Bernard Heydorn
N
esbit
Chhangur, Guyana’s singing cowboy was born in Fyrish Road, sunny
Corentyne, about 11 miles from New Amsterdam. He was educated at
primary schools in the area and at Corentyne High School. I first saw
and heard Nesbit singing in the Town Hall in New Amsterdam in the
1950’s, when I lived in that town. He was the rage at my tender age.
At that time, other Berbician
musical artists that I remember included Vincent Moonsammy and Lloyd
Mungul (who Nesbit instructed on the guitar), and the Khans – Maxi, a
watch-repairer and B.G. volunteer who lived across King Street from
us, his brother Georgie, and another younger brother. Maxi played the
guitar that he borrowed from my eldest brother, Georgie played the
Regulation Band harmonica (mouth organ), and the younger brother
played the maracas.
The Khans and some of the
others performed around New Amsterdam – hotels (Aster) and boarding
houses on the Strand (Nurse Jack), and house brams, rousing the sleepy
town from its insistent slumber with South American rhythms, "Choo-la-la,
Choo-la-la…", bolero, country songs and calypsos. Sometimes, when
British soldiers were in town, fights would break out at the Town Hall
or hotel, and the musicians had to run, taking shelter under their
instruments!
At that time in New Amsterdam,
D.M. Fernandes store on the Strand used to have a Saturday night
amateur talent show which Nesbit used to help set up. He also sang at
the show. People could walk in off the road and show off their talent
or make a fool of themselves. Winners would receive a cash prize, like
my eldest brother, who put food on our table by answering a difficult
quiz question - where D.M. Fernandes in Georgetown was located?
The story of Nesbit goes back
to before World War Two. He came from a musical family in which his
father sang and played the sitar. Nesbit first heard the guitar, when
as a child, he was walking past the home of Buddy Hector, an elderly
man in his village. Nesbit asked Buddy what he was playing. Buddy then
invited him in and gave him his first lesson on the guitar.
Nesbit was hooked. He got his
own guitar a year or two after, and taught himself to play by the age
of 12. He started writing songs at that time and has continued to do
so to this day. As a child, he sang at school and church concerts. In
Standard One, at the age of 8, he sang TheRose of Tralee, accompanied
by his brother on the accordion.
The birth of Nesbit the
country singer, came about almost by accident. Fascinated by the
records of America’s original yodeling cowboy, Jimmy Rogers, which his
father had acquired from an Englishman, Nesbit tried to yodel, his
first efforts coming out as a croak. By the time he came to record for
Ace Records in Georgetown in the early 50’s, Nesbit had perfected his
yodeling, demonstrated in songs like the beautifully nostalgic Sunny
Corentyne.
In the late 1940’s, Nesbit
took to the airwaves, and won the first prize on the Gong Show at ZFY
radio station in Georgetown. Not long after that, he was singing on
radio on the Olga Lopes Seales radio shows, Olga Sings, and Berbice
Calling, both programs aired from New Amsterdam, originally from
Menezes’ residence on Pope and Main Streets, and later from the Town
Hall. Alva Lewis provided the piano accompaniment. Porter played the
musical saw as a guest artiste.
Nesbit also remembers going on
stage with Sam Chase and Ted Roy, legends of vaudeville, in the
1940’s, and Sam clowning in the background, totally distracting the
audience.
In the 40’s and early 50’s,
country records were not readily available in British Guiana. To
become familiar with current country songs and build up his
repertoire, Nesbit used to tune in to WSM 650 in Nashville and listen
to the Grand Ole Opry on Saturday nights; also WWVA 1170 Wheeling West
Virginia, and other stations in Ohio and Kentucky. Nesbit and Greta
(his wife) listened in and while Greta was copying the words in
shorthand, Nesbit tried to memorize the melody - Webb Pierce’s
Wondering Wondering and Back Street Affair come to mind. Remember,
these
were the days before tape
recorders.
Incidentally, my brothers and
I also listened to these far-flung U.S. stations in the 50’s, picking
up weak signals late at night. We ended up buying a mail order guitar
instruction book from Doc Williams, WWVA, Wheeling West Virginia. I
had the pleasure of meeting Doc Williams and his wife Chickie at the
Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto in 1969, and ‘took a bow’, when he
introduced my brother and I to the audience.
Guitar strings were in short
supply in those days in British Guiana and Nesbit tells the story of
singing to American sailors who came off bauxite boats docked at
Everton by Providence in the Berbice River. The sailors were surprised
and delighted to hear "cowboy" songs from their homeland, deep "in the
bush" of Guyana. To show their appreciation, they brought guitar
strings and a country music song book on their next trip and gave them
to Nesbit.
Nesbit was truly Guyana’s
singing cowboy. There were a few imitators but none like him. His
first recordings (78 r.p.m.) at Ace Records (Vivian Lee production) in
Georgetown in the mid ‘50’s, included his compositions, songs such as
Sunny Corentyne, There’s No Room in My Heart for Another, Bring Back
My Daddy, Mother, the Queen of My Heart, Starry Waltz, and I’m so
Helpless, I could cry. At those sessions, Nesbit played the guitar,
Ernest Alstrom played the Hawaiian Steel Guitar and there was also
backing by a stand up bass (mama violin). Later, the versatile Nesbit
recorded Santa Samba, and Rock Around the Moon on 45 r.p.m. discs made
in Trinidad.
