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The Harder They Come
The Harder They Come

 enlarge 		Creators: Desmond Dekker, Jimmy Cliff, The Slickers
Label: Island
Category: Music

List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $8.98
You Save: $5.00 (36%)



Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars 49 reviews
Sales Rank: 4171

Format: Original Recording Reissued, Original Recording Remastered, Soundtrack
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5

MPN: 586158
UPC: 731458615828
EAN: 0731458615828

Release Date: June 26, 2001
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW / FACTORY SEALED /1ST CLASS SHIPPING !
Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 11-15 of 49
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5 out of 5 stars The Harder They Come and Rockers   December 2, 2006
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

Harder They Come' director succumbs to cancer published:
Friday | December 1, 2006
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

PERRY HENZELL, whose low-budget urban film The Harder They Come became an international blockbuster in 1972, died yesterday after a long battle with cancer. The writer/director died at his son's home in Round Hill, St. Elizabeth. He was 70 years old. Jason, Mr. Henzell's son, said his father passed away peacefully, with his wife Sally at his side. "My father fought cancer for the past seven years and it went into remission five times but it came back in an aggressive way," Jason Henzell told The Gleaner. "We are happy he left in a peaceful way and suffered no more pain." Mr. Henzell died one day before his film, No Place Like Home, was to be shown at the Flashpoint Film Festival which opens today in Negril, Westmoreland. Although he wrote several other screenplays, Perry Henzell is synonymous with The Harder They Come, the sensational drama that made a superstar out of reggae singer Jimmy Cliff, who played the lead role of Ivan. Perry, a former advertising executive, based the film on the exploits of Ivanhoe 'Rhygin' Martin, a Linstead drifter who terrorised sections of west Kingston during the 1940s. With the emerging reggae beat as a backdrop, The Harder They Come helped introduce reggae and Jamaican pop culture to an international audience. It made a major impact overseas where it played to small theatres in North America and Europe, and won Best New Cinema at the 1973 Venice Film Festival. Reacting to news of Henzell's death, Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said he "made a sterling contribution to the development of the arts in Jamaica." Void in creative industry "Jamaica has lost a very talented son and his death has created a void throughout the creative industries in Jamaica," the Prime Minister said in a statement. Opposition Leader Bruce Golding said: "His life of service and dedication to country, is one that we must seek to embrace and emulate. He has left for all of us, a rich legacy through his life and work." Lennie Little-White, principal at Mediamix Limited, said Mr. Henzell's work as a filmmaker transcended The Harder They Come. "Perry was to Jamaican film what Rex Nettleford is to dance and Miss Lou was to poetry," Mr. Little-White told The Gleaner. "The Harder They Come was just one of his milestones. When he formed Vista Films, that became the training ground for people who became pantheons in Jamaican film," Mr. Little-White added. Mr. Henzell was born in Jamaica to an Antiguan father and Trinidadian mother. His father was overseer at the Caymanas Estates in St. Catherine for several years. He is also survived by two daughters, Justine and Toni-Ann, and four grandchildren. A thanksgiving service for the life of Perry Henzell will be held December 8 at the family's home in Runaway Bay.

Long Live The Harder They Come.

Big Respect, Perry.





[............]


5 out of 5 stars as sure the sun will shine   August 28, 2006
 2 out of 4 found this review helpful

The Harder They Come is as close as a 35-minute album with two reprises can come to perfection. 'Pressure Drop', 'Johnny Too Bad', 'Bridges of Babylon', and the title track all are true classics.

While the soundtrack is undoubtedly one of the ten best reggae albums of all time, the movie is slightly less necessary, and becomes incoherent by the end. (Why exactly, does he decide to dress up like a cowboy?)

For a similar but darker and more modern movie, watch Third World Cop. It is unapologetic in its absurdity, yet manages to build tension towards an unexpectedly nuanced finish. It also overtook 'The harder they come' to become the highest grossing movie in Jamaica history.

The book version of The Harder They Come was written 15 years after the movie, but creates a much more realistic, compelling portrait of 1970s Jamaica as well as more believable motivations for the characters.

