"Brown Eyed Girl" was written by Van Morrison, the Northern Irish singer-songwriter, who first titled it "Brown-Skinned Girl", a calypso-style song. He recorded it in New York City on 28-30 March 1967 at A & R Studios for producer Bert Berns, and it was retitled when Morrison recorded it. Released as a single in May or June 1967 on Bang Records in the United States and London Records in the United Kingdom, with "Goodbye Baby" on the B-side, it peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent 16 weeks on that chart. It also reached No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 13 in Canada. Billboard called it an "exciting debut". It later entered the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2007 and ranked No. 110 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs in 2010. Musically, it is a soft rock and pop rock song with R&B touches. Morrison never received royalties from it, because he had signed a contract without legal advice. Later versions include those by El Chicano (1972, No. 45 on the Hot 100), Iain Matthews (1976), Jimmy Buffett (1983), Joe Stampley (1984), and recordings by Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Adele.
