Observer Online presents the third story in ‘Jimmy Cliff: Stories Of A Bongo Man’, in tribute to the reggae legend who died on November 24 at age 81. This seven-part series looks at different aspects of the singer-songwriter’s life.

In the summer of 1973, a Vietnam War veteran walked into a Los Angeles cinema to watch The Harder They Come, a sensational Jamaican movie starring singer Jimmy Cliff.

The soldier’s name was Roger Steffens and he was overwhelmed by Cliff’s convincing portrayal of Ivan, and the film’s raw depiction of urban life in Jamaica.

“I first saw The Harder They Come in late June 1973 while living in Berkeley. The day before I had read an incredible article in Rolling Stone by Michael Thomas, which introduced me (and hordes of other adventurous music fans) to reggae and Rasta. That same day I bought The Wailers’ Catch A Fire LP, and the next evening ventured to a tiny northside theatre that held about 40 people to see the film,” Steffens recalled in a 2017 interview with the Jamaica Observer. “During the chalice scene, everyone in the hall lit up and the screen became obscured by the giant cloud of ‘spliff’ smoke. I bought the soundtrack on the way home at Tower Records, and my life has never been the same since that week.”

Steffens first met Cliff — who died on November 24 at age 81 — three years later when he first visited Jamaica. Speaking with Observer Online, he remembers Cliff as, “One of the very last of the major figures who introduced reggae to the world and created its greatest works.”

As his interest in reggae and Jamaican culture grew, Steffens became one of many foreigners who traveled to Jamaica during the 1970s.

What he and his wife Mary saw was more than roots, rock, reggae.

“I first met Jimmy in June of ’76, the week that the State of Emergency was announced. After a pickpocket attempt was made upon our arrival in Kingston, a kindly stranger helped protect us and asked if we would ‘like to go to Jimmy’s house’. Jimmy welcomed us and we spent an extraordinary afternoon with him, Joe Higgs, Ernest Ranglin, Chinna Smith and other reggae greats,” Steffens related. “I did several interviews with him on radio and TV, and emceed several of his shows at locations like Reggae On The River. He will live long in history as one of Jah Music’s finest exponents.”

The Brooklyn, New York-born Steffens was a big rock music fan prior to discovering Jamaican pop culture. Since the 1970s, he has amassed a voluminous archive of reggae memorabilia at his Los Angeles home.

He has also written well-received books, and conducted countless recorded interviews with noted reggae figures. They include Bob Marley, who he met in 1979 when the singer-songwriter toured California.

The impression Jimmy Cliff made on Roger Steffens on and off screen is lasting.

“Always a gentleman, a deep thinker, a writer of anthems, a fine actor, and a constant seeker of enlightenment in all its various philosophical forms,” he said.