“PLEASE, please, please take note: JAMES BROWN, arrived yesterday” so reported the Nassau Guardian in 1963. Â Nassau, in the 1960s, was no stranger to the biggest entertainment acts the world had to offer. Even more surprisingly, neither was the so-called ‘over the hill’ predominately black areas of New Providence.
In January 1963, James Brown and his Famous Flames (four male backup singers) were in town to perform at several engagements at “Felix Johnson’s Club Zanzibar on Blue Hill Road. Brown was accompanied on stage by the Brownies “a bevy of glamorous and gorgeous dancing girls.” Apparently it was not the first time ‘the hardest working man in show business’ had performed in Nassau. Brown had performed in Nassau four times previously. For three days until Wednesday, January 16th James Brown performed two shows at day at 10:30 p.m and 1:00 a.m., as well as matinee performances at 3:30 p.m. With this gruelling performance schedule at Club Zanzibar, it is easy to see why Brown earned the title of ‘the hardest working man in show business’.
