Number 1 With A Bullet: Johnny Nash And “I Can See Clearly Now”

January 6, 2012 9:20 AM

Johnny Nash – “I Can See Clearly Now” (Epic, 1972)

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Born in Houston in 1940, [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Johnny Nash[/lastfm] got his first taste of the reggae sound while working as a teenage actor in Jamaica. Years later, he would return to the island to record his #1 hit, “I Can See Clearly Now.”

Nash was 17 when he first traveled to Jamaica to appear in the Burt Lancaster movie, Take a Giant Step. Ten years later, he would return to Kingston to record “Hold Me Tight,” his first Top-10 hit in 1968. After failing to score with his soul-reggae update of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Sam Cooke[/lastfm]‘s “Cupid,” which stalled at #39 in 1970, Nash spun a song of his own creation, “I Can See Clearly Now.”

Using some of [lastfm link_type="artist_info"]Bob Marley[/lastfm]‘s favorite studio players, Nash released “I Can See Clearly Now” in the US in September 1972 (debuting at #84). Eight weeks later, it spent its first of four weeks at #1.