WCSX Classic Cuts : Brown Eyed Girl
WCSX Classic Cuts
Van Morrison: “Brown Eyed Girl”
The Hook: Recording engineer Brooks Arthur recalls the session and how Van gave it his all.
Album: Blowin’ Your Mind
Year: 1967
Writer: Van Morrison
Stats: Peaked at number-10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Background: Van Morrison’s first solo album, Blowin’ Your Mind, was recorded in a two-day session that began 50 years ago today (Tuesday) at A & R Studios in New York City. Studio engineer Brooks Arthur recalls working on Morrison’s classic cut “Brown Eyed Girl.”
Studio engineer Brooks Arthur on his memories of Van Morrison’s recording session for “Brown Eyed Girl.” OC:…feel good. :28
“It sounded like a hit the moment they ran it down in the studio. The hook was incredible. Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations and Jeff Barry were part of the background vocals after Van had left. And at the end of his vocals, not only on ‘Brown Eyed Girl,’ but ‘T.B. Sheets’ and the like, he was spent emotionally and physically and needed a couple of minutes of recovery time. He did say something to me back then which I loved, and that is that nobody ever got a better vocal sound on him than I did. So that made me feel good.”
