Brown Eyed Girl
Van Morrison's breakthrough single on Bang Records.
"Brown Eyed Girl" is a song by Northern Irish singer and songwriter Van Morrison. Written by Morrison and recorded in March 1967, it was released as a single in June of the same year on the Bang label, peaking at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song spent a total of sixteen weeks on the chart. It featured the Sweet Inspirations singing back-up vocals and is considered to be Van Morrison's signature song.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Van Morrison
- Album
- Blowin' Your Mind!
- B-side
- Goodbye Baby
- Released
- 1967
- Recorded
- 28-30 March 1967
- Studio
- A & R, New York City
- Genre
- Soft rock; pop rock
- Length
- 3:05
Facts from the source article.
Recording and title
After finishing his contract with Decca Records and the mid-1966 break-up of his band Them, Morrison returned to Belfast seeking a new recording company. He received a phone call from Bert Berns, owner of Bang Records, who had produced recordings with Them, and flew to New York City to hastily sign a contract. During a two-day recording session starting 28 March 1967 at A & R Studios, Morrison recorded eight songs intended as four singles. Brown Eyed Girl was captured on the 22nd take of the first day. The session musicians included guitarists Hugh McCracken and Al Gorgoni, bassist Russ Savakus, organist Garry Sherman, and drummer Gary Chester. Originally titled Brown-Skinned Girl, Morrison changed the title when he recorded it, later remarking that the change was a mistake and that he did not notice the alteration until seeing the tape box.
Aftermath
Van Morrison signed a contract with Bang Records without a lawyer, and as a result, he says he has never been paid royalties for writing or recording "Brown Eyed Girl." The deal required him to cover nearly all recording costs before any royalties could be paid. He vented about this unfair arrangement in the sarcastic, nonsense track "The Big Royalty Check." Morrison has also said the song is not a favorite of his, claiming he has about 300 songs he thinks are better. After the single became a hit, producer Bert Berns put together the album Blowin' Your Mind! without Morrison's involvement; it reached No. 182 on the Billboard 200.
Legacy
Morrison's original recording of Brown Eyed Girl remains widely familiar, regularly played by many oldies and classic rock radio stations. In 2011, it was honoured for having 10 million US radio air plays, one of only ten songs registered with BMI to reach that number. As of 2015, it remains the most downloaded and most played song of the entire 1960s decade. As of 2020, it is one of the longest-surviving songs from the 1960s in recurrent rotation. Paul Williams included it in his book Rock and Roll: The 100 Best Singles, writing that it is a song about sex, youth, growing up, memory, and singing. The song proved the impetus for Morrison's career, leading to his relocation to the United States and a contract with Warner Bros. Records.
Critical acclaim and influence
In a contemporaneous review, Billboard described the single as an exciting debut and a groovy piece of original rock material. Cash Box said that scores of deejays and consumers should dig this hard, thumping lid. Record World stated that Morrison socks across Brown Eyed Girl with plenty of beat. Dave Marsh rated it No. 386 in his 1989 book The Heart of Rock and Soul. In 1999, BMI listed it as one of the Top 100 Songs of the Century. It was ranked No. 21 on the Rolling Stone/MTV list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs and No. 49 on VH1's list of the 100 Greatest Rock Songs. In 2001, it was ranked No. 131 among the RIAAs Songs of the Century. In 2010, Rolling Stone ranked it No. 110 on its list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in January 2007 and is one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll.
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