"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" composer Richard Leigh had been responsible for all three of Crystal Gayle's previous Top Ten C&W hits, the third of which "I'll Get Over You" had reached number 1. According to Gayle's regular producer Allen Reynolds, he was advised by Leigh's landlady, songwriter Sandy Mason Theoret, that Leigh was "a little down in the dumps lately because nothing much [was] happening" after the success of "I'll Get Over You". At Theoret's suggestion, Reynolds visited Leigh to cheer him up. Reynolds explained, "we were sittin' on the floor...singing songs to one another. [Leigh] mentioned a song that his publisher was gonna get to Shirley Bassey...[and] sang it for me: 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue'. I said, 'Shirley Bassey my ass, I want that song!'" Reynolds recalls that when he played "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" for Gayle "she was just as excited [by the song] as I was."[1]
The track was recorded at Jack's Tracks in Nashville on October 27, 1976. As Reynolds' regular session keyboardist Charles Cochran had suffered a stroke with some resultant numbness in his hands, Reynolds hired Hargus "Pig" Robbins to play keyboards, and Robbins instantly devised the song's signature acoustic pianoriff; Cochran was also featured on the session playing the horn parts on a Wurlitzer. Reynolds noted "it was just one of those charmed sessions...[After] we presented the song to the musicians...it was about the third time running [through] that song that we ran tape...[Gayle] sang [the song] wonderfully. It came so fast that she wasn't sure that she had done her best job. I had to let her try to sing it again on two or three different occasions until she was comfortable with the original [vocal take], and that's what we went with. Everything on that recording was the original take as it went down, except the string section I added later."[1]
In a 2004 Country Music Television interview, Gayle stated that Leigh wrote the song because his dog had one brown eye and one blue eye. However, in a 2016 interview, Richard Leigh set the record straight and said that this was not the case. His dog, Amanda, a terrier, had two brown eyes.[2]
Critical receptionedit
The song became a worldwide hit single. In the United States, it topped the Billboardcountry music chart for four weeks, and was Gayle's first (and biggest) crossover pop hit, reaching number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 for two weeks, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks, blocked from the top spot by Debby Boone's smash hit, "You Light Up My Life". The album received Platinum status, the first by a female country singer. The song became Gayle's signature piece throughout her career. In 1978, the song won Gayle a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In 1999, the song was recognized by ASCAP as one of the ten most-performed songs of the 20th century. The song has a jazzy feel to it when compared to many other country songs of that era. Gayle had many more hit singles for the next ten years, such as "Talking in Your Sleep", "Half the Way" "You and I" (a duet with Eddie Rabbitt) and "I'll Get Over You", but none have achieved the same level of success as "Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue".
Cover versionsedit
The song has been covered by Lorrae Desmond, Laura Fygi, Anita Meyer, the Nolans, Tessanne Chin, Dolly Parton, Alison Statton (aka Devine & Statton), Wendy Van Wanten, and Dana Winner. Mireille Mathieu recorded the song first in French as "Un peu de bleu" in 1977 then in German as "Tränen Würden Mir Nicht Stehn" in 1980, another French rendering "Mes yeux bleus sont gris" was recorded by Michèle Torr, Matell, and a Cantonese version titled "你說是甜我說苦 (You Say it is Sweet, I say it is Bitter)" was recorded by Prudence Liew for her Jokingly Saying album. Jitka Zelenková in Czech version (Loučení) in 1979 and then also Lenka Filipová in Czech version Vraní blues for her album Zamilovaná in 1981.
^ abKosser, Michael (2006). How Nashville Became Music City USA: 50 years of Music Row (1st ed.). Milwaukee WI: Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 272. ISBN0-634-09806-3.
^Story Behind the Song: 'Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue', retrieved 2022-08-09
^Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 131.
^"Crystal Gayle Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
^ "Crystal Gayle Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
^. Archived from the original on 2016-10-30. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
^ ab"Kent Music Report No 236 – 1 January 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1978". Kent Music Report. Retrieved January 8, 2022 – via Imgur.com.
^"Image : RPM Weekly". Bac-lac.gc.ca. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
^"Hot Country Songs – Year-End 1977". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2021.
^. Archived from the original on 2018-10-20. Retrieved 2016-10-30.
^. Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
^"Top 100 Hits of 1978/Top 100 Songs of 1978". Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016-10-12.
