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Harder Than the Rock: The Cimarons Story
UK 2024
produced by James Baxter, Mark Warmington, Luke W. Moody (executive), Matt O'Casey (executive), Inuka Bacote-Capiga (executive), Mark Antonello (executive), Paul Dyson (executive), Mike O'Brien (executive), Angela Dyson (executive) for Margot Films, J6 Films
directed by Mark Warmington
starring the Cimarons (= Locksley Gichie, Franklyn Dunn, Michael Arkk, Maurice Ellis, Winston Reedy, Bobby Davis, Trevor Starr), Mykael S. Riley, General Levy, Maverick Sabre, David Katz, Cian Finn, Christian McCallum, Chilli Dixon, Diane White, Clem Bushay, Kevin Harris, Cleveland Dear, Richard Jah Richie Johnson, Tony Platt, Elvera Butler
based on the story of the Cimarons
documentary
review by Mike Haberfelner
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As an idea, the Cimarons were born in 1967 in a community center in
Harelsdon, North London, by a handful of Jamaican immigrants, and they
played their first concert the following year, their original lineup being
Franklyn Dunn (bass), Carl Levy (keyboards), Locksley Gichie (lead guitar), Maurice
Ellis (drums) and Carl Lewis (vocals), with their distinction being that
they were the very first British reggae band. The concert was a smashing
success, and soon enough they started recording, too, and also attracted
the attention of British reggae label Trojan, also as the label's
session band, and in the UK they performed as backing band for manny
Jamaican artists, including one Bob Marley. They also, with new singer
Winston Reedy, started recording their own albums, were the first reggae
band to tour Japan, Thailand and West Africa, and in the 1970s, had a
number one in Jamaica with a cover version of the Bob Marley song Talking
Blues, recorded with the legendary Lee "Scratch" Perry in
Jamaica, it seemed they went from strength to strength, so much so that
they attracted the attention of Paul McCartney invited them into his
studio to record reggae cover versions of well-known, many of them his own
for the album Reggaebility, released in 1982. It seemed the Cimarons had
made it - but the album bombed, and thanks to the fact that they didn't
have any business representation that would grant them fair contracts and
no PR people to spin the situation, this sunk the Cimarons who disbanded
in 1983, with the members mostly seeing them forced to accept nine to five
jobs. It's only in 2020 that the band, with new singer Michael Arkk,
reformed, to play at least one comeback concert, which finally happened in
2023 ... Now it sure helps to like reggae music in order to
enjoy this documentary (which I admit I do), but even if not, this movie
gives a fascinating insight into the musicworld with its ever changing
trends, the ruthlessness of the music business, but also the love for
music on the musicians' side - which gives the film its heart. And thanks
to a good mix of llive performances, rehearsal footage and of course
plenty of talking heads, this has become a rather engaging as well as
informative documentary that well deserves a watch. Harder Than the Rock will
be released in UK Cinemas from 3rd October, 2024.
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