Jimmy Cliff / Wonderful World, Beautiful People by Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff, the Jamaican singer's 1969 album, went out on Trojan and Beverley's with Leslie Kong and Larry Fallon producing, and it picked up a second name, Wonderful World, Beautiful People, once that song became a single in America. Either way, it's Cliff at his most open-hearted.

The title track is sunshine with a message and an easy, bouncing lilt, but the heart of the thing is "Many Rivers to Cross", a slow, gospel-soaked ballad that sounds like a man at the end of his rope and still singing. Cliff's voice is the pull throughout, sweet and aching at once, riding reggae rhythms dressed up with enough pop and soul polish to travel. The photography on the sleeve is credited to Richard Polak.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.