External linksedit
Song review from AllMusic
November 11, 2023
make, brown, eyes, blue, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, scholar, jstor, oc. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue is a song written by Richard Leigh and recorded by American country music singer Crystal Gayle It was released in June 1977 as the first single from Gayle s album We Must Believe in Magic Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue One of side A labels of the US singleSingle by Crystal Gaylefrom the album We Must Believe in MagicB side All I Wanna Do in Life ReleasedJune 1977 1977 06 Recorded1976 Jack s Tracks Recording Studio Nashville GenreCountry pop folk jazzLength2 37LabelUnited ArtistsSongwriter s Richard LeighProducer s Allen ReynoldsCrystal Gayle singles chronology I ll Do It All Over Again 1977 Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue 1977 I ve Cried The Blue Right Out of My Eyes 1977 Contents 1 Background 2 Critical reception 3 Cover versions 4 Chart performance 4 1 Weekly singles charts 4 2 Year end charts 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksBackground edit Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue composer Richard Leigh had been responsible for all three of Crystal Gayle s previous Top Ten C amp W hits the third of which I ll Get Over You had reached number 1 According to Gayle s regular producer Allen Reynolds he was advised by Leigh s landlady songwriter Sandy Mason Theoret that Leigh was a little down in the dumps lately because nothing much was happening after the success of I ll Get Over You At Theoret s suggestion Reynolds visited Leigh to cheer him up Reynolds explained we were sittin on the floor singing songs to one another Leigh mentioned a song that his publisher was gonna get to Shirley Bassey and sang it for me Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue I said Shirley Bassey my ass I want that song Reynolds recalls that when he played Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue for Gayle she was just as excited by the song as I was 1 The track was recorded at Jack s Tracks in Nashville on October 27 1976 As Reynolds regular session keyboardist Charles Cochran had suffered a stroke with some resultant numbness in his hands Reynolds hired Hargus Pig Robbins to play keyboards and Robbins instantly devised the song s signature acoustic piano riff Cochran was also featured on the session playing the horn parts on a Wurlitzer Reynolds noted it was just one of those charmed sessions After we presented the song to the musicians it was about the third time running through that song that we ran tape Gayle sang the song wonderfully It came so fast that she wasn t sure that she had done her best job I had to let her try to sing it again on two or three different occasions until she was comfortable with the original vocal take and that s what we went with Everything on that recording was the original take as it went down except the string section I added later 1 In a 2004 Country Music Television interview Gayle stated that Leigh wrote the song because his dog had one brown eye and one blue eye However in a 2016 interview Richard Leigh set the record straight and said that this was not the case His dog Amanda a terrier had two brown eyes 2 Critical reception editThe song became a worldwide hit single In the United States it topped the Billboard country music chart for four weeks and was Gayle s first and biggest crossover pop hit reaching number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 for two weeks and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for three weeks blocked from the top spot by Debby Boone s smash hit You Light Up My Life The album received Platinum status the first by a female country singer The song became Gayle s signature piece throughout her career In 1978 the song won Gayle a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance In 1999 the song was recognized by ASCAP as one of the ten most performed songs of the 20th century The song has a jazzy feel to it when compared to many other country songs of that era Gayle had many more hit singles for the next ten years such as Talking in Your Sleep Half the Way You and I a duet with Eddie Rabbitt and I ll Get Over You but none have achieved the same level of success as Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue Cover versions editThe song has been covered by Lorrae Desmond Laura Fygi Anita Meyer the Nolans Tessanne Chin Dolly Parton Alison Statton aka Devine amp Statton Wendy Van Wanten and Dana Winner Mireille Mathieu recorded the song first in French as Un peu de bleu in 1977 then in German as Tranen Wurden Mir Nicht Stehn in 1980 another French rendering Mes yeux bleus sont gris was recorded by Michele Torr Matell and a Cantonese version titled 你說是甜我說苦 You Say it is Sweet I say it is Bitter was recorded by Prudence Liew for her Jokingly Saying album Jitka Zelenkova in Czech version Louceni in 1979 and then also Lenka Filipova in Czech version Vrani blues for her album Zamilovana in 1981 Chart performance editWeekly singles charts edit Chart 1977 1978 PeakpositionU S Billboard Hot Country Singles 3 1US Billboard Hot 100 4 2US Adult Contemporary Billboard 5 4U S Cash Box Top 100 6 1Canadian RPM Country Playlist 1Canadian RPM Top Singles 1Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks 1Irish Singles Chart 4UK 5New Zealand Singles Chart 9Netherlands 10Australia Kent Music Report 7 16 Year end charts edit Chart 1977 RankCanada RPM Top Singles 8 29US Hot Country Songs Billboard 9 2US Cash Box 10 62Chart 1978 RankAustralia Kent Music Report 11 7 82US Billboard Hot 100 12 71See also editList of Cash Box Top 100 number one singles of 1977References edit a b Kosser Michael 2006 How Nashville Became Music City USA 50 years of Music Row 1st ed Milwaukee WI Hal Leonard Corporation p 272 ISBN 0 634 09806 3 Story Behind the Song Don t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue retrieved 2022 08 09 Whitburn Joel 2004 The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits 1944 2006 Second edition Record Research p 131 Crystal Gayle Chart History Hot 100 Billboard Crystal Gayle Chart History Adult Contemporary Billboard Cash Box Top 100 12 10 77 Archived from the original on 2016 10 30 Retrieved 2016 10 30 a b Kent Music Report No 236 1 January 1979 gt National Top 100 Singles for 1978 Kent Music Report Retrieved January 8 2022 via Imgur com Image RPM Weekly Bac lac gc ca 17 July 2013 Retrieved 23 April 2021 Hot Country Songs Year End 1977 Billboard Retrieved August 3 2021 Cash Box YE Pop Singles 1977 Archived from the original on 2018 10 20 Retrieved 2016 10 30 australian charts com Forum Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts 1980s ARIA Charts Special Occasion Charts Australian charts com Archived from the original on 6 October 2014 Retrieved 23 April 2021 Top 100 Hits of 1978 Top 100 Songs of 1978 Musicoutfitters com Retrieved 2016 10 12 External links editSong review from AllMusic Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Don 27t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue amp oldid 1183035419, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
