In early November 2025 Derrick Morgan got a phone call from Jimmy Cliff, his friend of over 60 years. During their long conversation the ska giant pitched an idea to the legendary singer-songwriter.

“I told him wi should do a song together, an’ he laughed! He said, ‘Yeah, man, dat would be nice,’ ” Morgan recalled in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

That never materialised as, three weeks later, on November 24, Cliff died at age 81.

His death was pneumonia-related, Cliff’s wife Latifa posted on social media.

Morgan, 85, mentored Cliff when he started in the music business. It was Morgan, in early 1962, who encouraged businessman Leslie Kong to take a chance on the aspiring artiste, which he did, making Cliff (then known by his real name James Chambers) the first act to record for Beverley’s Records.

His initial songs, Hurricane Hattie and King of Kings (aka Lion Sey), launched Beverley’s Records, which was located at Orange Street in downtown Kingston. At the time, the Clarendon-born Morgan had done hit songs like Lover Boy (S Corner Rock) for producer Duke Reid, and Fat Man for the Little Wonder label.

Morgan first met Jimmy Cliff at the former’s Orange Lane home, which was a stone’s throw from Kong’s business place. Jimmy Cliff told him he had approached Kong with a song he wrote called Dearest Beverley, but although the businessman was keen to enter the music business, he was not impressed by the youngster’s writing, and pointed him to Morgan’s home.

After listening to Jimmy Cliff’s impromptu performance of Hurricane Hattie, Morgan suggested some changes in feel and arrangement.

“I liked it, but it was a bit too slow, suh I ask him to do it faster. When him do dat it sounded even better. Well,
Lion Sey is a poem dat wi put melody to an’ suggest him record it, so those were Jimmy’s first songs,” he disclosed.

After Kong agreed to record Jimmy Cliff, Morgan remembers recruiting the Drumbago All Stars to back him on his début recording session. That took place at Federal Records after days of rehearsing in Greenwich Town and at Majestic Theatre.

Hurricane Hattie and Lion Sey were big hits and made Cliff a sensation. Two years later, he was making a name in the United Kingdom, and in 1964 was part of Jamaica’s delegation to the World’s Fair in New York.

Kong, who produced many hit songs for both artistes, as well as Bob Marley’s first song, died in 1971 at age 37.

Jimmy Cliff and Morgan remained close, even after the former became a superstar through his role as Ivan in
The Harder They Come, the 1972 movie directed by Perry Henzell.

Health issues prevented him from attending the funeral for Jimmy Cliff.

“Miss him bad, bad, bad! Him was a great spirit,” said Morgan.