-to release new album shortly
“YOUNG IN mind though not in age,” is how renowned Guyanese-born singer, Johnny Braff describes himself. The ‘it-boy’ of the 70s music scene both here and abroad, Braff recently sat down with the Guyana Chronicle for a chat on the eve of his soon-to-be-released LP.
Born on Station Street, Kitty, Braff, who “came up from scratch,” recalled his father always announcing his arrival in song during his childhood.
Later moving with the Heartbreakers in the mid-60s, which he described as the best singing group in Guyana at the time, Braff had a fortuitous break one night while performing with the group at the ASTOR cinema.
He’d composed a couple of songs and wanted to try them out, a suggestion that caused some anxiety among members of the band who were afraid to move away from their popular numbers. They asked Braff, who was known for singing Ben E. King Songs, “You want to spoil this show or what?”
He however went ahead and sang the songs. One was called ‘It Burns Inside’ and the other ‘A Shower of Tears.’
As fate would have it, Vivian Lee of ACE Records was in the audience that night and sent a message saying he wanted to see Braff after the concert. Lee, who currently resides in Nova Scotia, Canada, was known back then for popular local productions such as the movie, ‘If Wishes Were Horses’ starring popular comedian, Habeeb Khan.
Braff, who is extremely loyal to his former manager, had this to say about the aging Lee: “People say that Vivian used to rob us, but if there were no Vivian Lee, there would be no Johnny Braff or Habeeb Khan.”
‘It Burns Inside’ went on to become a big hit. The singer, who claims that he got the idea for the song while he was having a bath with a bucket of ice cold water, still maintains the upbeat personality which was all part of his charm.
He notes that in those days, “we [Guyanese acts] used to charge the same amount of money like the Americans,” unlike now, where it is the foreign acts who pull the big ticket prices. He speaks frankly on this point, saying that local singers need encouragement. Noting that organizers are more concerned with foreign shows, Braff opined that every show should have Guyanese people on it. “It’s a disgrace that foreigners are allowed to come in and leave with all that money,” he stated.
Popular venues for concerts at the time (late 60s and 70s) included Queens College and the , Astor and Empire Cinemas just to name a few.
Braff is proud of the fact that when he had a show in Barbados, he was “the only singer to have a motorcade meet me” at the airport there. He has also performed in Europe and North America.
Braff has saved some of his mementoes, and has an album full of fliers showing his performance in places such the Madison Square Garden in Manhattan, and foreign newspaper articles (pardon the pun) singing his praises.
Since his arrival here last year, he has held a few local shows locally, including a Father’s Day performance at the Princess Hotel, and an Old Years Night do in Buxton, on the lower East Coast.
Braff, who troubles from wanderlust, would have left these shores by now, and says that he has to die before he stops travelling.
The songs on his soon-to-be-released LP, ‘Let’s Live In Love’, were co-written by local architect, Godfrey Proctor.