John Lester Nash Jr. (August 19, 1940 – October 6, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter, best known in the United States for his 1972 hit "I Can See Clearly Now" (Wikipedia)
Nash was a lot more than “I can see clearly” though. “He appeared daily on Houston area television and then weekly on national television for a decade, he made 17 albums and five compilation albums, he had six top 40 hits and many more that cracked the top 100, he had a successful singing and acting career that spanned three decades, he was the first to manage and employ Bob Marley as a songwriter, and he also helped to pave the way for reggae in the UK and the US.
In the 1950s Nash was a high tenor, clean-cut, pure voiced balladeer, who sang with violins swelling in the background. He belonged to a small group of what the music scholar Vincent Stephens has called the "rock era crooner", which included Perry Como, Doris Day, Barbara Streisand, and Johnny Mathis (Stephens, 2008).
In the mid 60ies Nash left New York City for Jamaica, where the plan was to save money by recording Nash in Kingston. It was in Jamaica that Nash would begin to work with Bob Marley—a personal and professional connection that would change both of their lives. Nash and his partner Sims signed a contract with Marley, and employed him as a songwriter. They sold "I Shot the Sheriff" to Eric Clapton, and "Guava Jelly" to Barbra Streisand. Nash wrote the song, "I Can See Clearly Now," during this period, and his album by the same name included four songs written by Marley, including "Stir it Up".”
(Kathy M. Newman in PopMatters, Oct. 29, 2020)
Discography and credits
As a rule, we only have bios on artists that Grace has worked with or who have had a part in the creation or production of her music. The amount of information on each of these artists varies greatly, dependent on how much has been readily available. We have tried to identify the artists correctly, but sometimes it has been difficult to determine who exactly is behind the name. Unless otherwise stated, the bios are based on data retrieved at the start of 2021.
Clearly
(2018 Feb 7th)
(With: Chloe Angelides, Grace Vanderwaal, Ido Zmishlany, Mike Waters, Neil Ormandy)
Clearly
(1972)