I have an indelible image of Jimmy Cliff burned into my mind from the pivotal reggae film "The Harder They Come". Time has run out for Cliff's character - he has to flee Jamaica or face certain death at the hands of the brutal police. Cliff tries to swim after a Cuban bound freighter , struggling to plow through the waves as the crew beckons to him, finally forced to give up and retreat to a small island, where he is quickly discovered by the Jamaican authorities. In a final show of desperate bravado, Cliff's protagonist -dressed in his sharpest outfit, brandishing his six gun - challenges the cops to " Send out the best MON" - a gonzo reference to TV Westerns a la High Noon - before he is snuffed out.
Fast forward 40 years or so to the Quad Stage at Fort Adams in Newport for the first day of the 2014 Folk Festival, where Jimmy Cliff himself launches into an energetic, uplifting set of the songs that reverberate in the collective baby boomer consciousness, the band kicking things off with an a cappella version of "By The Rivers of Babylon" before Cliff swooped onstage to "You Can Get It If You Really Want". He sounds exactly the same, and he knows how to handle a crowd , leading an informal singalong to "Under The Sun , Moon And Stars" that had the audience bellowing back the chorus between swaying to the accessible beat as Cliff reminded them" Got to have some fun - let happiness run - und-er the sun - moon - and stars." He delivered an appropriately moving "Many Rivers To Cross" as well as "Wide World" a la Cat Stevens as opposed to the Maxi Priest version, and threw in an updated version of "Vietnam" substituting "Afghan-is-tan ---Afghan-is-tan" instead. Cliff's anthem will always be "The Harder They Come", which had the entire crowd on its feet swaying to the beat, the ultimate Jamaican poor man's lament: "They tell me of a pie up in the sky / Waiting for me when I die / But between the day you're born and the day you die / They never seem to hear even your cry". Jimmy Cliff deserves a lot of credit for knowing how to work the crowd in the tradition of James Brown or Wilson Pickett, as well as embracing the songs that - in many respects - first brought reggae to the world stage.
The great thing about festivals with the stature of a venue like Newport is the surprises you hear, as well as the sleeper acts. In this case, there were several surprises, staring off with The Devil Makes Three, a group I blogged about a couple of years back because of a personal connection, not to mention their high energy blend of strings including a stand up bass and a truly sizzling fiddle that resonated with the crowd. Another surprise was Reignwolf, falling somewhere between Stani'd and Jimi Hendrix, but exceptionally well played heavy duty electric guitar. The "sleeper" was Robert Hunter. His name sounded vaguely familiar, but it wasn't until I was walking up to the stage that - with my girlfriend Sue's help - I realized Hunter was responsible for some of The Dead's best known songs. His entirely acoustic performance had the crowd gently singing along to Jerry Garcia standards such as "I Will Survive" and "Friend of the Devil". One of the true surprises of the day was a sudden appearance by Mavis Staples herself, unexpectedly joining Lake Street Dive on stage even though she wasn't supposed to play until Sunday. But that's why music festivals with a long tradition like Newport are the best way to experience music - you never know what you'll hear next !!!
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