Michelle Loubon

Ca­lyp­son­ian Daniel Brown (Trinidad Rio) grew up at the Bel­mont Or­phan­age. As his ca­reer blos­somed, Brown con­stant­ly de­vot­ed his time and tal­ents to peo­ple in­car­cer­at­ed in in­sti­tu­tions like Youth Train­ing Cen­tre (YTC) and Car­rera pris­ons. Dur­ing Car­ni­val, Brown was ho­n­oured by YTC–A Trib­ute To Rio. The young men sang his hits like Back To Ba­sics, Trav­el­ling Man, No Draw­ers and Big Wood Man. Bare-backed and with bow-tie, they im­i­tat­ed his stage per­sona to the nines. He was pre­sent­ed with a plaque. Shar­ing his mile­stone was his wife Kather­ine Gar­m­mon and chil­dren.

At Nu Pub, Wood­brook, re­cent­ly, Brown said, "It is be­yond ex­pres­sion. It's a mon­u­men­tal ex­pres­sion for what it is and where it came from. The recog­ni­tion and re­spect I got from them. It meant a lot for me. It was like watch­ing my­self on stage. I grew up in a sim­i­lar in­sti­tu­tion. I was nev­er in jail. It was Bel­mont Or­phan­age."While oth­ers may have hid­den their past, Brown said Bel­mont Or­phan­age had a pos­i­tive im­pact on his de­vel­op­ment and pas­sion for mu­sic. He holds no grudges against his moth­er, the late Olivia Brown, for mak­ing the de­ci­sion to send him there. "It was an ob­vi­ous bless­ing. I was in there from eight to 16. I come from a large fam­i­ly...nine chil­dren. My old la­dy put me there be­cause it was tough. But she nev­er turned her back on me. She would al­ways come and vis­it. I learnt dis­ci­pline. We marched bare­foot­ed on the street. I learnt mu­sic. I learnt to play trum­pet and French horn. I learnt join­ery," said Brown.

Brown be­gan to dis­cov­er his love for singing there."I took part in com­pe­ti­tions and won. I would lis­ten to the sta­tion Ra­dio Red­if­fu­sion. I in­stinc­tive­ly knew mu­sic would be part of my life. I thank God for mu­sic be­cause with­out it I don't know where I would have been," said Brown.

In­spired by Pre­tender

Brown was in­spired by the late great Pre­tender's (Al­ric Far­rell) ca­lyp­so Nev­er Ever Wor­ry."I played that song all over in my head. I said this mes­sage is so sim­ple and deep. When you are go­ing through hard times, it does not mat­ter what hap­pens. Doh mind if you suf­fer­ing bad. Just talk to God. It stuck with me. I de­cid­ed to sing a mes­sage song Sam­bo."

Asked what he felt should be done to help youth Brown said, "They need guid­ance and dis­ci­pline. I am an al­tru­ist. I am a mis­sion­ary ca­lyp­son­ian. I put a bit of hu­mour in my songs but the mes­sage is pro­found."

Asked about Car­rera Brown said, "For years, I would go back as a guest artiste at the ca­lyp­so com­pe­ti­tion. It could be made in­to a tourist re­sort. It is a nice lo­ca­tion. They let Cen­tipede Is­land go to waste."

About Trinidad Rio

He was born in San Fer­nan­do but his fam­i­ly was from Clax­ton Bay.When he left the or­phan­age, his first job was as an ap­pren­tice to a shoe­mak­er. "It was $8 a week."Dur­ing his child­hood, Brown re­mem­bered his moth­er play­ing an Old Mas char­ac­ter."To­day there is a bit of sad­ness when I re­alised how she strug­gled to take care of us. My old la­dy was tall. And in those days, if they recog­nised you, they would say "Old Mas, I know you." It meant you would get no mon­ey. But she still got. She would come with a pan full of pen­nies and cop­pers. It was a joy­ous ex­pe­ri­ence for us as chil­dren."Brown finds peace at pic­turesque Tal­paro where he owns land. "I al­ways want­ed a place with a riv­er flow­ing through it. The birds are singing. The place is pris­tine. I say God's face is in Tal­paro. The peo­ple are warm. I love Tal­paro."