Like so many music lovers, I always thought that Johnny Nash was a Jamaican, but I was wrong. In fact, he was born in Texas in 1940 and sang in church choirs until he was discovered in 1953, at the age of 13, by a radio and television producer where he sang R & B covers on KPRC-TV for seven years.
In 1957 he signed to the record label, ABC Paramount, and his first single “A Teenager Sings the Blues” was released. However, it wasn’t until the following year that he had a chart hit with, “A Very Special Love” a cover of the Doris Day song. He was marketed asa rival to Johnny Mathis but his style and leaning towards punchier music. The following year he appeared in the screenplay, Take a Giant Step, for which he won a Silver Sail award for his performance.
Nash continued to release singles on a variety of different record labels without success. But he could still be heard singing the theme tune of an animated cartoon series, The Mighty Hercules, which ran on numerous television channels between 1963 and 66. It was during that time that he and his manager Danny Sims formed their JoDa record label, but it was short lived filing for bankruptcy after just two years. During that time Nash had a top five hit in the US Billboard R & B chart with the ballad, “Let’s Move and Groove Together.”
Later that year, with the impending demise of their label, they decided to move to Jamaica where the low cost of production made it possible for them to continue recording and moved on to producing American singers.
Everyone needs luck at some time in their career and coincidentally, their lawyer Newton Willoughby was the father of Jamaican radio host Neville Willoughby. Sims made the decision to sell his business assets in New York and they formed, Cayman Music, a music publishing company, on the island.
Despite Nash’s efforts to market the rock steady sound in the US success evaded him. Later that year that his lawyer, Willoughby, took him to a party where Bob Marley and the Wailing Wailers were performing. They introduced him to the vibrant underground music scene and he signed all of them to Cayman Music. It was an exclusive contract and they were each paid $50 a week.
In 1968 Nash recorded his rock steady single “Hold Me Tight,” and it became a top-five hit in the UK and US, and number 1 in Canada. That was followed by another hit, “Stir It Up” a cover of the Bob Marley song.
In 1968 Nash recorded his rock steady single “Hold Me Tight,” and it became a top-five hit in the UK and US, and number 1 in Canada. That was followed by another hit, “Stir It Up” a cover of the Bob Marley song.
Nash was considered the first non-Jamaican artist to record reggae and he recorded at Federal records in Kingston. He went onto record four of Marley songs for his next album and in 1972, he achieved his biggest hit single, “I Can See Clearly Now,” which was followed by the album of the same name. The song was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in November 1972.
As well as Nash continuing his acting career he appeared in the Swedish film, “Want So Much to Believe” where he played ‘Robert,’ he also wrote some of the music with Bob Marley.
Nash continued to record with minor hits in 1976 and 1979 and another resurgence in 1986
with his album, “Here Again.” But as an artist he was unable to achieve the success he
deserved as a performer but his music was heard again in 1993 with Jimmy Cliff’s cover of,
“I Can See Clearly Now,” in the Disney film Cool Running.
There is no doubt that Johnny Nash played a massive part in bringing reggae to music lovers
around the world and his hit album, “I Can See Clearly Now” is a classic track in its genre.
Nash died peacefully of natural causes in his home, surrounded by close family in Houston
on October 6, 2020, after a period of declining health.
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Johnny Nash
BY-------Graham Sclater
TABITHA BOOKS