The Impact of The Harder They Come

The word "influential" get tossed around in music circles quite a bit, whether it is warranted or not. But it would be hard to find a better way to describe the impact of the film The Harder They Come and its soundtrack album. For many music fans in the United States in the early to mid 1970's, the film and the soundtrack were their first mainstream exposure to reggae music. Jimmy Cliff stars in the film as Ivanhoe "Ivan" Martin, an aspiring reggae singer who leaves the Jamaican countryside for the island's capital in hopes of making it big in the music business. He faces corruption in the recording industry, sells some weed, and eventually becomes a folk hero and the most wanted man on the island. The film became a cult classic, showing in art house theaters and the popular weekend midnight movie presentations of the day. To learn more about the impact of this film, I would suggest watching a documentary from the Starz movie channel called Midnight Movies. It runs on the channel occasionally, but is also available on Netflix here:

http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Midnight_Movies/70081634?lnkctr=srchrd-sr&strkid=1581866569_0_0

The soundtrack album features wonderful work from Jimmy Cliff, including the title cut and "Many Rivers To Cross". Also featured on the album are Toots and The Maytals, The Melodians, Desmond Dekker, and The Slickers. This collection has been included in greatest album lists from Time, Blender, Pitchfork Media and Rolling Stone. Here is the Rolling Stone listing:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6598690/119_the_harder_they_come

The album is widely available on sites that sell music, including Amazon and many others. It is an essential for your collection and is truly the album that helped bring reggae music into American popular culture.