[2] At the age of sixteen he moved to Kingston to live with an aunt, and began hanging around recording studios, where he was taught guitar by Ernest Ranglin.
[1] In 1966 he took leave to return home for Haile Selassie's visit to Jamaica and became a committed Rastafarian from that point on.
Lee Perry was the first to take a chance on him, although his version of "Standing on the Hill" was passed over in favour of that by Chenley Duffus.
[1] With nobody prepared to record him as a singer he concentrated on the guitar, and worked as a member of the Sons of Negus in the early 1970s, as well as The Righteous Brothers (led by Vivian "Yabby You" Jackson and also featuring Albert Griffiths of The Gladiators).
[1][2][4] When the Congos split up, Johnson began recording as Congo Ashanti Roy, and worked with Adrian Sherwood on his Singers & Players project and Prince Far I, the latter producing his debut solo album, Sign of the Star in 1980.