Johnny Braff: An autograph from a bed that breaks the heart

May 04, 2019 Features / Columnists, Freddie Kissoon

There are two persons in 20th century Guyana that at the time they lived, were the biggest names in the country. Their worlds were far apart from each other. Their worlds never met. One achieved total fame in Guyana for journalism. The other was one of the best pop stars of the Caribbean (with only Sparrow and Lord Kitchener in Trinidad and Ken Lazarus, Boris Gardiner and The Blues Busters in Jamaica pipping him) and one of the handsomest young men Guyana birthed.
Peter Taylor was the editor of the Evening Post in the first half of the sixties in British Guiana when Cheddi Jagan was Premier. Taylor was in daily confrontation with Jagan’s government and the paper sold out each afternoon, with an entire country knowing about Taylor.
At that time, a handsome, dashing Englishman, Taylor’s reputation went beyond journalism and into the realm of la dolce vita, which only heightened his popularity. When on the night of April 3, 1964, an assassination attempt failed, Taylor’s fame skyrocketed, with widespread belief at the time that it was a hit planned by the Jagan government.
The rise of Taylor did not endure. After the 1964 elections, Taylor’s paper went out of existence, and he lived in obscurity for decades after. In the ‘90s, he became paralyzed; he died shortly after. One afternoon I was driving south on Carmichael Street and as I passed Christ Church, I saw a few cars in the churchyard, one of which was my friend. He was the manager of Fogarty’s cafeteria.
The next day I went up to him and told him I saw his car at a funeral. He told me it was Peter Taylor’s. There were not even five cars at that church service. It pierces your psyche when you think of how life is. When I was just a boy, Peter Taylor was the greatest thing in Guyana – even more than sliced bread. And at his funeral, there weren’t even a dozen mourners. Do you know there is nothing in Guyana named after Taylor and there is no scholarship in his name? He has just vanished from the pages of Guyana.
Taylor’s popularity was a few years before Johnny Braff’s, but in his day, Braff was a household name in Guyana. Even if you were a Hindi film music aficionado, you knew about Braff and you liked his songs. Like Taylor, Braff was damn good looking and like Taylor, the girls were never absent. I saw Johnny yesterday. It may be the last time that I will visit him.
I was on the seawall with my dog when I got the call. The gentleman said his name was Fawazyuddin Khan and he works at GIOTECH on Middle Street. He indicated that his dad and I went to Guyana Oriental College, on Thomas Street, which was owned by a wonderful headmaster, one of the best ever, Indian national Shruti Kant. I remember his dad vividly. He also told me his mother, who was from Wakenaam, knows my wife very well. He wanted to know if I could contact Johnny to autograph an album.
Titled, “this girl is a good girl,” Johnny, on the front cover, sits on the floor barefoot with a long bandana tied around his head. I looked at the album, and this was the handsome guy that took Guyana by storm from 1966 onwards. I took Fawazyuddin to the Night Shelter in East La Penitence where 83-year-old Johnny Braff lives. The warden took me to him. He was on his bed with an inadequate sheet and no pillows.
He was sleeping. I woke him up, told him I would like the favour of the autograph for the gentleman. He recognized me, got up and signed, “Johnny Braff with Love.”
Each time I see Johnny Braff, I remember the night. I was just sixteen, and as he passed me and my three friends to enter the door at the Globe cinema, we asked him to let us through. He waved to the door man, we went into the “pit” area, and that night I heard one of the Caribbean’s most romantic voices ever.
I didn’t like what I saw yesterday. I told Fawazyuddin I wanted to check on my dog that was actually in my vehicle parked on the road. But I just wanted to remove myself. I didn’t want to see Johnny Braff like that. I guess in his state, the days are counting down. I wanted to say goodbye forever, but the mental impulse just wasn’t there.

Discover more from Kaieteur News

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

Latest News