Young Tiger

George Browne (4 May 1920 – 23 March 2007), better known as the Young Tiger, was a Trinidadian calypso musician.

Born Edric Browne in Port of Spain, Trinidad & Tobago, where his childhood was imbued with the African traditions of Shango and Spiritual Baptist Shouting, he assumed the name George E. Browne in homage to his mentor and family friend, Richard E. Braithwaite, whose library introduced him to works of black history and activism.

Browne joined a Norwegian tanker at the age of 20 and, after a brief stay in Australia, signed off in Scotland in 1941. After befriending other expatriate Trinidadians in Glasgow he relocated to London and began to earn his living as a musician. In 1943 he found luck with a surprise hit, "Christmas Calypso." In 1947-48 he co-founded (with Bermudian Ken Gordon (1927-2013), uncle of newsreader Moira Stuart) the Three Just Men group and toured in Europe and North Africa with the trio the following year.

During the same time, Browne worked with a minstrel show headlining Westminster's Central Hall, later involving himself as a vocalist in the chorus of a West End revival of the musical Show Boat. Afterwards, he earned extra money with a small group covering current American pop tunes.

Utilizing the calypsonian tradition of social commentary, while playing with a rhumba band at the posh Orchid Room, he put together an extemporary few bars in honor of guest Prince Philip. The staff and proprietor were aghast, but when he returned to play the next night, London's upper crust showed up for that very reason. Unfortunately, Browne had scrapped the song after being lectured by an irate manager of the Orchid Room staff. With this success behind him, he toured Paris, returning to London in 1951. In 1952 Tiger signed to Melodisc, the first British company to record calypso music.

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