SIBLING music groups were the rage in the United States during the early 1970’s. Teen ‘phenoms’ The Jackson 5 and The Osmonds were pick of the litter.
In Jamaica, there was the Browne Bunch which included brothers Glen, Dalton, Noel, Cleveland and Danny.
They recorded a few songs over 40 years ago before separating in the mid-1970s.
The quintet recently returned to the studio with keyboardist Robbie Lyn and recorded the song, Honesty, released on Glen’s Island Treasure label.
“Its been such a long time I never thought this would happen, but we all wanted things to be right if we were to work again,” said 62-year-old Glen, eldest of the siblings.
Interestingly, their first released song was a 1973 cover of the Jacksons’ Good Thing Going, with Cleveland on vocals.
It was produced by Mikey Chung, then a member of the Now Generation, the hot session band in Jamaica at the time.
The Brownes took different musical paths by 1976, with bass player Glen settling on the north coast hotel circuit. He later recorded and toured with Jimmy Cliff and Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers.
He is currently a member of Tarrus Riley’s band.
Dalton, a guitarist, became a top session musician and musical director for Freddie McGregor’s band.
Noel, a keyboard player, lives in England.
Cleveland (drums) and Danny (guitar) were the most successful commercially. The former joined the In Crowd Band and later became half of Steely and Clevie, arguably the top producers in the annals of dancehall.
Danny, a founding member in the early 1980s of the Bloodfire Posse, also excelled as a dancehall producer in the 1990s as head of Main Street Records.
The Brownes re-grouped in 1983, releasing the self-produced Blue Skies, Hold a Hand and Break of Dawn. Different projects again prevented any follow-up songs. Though their schedule remains tight, Glen Browne said he and his brothers were excited about working together again.
“We put our hearts into the song an’ we can only hope people love it.”
You must log in to post a comment.