Review: Jimmy Cliff - Sacred Fire EP

by Karl Pearson

11/28/2011

After a 7 year hiatus and his enrolment into the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame, Jimmy Cliff is now back with a 5 track EP that goes someway in returning him to where it all began.

The release has been put together with the aid of Tim Armstrong from ska/punk band Rancid and leads with a cover of the seminal punk and reggae cross from the Clash “The Guns of Brixton”. This is something of a completing of the circle as the Clash themselves were heavily influenced by reggae, especially Cliff and his staring role in the 1972 film ‘The Harder They Come’. Cliff and Armstrong have taken this track and stripped it back giving it an acoustic, nyahbinghi intro before breaking into an early reggae vibe that actually makes you stop and ask is this a cover of a Clash song or did Jimmy really do it originally!

The other four tracks on the EP are all of a similar early reggae vein with another two covers, Rancid’s Ruby Soho, a title that sounds like it dripped from the pen of Strummer/Jones if ever there was plus a version of Bob Dylan’s A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall. The cover of this song maybe is another circle completer and showing appreciation to Dylan who has cited Cliff’s ‘Vietnam’ as the best protest song he has ever heard.

The remaining tracks are the dubby Brixton Version and new song Ship Is A Sailing that really evokes memories of Cliff’s classic early ‘70s period.

The EP doesn’t quite end there however as a Record Store Day “Black Friday” special limited edition 12-inch coloured vinyl release will also be available containing an extra track titled World Upside Down” which will only be included on this special version. This is a bit of a pity as the track, which has the feel of a speeded up Cherry Oh Baby in parts and tackles economical instability as well as political and religious hypocrisy is superb and I’d strongly recommend getting hold of a copy if you can for this track alone.

This EP sees Jimmy Cliff back at his best and with Armstrong at the controls creating the perfect backdrops to encase these pertinent lyrics and sparkling vocals, that have not diminished with the passing years it all bodes very well for the album that is due to follow next year.