Song:I Can See Clearly Now
Album:The Best Of Johnny Nash
Singer songwriter Johnny Nash is considered to be one of key figures to bring Jamaican music to the masses with his 1972 hit I Can See Clearly Now. But though Nash had recorded in Jamaica with Jamaican musicians, he was born Aug. 19, 1940 in Houston. He grew up singing in church and at age 16, he became a regular on The Arthur Godfrey Show. Nash signed with ABC-Paramount Records and his 1958 single The Ten Commandments with Paul Anka and George Hamilton IV was a top 30 hit. But ABC-Paramount's attempt to turn Nash into a Johnny Mathis clone didn't work out. Burt Lancaster saw Nash on the Godfrey show and cast him in the 1959 film Take A Giant Step. Nash also starred with Jeffrey Hunter and Dennis Hopper in the 1960 film Key Witness. By the mid-60s, Nash returned to music and started recording in Jamaica with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires. Hold Me Tight reached #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968. This was on Nash's own label JAD Records. After the label closed, Nash signed with Epic Records and returned to Jamaica where he met Bob Marley. Marley gave Nash Stir It Up and it reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1972. I Can See Clearly Now was the next single and it topped the charts worldwide. Nash wrote the song and recorded it in London with the British reggae group The Fabulous Five. He was living in England at the time. It was his biggest hit and you can get it on this budget comp. Jimmy Cliff scored a top 20 hit when he recorded I Can See Clearly Now for the 1993 film Cool Runnings. Johnny Nash has never had another hit and he last recorded in 1986. In recent years, he has been working on transferring his analog recordings to digital. Here is Johnny Nash performing I Can See Clearly Now on The Midnight Special 1973.
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