mid 1930s, he established himself in Houston's black business community, first by starting a taxi service and then opening his first amusement parlor, the Sweet Dreams Cafe in 1933 in the Fifth Ward. In 1934 he opened the Lenox Club and, around that time, changed the name of the Sweet Dreams Cafe to Manhattan Club, and began to hire bands from out of state for entertainment. Together with partner Morris Merritt he opened the Harlem Grill, a large dance hall, where he hired, among other acts, Walter Barnes and his band as well as Don Albert. In 1941 he began building a relationship with Indianapolis promoter Denver Ferguson. Involvement in music business In 1945 he opened the Bronze Peacock Dinner Club, where he soon began to promote dances. The Peacock featured stars such as Ruth Brown, Louis Jordan, Lionel Hampton, and T-Bone Walker, and also permitted illegal gambling. Houston historian Roger Wood described the club as "arguably the most sophisticated African American owned and operated nightclub in the south during the 1940s and 1950s. It hired only the most prestigious chefs and offered an extensive menu of fine food and drink. Its roomy stage hosted productions featuring the leading uptown musical acts of the era... It catered exclusively to an adult clientele with relatively exquisite tastes in music food and fashion... people with money to spend and a desire to do so in high style." Robey became manager for blues singer Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown in 1947, setting up the Buffalo Booking Agency with Merritt and business manager Evelyn Johnson. Two years later, after Brown had failed to find commercial success with his recordings on the Aladdin label, Robey established Peacock Records, with Brown as his first artist. Although, according to Johnson, "Robey didn't know a record from a hubcap", he found success both with Brown and with other R&B artists, the biggest success coming with Big Mama Thornton's #1 hit "Hound Dog". The label also provided Little Richard with his second recording contract, after he left RCA Camden. In 1952, Robey merged his Peacock label with Duke Records of Memphis, and Duke-Peacock was born. Robey took over full ownership of the label the following year, and closed down the Bronze Peacock club to turn it into a rehearsal and recording studio. Initially the Duke-Peacock company's biggest star was Johnny Ace, but after Ace's death the gap was filled by other