While reading the book listen to Tougher Than Tough: The Story Of Jamaican Music. I try and avoid anthologies as they tend to cherry pick the best songs off good albums, but this one is almost perfect, loaded with many superlative tracks. Almost too many classics to list; 'War ina Bablyon', 'Country Boy', 'Cherry o baby', 'Better Must Come', 'Bangarang', 'Al Capone', 'Guns of Navarone', 'Tougher than Tough' and 'The Isrealites' are all necessary reggae tracks.

As you get towards the end of the book, put on the Harder They Come soundtrack and listen to it on repeat. The music and book complement each other excellently.

The emersion into a story told through film, music and literature tells a complete picture of 1970's Jamaica.



5 out of 5 stars Hands down best OST   March 23, 2006
 5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Nose candy. You need no more reggae... but you will probably need more after this great album.

I agree with those who prefers Jimmy Cliff (his early music) to Bob Marley. Jimmy's reggae is more soulful with a strong Afro-gospel influence. There is an almost religious ecstasy that--well I think--beats Bob by a nose hair. But let's get down to it.

This is reggae 101 for those who do not indulge and a Masters degree for those fans who are not entirely familiar with the last two decades--the classics. I hate saying classic rock and I hate writing classic reggae because even though I was born after, what is deemed classic just beats anything I've heard--and I'm listeneing--produced today. Oh, yeah, it does not feature Beyonce nor Wyclef. Stop here? Please no... Let me add some details about the songs which you can hear by clicking the buttons next to the songs above or going to Barnes and Noble and asking your friendly music seller (me) how to work the listening machine.

The song Pressure Drop, for example, by the Toots and the Maytals, should be required listening. The energy generated from that song may wake the dead. The song Johnny Too Bad will stay in your in head long after you wear out the CD. And then there's Jimmy. It is Jimmy Cliff's movie (see the DVD section). Jimmy is blessed with an amazing voice and recognition that reggae can fit any category of music. [Willie Nelson made a reggae album- no comment]. But there is a soul/gospel/funk influence that I think many will find appealing whatever age (ok, not above 80 or below 10 years old).

There are many of us who do not by OSTs or sountracks. I'm one of them . But if you've seen the movie (SEE IT!!) then you are doubly amazed at how perfectly each song fits the story. If you have not seen the move (SEE IT!!), the arrangement still tells a story. We travel from the optimistic naive beginnings of a singer (Jimmy Cliff- main actor, main singer, reggae star) to the exhaustive Many Rivers (a gospel song highlighting his desperation and for that matter amazing vocals) to the aggressive Johnny Too Bad (foreshadowing the rebellious Jimmy who has had it with the rules) and finally the bittersweet classic, The Harder They Come. I'll leave that pleasure for those of you who are taking me seriously.

Proof positive of this musical journey, at least in my mind, is that I first heard this soundtrack when I was 10 years old or so. Despite having no notion of what a soundtrack was, I loved the way the story flowed with the music or vice-versa. There was no rewinding or fast-forwading on that tape! I saw the movie years later.

If you take my advice and check this out then proceed immediately to Jimmy Cliff in concert. The guy sings a Cat Stevens song that you could swear was written by a rasta.


5 out of 5 stars Excellent Reggae   January 17, 2006
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I love all forms of reggae, but this cd is excellent. one of the best soundtracks ever made.


5 out of 5 stars Remastered With Better Sound..The Ticket In   September 22, 2005
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This compilation to the movie did more than anything to put reggae across to the world..Jimmy Cliff, the struggling man is the existential hero looking for that number one hit which he found..despite the obstacles.
Now with vastly better sound,showcasing great great Jamaican staple songs, all here is worthy of inclusion into a rock and roll hall of fame..Cliff's own numbers are autobiographical, the other tracks either from Desmond Dekker,Toots,Scotty etc.remain classics till this day showcasing the rock steady calypso backdrop of early reggae prior to the Roots, Dub styles now common.
Your ticket into this great music and naturally you need to see the movie.


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