is filled with mainly stage clothes because I like to wear different clothes every night.
Favourite destination? That would absolutely be Africa – all of it: East, West, South, North. My favourite part would be below the Sahara but I love Egypt and Morocco.
Earliest childhood holiday memories? In my Jamaica childhood, holidays were something we didn’t even think of – we couldn’t afford them. Any travelling started only after I got married and my wife said, ‘Let’s go on holiday,’ and I said, ‘What am I going to do on holiday?’
At one point you lived in England? Yes, in Earl’s Court, Finsbury Park, Chelsea, Fulham – all over London. I got homesick but I didn’t want to go back to Jamaica and not make it because that was the goal. But I had to go back to Jamaica to really make it and make my first hit – Wonderful Road, Beautiful People – so it was a doubleedged thing.
Where do you live now? Jamaica.
What was it like filming The Harder They Come (1972) and where was it filmed? It was all filmed in Jamaica. The first thing I wanted to do was to be an actor – I still today think I’m a better actor than I am a singer. The experience was twofold – I enjoyed becoming someone other than myself, and it was a very low-budget movie. We had to stop and start – I was still residing in the UK then and we’d stop and I’d go back to the UK and do some shows, and they’d say, ‘Oh, we raised some more money – come again…’
What are your favourite touring spots? I love to tour Africa. Africa was the first place maybe besides Jamaica that accepted Jimmy Cliff. Jimmy Cliff was a household name there. At the airport, there were thousands of people waiting to see me and waving.
Where did you go on your honeymoon? We actually went to my wife’s birth country – she’s Moroccan and she grew up in France. We married in Paris.
Do you lie on the beach? I love the beach; I love the water. I grew up on the water in the countryside in Jamaica, in a place called Somerton. That was the river – so I love fresh and salt water – it’s not just a matter of lying on the beach. I love the water; it does something to my energy.
Are you brave with different food abroad? I am vegetarian. I don’t know if I’m a complete vegetarian because I still eat fish and food of the sea. I naturally love vegetables.
Strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? I don’t like to experiment with food I didn’t grow up with. When I left Jamaica, I got used to eating sushi, which is raw – and I’d never eaten any raw food except my juices.
Do you have a go at the local language? Oui, je parle le français, eu falo português, yo hablo español and a bit of Arabic, too. And now I’m learning an African dialect that is my own language, the one that relates to me as an African – it’s the oldest language on the planet and the Queen of Sheba spoke it. It’s so important for people to speak their own language because the tone, vibration and the frequency resonate with your past ancestors – I just wanted to get that out.
Biggest headache? Packing. The show is finished and I’ve got to pack these things. Some of them I’ve performed in and they’re wet and I can’t travel with these wet clothes.
What is the strangest place you’ve ever slept in – while being away? Before I became a celebrity, I slept on the sidewalk with my aunt in Montego Bay. My aunt was a higgler – we’d get things from the farm and go to Montego Bay to sell them and there was no place to sleep. So we slept on the sidewalk.
Top travelling tips? Don’t wait until the appointed time. You know the flight is at 9 o’clock – so don’t leave your house at 8 o’clock. Prepare yourself so that you don’t have to hurry – you might fall and break some piece of you.
What are you up to now? I’m constantly writing new songs because I can feel it in myself that I haven’t written my best songs as yet. I have enough material recorded but I don’t want to put out an album just yet. I still enjoy touring a lot – I love the interaction with the audience. I know I have the Love Supreme. Fans and curious music-lovers, I’m coming your way, to the UK.