JIMMY Cliff, whose crystal clear voice and powerfully haunting lyrics, has made him one of reggae music’s lasting, and respected icons, was yesterday awarded the Order of Merit (OM), Jamaica’s third highest honour after the declaration of National Hero and the Order of the Nation (ON), which is reserved for governors general and prime ministers.

Cliff, whose real name is James Chambers, was among 100 persons named for national honours in the Independence Day appointments by the governor general, Sir Howard Cooke.

The order can be held by no more than 15 living persons and can be awarded to a Jamaican citizen who has “achieved eminent international distinction in the field of science, the arts, literature or any other endeavour”.

Cliff apart, there only four living members of the Order:

* Professor Manley West and Dr Albert Lockhart, who developed Canasol — a drug for treating glaucoma, whose active ingredient is taken from the marijuana plant;

* Louise Bennett-Coverley (Miss Lou) the dramatist and cultural activist;

* Professor Rex Nettleford, the intellectual and dancer who is vice-chancellor of the University of the West Indies.

The honours announced yesterday will be formally bestowed at a ceremony at Kings’ House on National Heroes’ Day in October. Among them will be the four persons who were named to the membership of Order of Jamaica (OJ), which, given the fact that only 15 living persons can hold the OM, is usually the stellar appointments in the Independence awards. They are:

* Cecil Baugh, the acclaimed ceramist, who is recognised for his contribution to the visual arts;

* Ossie Harding, former long-standing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) senator, who is being honoured for his service to the legislature;

* Karl Hendrickson, the former head of the National Bakery group, whose OJ is for his contribution to commerce; and

* Professor Errol Miller, the chairman of the Electoral Advisory Committee, whose recognition is for work in education and public service.

Like Cliff, all four were previously members of the Order of Distinction, with Harding, Hendrickson and Miller being of the higher commander (CD) rank. Baugh, like Cliff, was in the officer (OD) rank.

Apart from this top group of awardees, 57 persons joined the rank of the Order of Distinction, with 24 of them in the Commander (CD) category.

These include Clarence Clarke, the recent president of the Jamaica Manufacturers’ Association (JMA), who left the job in May when some members revolted because he joined the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) in accepting a compromise over a government tax measure critics claimed would hurt businesses.

Also in this group in the CD category is Lester Spaulding, the chairman of the RJR media group; Ray Hadeed, the businessman who heads the Serv-Wel Group; boxing promoter Lucien Chen; businessman, Howard Hamilton; the permanent secretary in the foreign ministry, Ambassador Douglas Saunders and head of the Jamaica Defence Force, Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin.

Jimmy Cliff was not the only singer named for a national award. Ken Boothe, one of the icons from the ska era was made an OD for his contribution to Jamaican music, as was Freddy McGregor, who is considered a master of the genre of reggae referred to as lover’s rock.

Two well-respected personalities in sport administration were also made ODs — retired lawyer Richard Ashenheim, who devoted time and energy to track and field and Freddy Green, who was a key figure in organising school boy sports.

Radio personalities, Norma Brown-Bell and Winston Ridgard received ODs for their contribution to broadcasting.

Jimmy Cliff’s albums

1967 Hard Road

1969 Give Thanks

1969 Jimmy Cliff

1970 Wonderful World, Beautiful People

1971 Another Cycle

1972 The Harder They Come

1973 Struggling Man

1974 Music Maker

1975 Brave Warrior

1975 Pop Chronik, Vol. 9

1976 Follow My Mind

1976 In Concert: The Best of Jimmy Cliff (live)

1977 Unlimited

1979 Oh Jamaica

1979 Goodbye Yesterday

1980 I Am the Living

1981 Give the People What They Want

1981 House of Exile

1982 Special

1983 Power and Glory

1984 Can’t Get Enough of It

1985 Sense of Direction

1985 Cliff Hanger

1987 Fundamental Reggae

1987 Hanging Fire

1990 Images

1992 Breakout

1993 Live 1993

1994 In Brazil (live)

2003 Fantastic Plastic People

Some of Cliff’s best-known hits

Miss Jamaica

King of Kings

You Can Get it If You Really Want

Wonderful World, Beautiful People

Hard Road to Travel

Sitting in Limbo

Harder They Come

Many Rivers to Cross

Vietnam

Roots Radical