In 1958, Brown was spotted by television producer
Jack Good who hired him as lead guitarist in the orchestra of his new TV series,
Boy Meets Girls. During this period, he backed a number of US musicians such as
Gene Vincent and
Eddie Cochran on their UK tours.
1960s Brown signed a management agreement with
Larry Parnes. Parnes attempted to change Brown's stage name to 'Elmer Twitch', a story which Brown still refers to on occasion during his live sets. Brown signed to
Decca Records. He charted with "
The Darktown Strutters' Ball" in 1960, and had UK
Top 10 hits on the
Piccadilly label in 1962–63 with "
A Picture of You", which reached number one on the NME charts (the main chart of the day); "It Only Took A Minute", and "That's What Love Will Do" (written by
Trevor Peacock). Brown's recording band was a collection of
session musicians, and was named the Bruvvers by Jack Good, to give Brown the identity of having his own backing band for
record releases. It was in 1962, when he needed a band to
tour with him, that 'Joe Brown and the Bruvvers' was cemented, containing two members of the Spacemen, brothers Tony and Pete Oakman, who had also remained with him in the "Boy Meets Girls" band. Brown also starred in the hit musical
Charlie Girl in the West End between 1965 and 1968; and in the musical comedy film
Three Hats for Lisa in 1965 with
Una Stubbs,
Sophie Hardy and
Sid James. He also made a cameo appearance as himself in the 1964 film
The Beauty Jungle, and presented the children's television series
Joe & Co on
BBC Television.
1970s and after In 1972, he formed another band, ''Brown's Home Brew'', which played rock and roll,
country and
gospel music and featured his wife,
Vicki Brown, and Pete Oakman from the Bruvvers. This eclectic collection of musical styles, together with his hits, became the basis of his live sets ever since. Brown was a regular guest on the revived
Oh Boy! show in 1979 alongside
Shakin' Stevens,
Alvin Stardust,
Lulu,
Mr. Lee Grant,
Freddie 'Fingers' Lee,
Les Gray,
Tim Whitnall, Johnny Storm, the Shades and
Fumble. In the 1980s, Brown presented a daytime quiz show on
Granada TV called
Square One; its success led him to recording a pilot for the prime time game show
The Price Is Right but ATV selected
Leslie Crowther for the full-time presenting role when the series launched. He also hosted
Show Me, an early evening game show produced by
Anglia Television and aired on
ITV for one series in 1987, and made a brief appearance as Dudley, a crooked club owner, in the 1986 film
Mona Lisa, opposite
Bob Hoskins.
George Harrison was best man at Brown's second wedding in 2000; Brown had appeared on two songs on Harrison's album
Gone Troppo, and also was featured on a track on Harrison's last album,
Brainwashed. Following Harrison's death from lung cancer on 29 November 2001, Brown appeared with his group at the
Concert for George tribute, held on the first anniversary of his death. Brown played guitar whilst singing "
Here Comes the Sun",
mandolin on "
That's The Way It Goes," and
ukulele on the closing number, "
I'll See You in My Dreams". Brown still performs and makes occasional television appearances. In 2005, he co-wrote a musical, ''Don't You Rock Me Daddio
, with songwriter Roger Cook, while in December 2006, he was one of three guest hosts of Sounds of the '60s'' on
BBC Radio 2 during the absence of host
Brian Matthew, having already presented two series on rock and roll for the same station. In 2008, Brown's 50th anniversary celebrations included a UK
gold album for sales over 100,000 copies of
Joe Brown – The Very Best Of, a 37-date spring tour, an all-star concert at the
Royal Albert Hall with
Mark Knopfler,
Jools Holland,
Dennis Locorriere,
Dave Edmunds,
Sam Brown,
Chas & Dave and others, and a 36-date autumn-winter tour. His album
More of the Truth was released in the UK on 13 October 2008 and, in 2009, the US musical instrument manufacturer Kala launched a series of 'Joe Brown' ukuleles. At the
Mojo magazine's awards in London on 11 June 2009, Brown was presented with the lifetime award for outstanding contribution to music after 51 years' recording. In late 2010, Brown was asked by
Rick Parfitt of
Status Quo to support them for the arena section (nine shows) of their UK tour in late 2010, and he continued to tour throughout 2011. A triple DVD and CD set of the latter tour was released of his show at the
Liverpool Philharmonic. In November 2011
Mojos album
Harrison Covered, released to mark the tenth anniversary of George Harrison's death, included Brown's recording of Harrison's "That's the Way It Goes". in 2014 Brown pulled out of the
Village Pump Folk Festival for medical reasons. He was replaced by
Peatbog Faeries. == Honours ==