Many Rivers To Cross

A soulful ballad written by Jimmy Cliff in 1969 and covered by many artists since.  Featured in the movie The Harder They Come, about a struggling musician in Jamaica, and which helped to popularize reggae music.  I made four visits to Jamaica from 1966 through 1969 and have many fond memories.  The country was much different and was not yet the tourist mecca it became.  My father spent a lot of time there from the mid-60s into the early 70s, both for business and pleasure and knew many people on the island, many of whom I met on my visits.  With my dad we took drives all over the island back in a time when we never worried about our safety.  We mostly stayed in Montego Bay but on one trip stayed with a family in Kingston.  I remember attending a house party with the kids from the family somewhere in Kingston, where I heard music I'd never heard before - the precursor to reggae.