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| -Obits- | |
| Johnny Nash, singer-songwriter known for ‘I Can See Clearly Now,' dies at 80 | |
| 2020-10-07 | |
Nash, who had been in declining health, died of natural causes at home in Houston, the city of his birth, his son, Johnny Nash Jr., told The Associated Press. He was 80. Nash was in his early 30s when "I Can See Clearly Now" topped the charts in 1972 and he had lived several show business lives. In the mid-1950s, he was a teenager covering "Darn That Dream" and other standards, his light tenor likened to the voice of Johnny Mathis. A decade later, he was co-running a record company, had become a rare American-born singer of reggae and helped launch the career of his friend Bob Marley. Nash praised "the vibes of this little island" when speaking of Jamaica, and he was among the first artists to bring reggae to U.S. audiences. He peaked commercially in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when he had hits with "Hold Me Tight," "You Got Soul," an early version of Marley’s "Stir It Up" and "I Can See Clearly Now," still his signature song. Reportedly written by Nash while recovering from cataract surgery, "I Can See Clearly Now" was a story of overcoming hard times that itself raised the spirits of countless listeners, with its swelling pop-reggae groove, promise of a "bright, bright sunshiny day" and Nash’s gospel-styled exclamation midway, "Look straight ahead, nothing but blue skies!", a backing chorus lifting the words into the heavens. The rock critic Robert Christgau would call the song, which Nash also produced, "2 minutes and 48 seconds of undiluted inspiration." | |
| Posted by:746 |
| #3 I so liked this song. |
| Posted by: European Conservative 2020-10-07 14:11 |
| #2 Darn. RIP. |
| Posted by: gorb 2020-10-07 09:37 |
| #1 Rest in peace Johnny. Perhaps you and my old favorite, singer Jimmy Reeves can get together on a heavenly release. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-10-07 08:38 |