Veteran and respected music producer and musician Paul “Computer Paul” Henton, for his part, said from the outset he expected Jimmy Cliff’s 1993 remake of Johnny Nash’s I Can See Clearly Now to become a hit.

Jimmy Cliff’s version, which was featured on the soundtrack to the movie Cool Runnings, was produced by Henton, who also played the drums and keyboard on the track.

“Yes, I kinda expected I Can See Clearly Now to have taken off. When I was halfway into the project in New York, a lady who worked with Disney asked me for a rough mix of the song, and when she heard it, she said: ‘Wow, this is gonna be a hit,” Henton recalled in an interview with the Jamaica Observer on Monday.

Jimmy Cliff passed away on Monday at the age of 81 from pneumonia after he was hospitalised following a seizure.

I Can See Clearly Now is arguably the biggest hit of Jimmy Cliff’s career, not only in the United States but globally, based on chart performance.

The song was recorded at Mixing Lab in Kingston, but the mixing and overdubs were done in New York.

Harking back to his interactions with the artiste, he said:

“Jimmy was easy-going and probably one of the nicest artistes to work with. I had met him through one of his friends, who contacted me and said that Jimmy wanted to do some work with me. At the time I was doing some work with the group Worl-A-Girl. They also had a song on the Cool Runnings soundtrack that I also produced,” said Henton.

Asked what he will miss most about Jimmy Cliff, he said: “I will miss his presence as one of the stalwarts, and his writing abilities. He was just a kind person and easier to work with.”

Henton added: “ I Can See Clearly Now is still being played on mainstream radio in America. I am surprised at the staying power of the song.”

In the United States, the track rose to #18 on the Billboard Hot 100. It, however, peaked at 98 on the R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart. The song also charted in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Canada, Iceland, France (#1), the Netherlands, New Zealand, Scotland, and in the United Kingdom.

The song has been certified gold in France, silver in the UK and platinum in New Zealand.

As for his chart history in America, Jimmy Cliff has, to date, scored 8 entries on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart.

Jimmy Cliff: Ultimate Collection hit #8 in 2000, while Black Magic reached #11 in 2004. Sacred Fire (EP) topped the chart for three weeks in 2011, while Rebirth spent five weeks in pole position in 2012. Icon: Jimmy Cliff (#15), The KCRW Session (#4), The Best of Jimmy Cliff (#7) and Follow My Mind (#10) were his other entries.

On the all genre Billboard 200 albums chart, Jimmy Cliff scored three entries: Follow My Mind (#195) in 1975, Special (#186) in 1982, and Rebirth #76 in 2021.

Over on the Billboard Hot 100, aside from I Can See Clearly Now, Jimmy Cliff logged entries with 1970’s Come into My Life (#89), and Wonderful World, Beautiful People, #25 in 1970.

Jimmy Cliff has six entries on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop Songs chart, with We All Are One, a 1984 hit peaking the highest at #75.

The other entries are Special, Reggae Night, Peace, and Breakout.

In France, he scored three gold certified albums, The Power and Glory, Higher and Higher, and The Best Of Jimmy Cliff, which was certified platinum in 1996.

In the United Kingdom, Wonderful World, Beautiful People is his biggest hit there, reaching #6 in 1969. His other charted singles were Vietnam – #46 in 1970, a cover of the Cat Stevens hit Wild World topped out at #8 in August 1970; Reggae Night – #91 in late 1983; We All Are One – #93 in early 1984, and I Can See Clearly Now – #23 in March 1994.

His sole entry on the Official UK Albums chart is Rebirth which stalled at #83 in 2012.