Single Stories: Van Morrison records “Brown Eyed Girl"

50 years ago today, Van Morrison entered the studio to record a track which – even after more than 35 studio albums – remains one of the most popular songs in his catalog.

Produced by Bert Berns and written by Morrison himself, “Brown Eyed Girl” – which was recorded at A&R Studios in New York City – originally began life under the title “Brown-Skinned Girl,” a nod to the calypso sound which had inspired him whilst composing the track. The change from brown skin to brown eyes was one which apparently occurred on the fly: in Johnny Rogan’s book No Surrender, Morrison is quoted as saying, “After we recorded it, I looked at the tape box and didn’t even notice that I’d changed the title. I looked at the box where I’d lain it down with my guitar and it said ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ on the tape box. It’s just one of those things that happened.” There’s also a claim in an Independent article that the song “was about an interracial relationship” and that Morrison “changed it to make it more palatable to radio stations,” but with no direct quote from Morrison on the matter, we’re considering it dubious at best.

“Brown Eyed Girl” famously received a radio edit as a result of certain stations finding the lyric “making love in the green grass” too racy for listeners in 1967, with the line “laughin’ and a-runnin’, hey, hey” copied from earlier in the song and plugged into the offending spot. You can only imagine how much Morrison loved this maneuver, but it’s nothing compared to how upset he was – and remains – about the fact that his contract with Bang Records led to him receiving no royalties for the song, despite how much it’s been played over the years. It might also be why, when discussing “Brown Eyed” girl with TIME Magazine in 2009, Morrison said, “It’s not one of my best. I mean, I’ve got about 300 songs that I think are better.”

Whatever Morrison’s thoughts may be on “Brown Eyed Girl,” it proved to be his first top-10 in the States, helping to establish his identity to the public in the wake of leaving his band, Them. That’s nothing to sneeze at.