JOHNNY NASH

By Randal Hill
Guest Columnist

Johnny Nash

“I can see clearly now, the rain has gone

“I can see all obstacles in my way

“Gone are the dark clouds that had me blind

“It’s gonna be a bright, bright sunshiny day.”

While the now classic song was not autobiographical for Johnny Nash, his recording is one of the most iconic tunes of the 1970s — or any decade — and the ultimate feel-good work about overcoming adversity and reveling in the joy of new hope and courage, and the determination to move forward.

“Look all around, there’s nothing but blue skies

“Look straight ahead, nothing but blue skies.”

“I Can See Clearly Now” has been described as “soulful pop” powered by a gentle undercurrent of reggae, a musical genre from Jamaica that blended local folk music with such instruments as the guitar, banjo and hand drums. Yet little is known about the talented (and pretty much forgotten) originator of the song that ushered in a form of music new to a mainstream American audience.

John Lester Nash Jr. was born in Houston in 1940 to a homemaker and a chauffeur. A good-looking, well-mannered child, he was raised on gospel and sang at the neighborhood Progressive New Hope Baptist Church. At age 13, Nash began performing on Matinee, a Houston afternoon program that helped break down the color barrier on local television. Within three years, he was earning more money than his father.

Signing on to the ABC-Paramount label, Nash became a successful recording artist at age 17. His first release fizzled, but his second single of “A Very Special Love” rocketed into the national Top 25 on the Billboard charts. Movie work soon followed. In 1958, he won the lead role in a film called “Take a Giant Step,” in which he portrayed a Black high schooler struggling in a white neighborhood. Two years later, Johnny appeared as a gang member in the movie, “Key Witness.”

Back in the recording studio, he eschewed rock ’n’ roll in favor of urbane ballads much in the style of Johnny Mathis. By the mid-1960s, though, Nash found himself out of work and pretty much overlooked.

In 1965, he and his manager/business partner, Danny Sims, moved to Jamaica in hopes a new locale might rekindle Nash’s stalled career. Here Nash met Bob Marley, a dreadlocked reggae artist who was admired but little known outside his Kingston neighborhood. Nash immediately acknowledged Marley’s songwriting talent, and an introduction to Sims resulted in Nash and Sims becoming the future superstar’s managers.

Nash loved the new style of music that was everywhere in Jamaica. (“Reggae represented to me a layer of rhythm that was totally infectious.”) His later 45s became UK winners, and in 1968 he reached the American Top Five with his reggae-fueled “Hold Me Tight.”

Four years later came the disc that would catapult him to global stardom when he wrote, sang and produced “I Can See Clearly Now,” which sold in the millions.

Could there be a better legacy for any musician?