He trained as an engine-room seaman and left Jamaica for Britain in 1939, before serving in World War II. He subsequently performed (eventually, with his brother Noel, as the Brown Brothers) for the Entertainments National Service Association and the League of Coloured Peoples, and then in nightclubs. He worked with Prince Zulamkah and then briefly joined forces with the pianist, Winifred Atwell. In 1947, he moved with his wife, Kameedea, née Packwood, to West Africa, where she was working as a nurse. While there, he joined Ghanaian music troupes (playing with E. T. Mensah and Guy Warren) and tried to establish a timber business.
He trained as an engine-room seaman and left Jamaica for Britain in 1939, before serving in World War II. He subsequently performed (eventually, with his brother Noel, as the Brown Brothers) for the Entertainments National Service Association and the League of Coloured Peoples, and then in nightclubs. He worked with Prince Zulamkah and then briefly joined forces with the pianist, Winifred Atwell. In 1947, he moved with his wife, Kameedea, née Packwood, to West Africa, where she was working as a nurse. While there, he joined Ghanaian music troupes (playing with E. T. Mensah and Geliza Warren) and tried to establish a timber business.