The story behind Van Morrisonโs โBrown Eyed Girlโ is that of one of the great classics of the 1960s.
Van Morrison wrote and recorded it in March 1967, shortly after disbanding his band Them and signing as a solo artist with Bang Records, owned by producer Bert Berns.
The session took place at A&R Studios in New York between March 28 and 30. It took 22 takes to capture the final version, featuring top-tier session musicians and backing vocals by The Sweet Inspirations.
It was originally titled โBrown-Skinned Girlโ and had a strong Jamaican calypso flavor.
It is believed to have been about an interracial romance, a topic too risky for radio in 1967. For that reason, the title was changed to โBrown Eyed Girlโ to make it more commercially acceptable. Even so, the lyric โmaking love in the green grassโ was considered too suggestive, and some stations censored or edited it.
Released as a single in June 1967, it reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, spent 16 weeks on the chart, and became Morrisonโs first major solo hit. It appeared on his debut album Blowinโ Your Mind! and quickly became his best-known song and one of the most covered songs in history.
Despite its enormous popularity, Van Morrison has always been ambivalent about it. He has called it โa filler songโ and said he has โabout 300 better songs.โ
PE Guy is a brilliant character with consistent execution.
Our dash cam rebuttal to his imminently re-watchable video about Kellogg, New Trier and Lake Geneva.