Nesbit is perhaps best known
for his 1964 BGBS recordings A Guianese Lament and Call to Guiana,
made in the studios of Radio Demerara at Broadcasting House in
Georgetown. Both are poignant tributes to Guyana’s tragic racial
history, and a call to healing, as relevant then as it is today. The
money raised from the aforementioned Guianese Lament was donated to
the Red Cross.
Chhangur’s achievements have
won him a number of awards including the Wordsworth McAndrew Award –
Guyana Folk Festival 2002, New York. Last November, in Toronto, he
received an award from the Berbice Educational Institute where he was
a teacher and Vice-Principal.
Nesbit remembers performing at
the New Amsterdam Town Hall with names like Moses Telford (pianist),
Herbert Spence (classical singer), Vincent Moonsammy (country singer),
and Alva Lewis (pianist). On Guyana radio, he remembers names like
Weatherspoon (tenor), Aubrey Burke (singer in the Sinatra vein),
Vernon Williams (singer), Claudette Murray (pop and standards singer),
and Olga Lopes Seales (singer and radio announcer).
In 1966, Nesbit was in
Nashville singing where an attorney signed him to a 2-year contract to
sing and play in Nashville. Nesbit signed under the condition that he
had to return home to take care of his affairs. Unfortunately when
Nesbit returned to Nashville, the contract had run out and the lawyer
had sold his interest in the music business.
Over the years in Guyana, he
was involved in many charitable functions such as writing and singing
A JubileeSong for the Catholic Standard Diamond Jubilee in 1965. This
was aired on radio on April 4, 1965 on the Catholic Broadcast program,
with the popular Combo 7 providing the musical accompaniment. He also
sang at the Miss Guyana Competition, hosted by Sarah Lou Carter.
He has organized and raised
money for the Georgetown YMCA annual concert which featured bands like
the Ramblers, the Rhythmaires, the Telstars, the Combo 7 and
performers like Habib Khan (comedian), Evelyn John (soprano), Joshia
(musical saw), and other notable Guyanese performers. When Dr. Jagan
was elected as Prime Minister in 1961, he invited Nesbit to sing at
his inauguration at Queen’s College.
In Guyana, Nesbit was a
Primary and High School teacher (Vice-Principal) at the Berbice
Educational Institute (originally at Pilot and Main Streets) in New
Amsterdam. He was also the General Secretary of the Georgetown YMCA.
He has served on several national committees including the visiting
committee to prisons, Oxfam, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, the
National Youth Association, the Badminton Association, and the
Swimming Association.
Since Nesbit moved to Canada
in the mid 60’s, he has been singing for senior citizens and the sick,
in hospitals, nursing homes, and other institutions, free of charge,
as a way of giving back to Canada and Canadians. As a tribute to
Canada, he wrote and recorded on CD a song entitled, Canadians We Will
Always Be.
Incidentally, our paths
crossed again around 1967 at the International House in Ottawa. My
brother and I were then students at the University of Ottawa, and on
Saturday nights, we often went to the International House on Somerset
Street. There we bounced up with Nesbit on stage one night, and sang
some rousing Guyanese folk songs like Satira Girl and Sancho Lick he
Lovah.
In 1967, Nesbit entered a CJOH
(Ottawa) TV talent show called "Take a Bow", and sang his song which
won first prize. On December 7, 1987, the CBC TV aired a series called
"It’s About Time" about individuals who had a hobby or dream and never
gave up. Nesbit was chosen as one such person.
Throughout the years, Nesbit
has been ably assisted and encouraged by his wife Greta, consultant,
critic, co-writer and financier. His sons Rohan, Brian, Anthony and
Sean have followed in their father’s musical footsteps with Rohan and
his band Traction and Brian forming bands of their own. Nesbit’s two
daughters are also musically inclined.
Sean is a jazz and funk piano
player, performing for many years with big bands on cruise ships and
on stage. Presently he teaches vocals and piano. One of his songs, You
Are My Life, was recorded in the USA by the legendary Chuck Jackson.
Nesbit continues to play, on
his own, with his sons, and in bands around Ottawa where he lives. He
has been teaching guitar at Continuing Education with the Ottawa Board
of Education for over 24 years and is known as "Nez, the guitar
teacher". He is a retired Civil Servant from the Federal Government in
Ottawa. He is also a qualified guitar service technician and has a
home recording studio.
At present, an independent
filmmaker in Ottawa is using his song Tropical Haven in a film called
Buscando. In the 1950’s, one of Nesbit’s early recordings There’s No
Room in my Heart for Another,
was used in a Scottish BBC
documentary on Guyana called, Roraima, The Lost World.
Nesbit released an album
called Joanne in 1980. You can get his current CD You’ll Always be
There (2000), a variety showpiece of 16 of Nesbit’s compositions, and
his latest CD Tropical Haven (2002) – a tribute to Guyana, from Ivor
Lynch at EPLRECORDS@aol.com in New York, Ron Lammy at RHLammy@aol.com
in Boston, and from Gretnes Productions at nezchhang@hotmail.com in
Ottawa. They are worthy collections for Guyanese and others to
acquire.
Nesbit is a living legend –
broadcaster, songwriter, singer, bandleader, youth leader, family man,
teacher, and community worker, a citizen extraordinaire who never
gives up. He’s still writing songs and recording, hoping one day his
songs and music will make the big times. On April 14, 2002, he and
Greta celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. His is an example of
a life well lived.
Nesbit with his big heart has
made his mark in our hearts. Listen to his CD’s and hear where this
son of Guyana is coming from. If the sun still shines and the creeks
don’t rise, I’ll be talking to you.
