Chris Blackwell Speaks on “Countryman”

Island Records Founder Reflects on a Friend Who Had Nothing And Still Had Everything

Most reggae fans know the Reggae Cult Classic film Countryman, but it’s less well known that the star of the film is real person. The 1982 film, which will be streamed online next Friday night, December 5th—following an exclusive BoomshotsTV chat with one of the original cast members, veteran Jamaican actor Carl Bradshaw—was directed by Dickie Jobson, and stars a Rastafarian Indian Tamil fisherman who lived in the seaside community of Hellshire outside Kingston, Jamaica. Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, who backed the film project, reflects on the man he knew, a real Rastaman who truly undersood the meaning of the term Thanksgiving, and embodied it in his simple life and his every word and deed. Video After The Jump…

“I was introduced to him by my best friend, Dickie Jobson, and two other friends, Sally and Perry Henzel, who did the film The Harder They Come,” Blackwell remembers. “Countryman escaped from his home when he was five or six and grew up on his own in the swamp in a very isolated part of Jamaica. When we met him he was very cheerful, very bright. He had little or nothing. He lived on the beach, he had a sheet of zinc over the roof. We came one time and found the zinc wasn’t there because his wife wanted a radio so he sold the piece of zinc in order to get her a radio and now they literally had no roof over their head. But his whole energy was full of joy, not complaining about anything. The fact that he could run barefoot through the swamps, we were saying “This is incredible, we should really do a film with Countryman. Because he is so articulate but is able to be the most basic native type of person.” He was so down-to-earth. One time he really chastised me because I had come to see him but then I had to go. He said where are you going? I said “I’m going to England. Have you ever been to England?” And he said, “No I have everything right here.” Even though he had nothing he was happy with it. He was somehow able to say “I have everything.” That does not normally happen. People have to go through a whole process before they realize that having lots of things is not the answer to life. So everything about him, he was just a truly truly exceptional person.” Sadly, Countryman is now suffering from lung cancer and doctors say they cannot treat him. Next weekend’s screening is a chance for his fans around the world to pay respect to a truly remarkable man who has become a legend within reggae circles thanks to the film named after him.

Chris Blackwell speaks on Countryman



Countryman and Bob Marley (1973) photo by Esther Anderson

CountrymanBobMarleyByEstherAnderson

Speaking of the film, Blackwell says: “I can’t tell you it’s Gone With The Wind. But Countryman is absolutely fantastic in it. It’s absolutely worth seeing for Countryman. The best scene is “Pass It On” where everybody gets more and more stoned. It’s fantastic.”


A New Countryman Trailer “Natural Mystic”

Blackwell also reveals that the film was loosely based on an experience from his own life when he had a brief encounter with Countryman as a youth:
“I was rescued by a Rastafarian in the ’50s. What happened is that my boat had actually run out of gas and I had a very long trek along the coastline, which was very difficult because it was all mangrove swamps. Eventually I came to a beach and I was literally dying of thirst. I saw this hut and so I called out and this Rastafari looked through the window. In those days everybody was terrorized by Rastafari, They were never aggressive but because they were treated as outcasts, they were considered the most dangerous killers and racists, and it couldn’t be further from the truth. When I saw the Rasfari I was terrified but I was also dying of thirst. He brought me some water and he was so gentle and sweet so I asked him to let me lie in his hut for a while. When I woke up night had fallen and there were seven other Rastas in the room and I was very scared and they were all sitting and reading from the Bible and they read to me from the Bible and then they took me back. Countryman claims that as a little boy he was there.”

The famous “Pass It On” Scene from the film Countryman

Countryman praises Jah Rastafari (2012)


Countryman sings “The Predator” (2012)

Reasoning with Jamaican Screen Legend Carl Bradshaw…

Watch the full movie Countryman

Follow @Boomshots

8 Responses

  1. I do hope the Billionaire Chris Blackwell will give some of the royalties he receives on the COUNTRYMAN MOVIE back to the str Countryman so je can have a Lung transplant…chris can live all these years with Cancer the Countryman can live with a new lung.. Watch Sugar Canes film on Cou try,an and hear what he has to say about how Chris stop giving him any royalties.

  2. […] Next Friday December 5th, Palm Pictures will revive the great tradition of “midnight movies” with an exclusive online screening of the legendary reggae classic Countryman. Directed by Dickie Jobson, the film is a 1982 cult classic, featuring classic tracks from Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, and Toots and The Maytals. Preceding the movie screening, at 11:30 pm on Friday 12/5, the film’s co-star Carl Bradshaw will live-chat from Jamaica via Google Hangouts On Air with veteran reggae journalist Rob Kenner. The live chat with Bradshaw and the special “Midnight Movie Streaming” will be broadcast live via Google Hangouts here. Countryman, a real life Jamaican fisherman and mystic, played himself in the film. His feats of skill and daring in that movie made him an “ital” (natural) Rasta superhero and were an accurate reflection of his way of life. Island Records founder and Countryman Executive Producer Chris Blackwell recalls, “He was a unique character, able to live in the jungle. We decided to do a film with him because you could never find a movie star who could wrestle with alligators and run through swamps the way he did. Countryman was an amazing person, always positive and full of humor. Being of African and Indian descent, he embodied the Jamaican motto, ‘Out of Many, One People.’” Watch Chris Blackwell’s interview about Countryman here  […]

  3. Shilo says:

    Today is one of the saddest days of my life. My friend, my second papa Countryman has left us. I love him with all my heart and always will. Saw him in 1982 at the premiere of “Countryman” in NY….then we became ‘family’ since 2009 on Hellshire Beach in Ja. I will miss you so. Zion has a new angel. SIP Country!

  4. christian ghisays says:

    I remember the day i met countryman in Kingston at my house on waterloo road when Dicky Jobson used our house to film the jail part for the film Countryman. We met a few times during the years with Dicky always checking on him from time to time. I last had seen seen hom when i went to Helshire with Levi Roots two years ago. As always he was full of life no change still lived in a small shack on the beach such a kind soul and full of wisdom. RIP Brother countryman you will not be forgotten.

  5. johan gunther says:

    Saw the tape in South Africa back in 1983. We spoke about it for a long,long time. Brilliant

Leave a Reply