When Crystal Gayle got her start in country music, she initially struggled to escape the towering shadow of her older sister, country music legend Loretta Lynn. That all changed on this day (August 31) in 1977, when Gayle reached the top of the U.S. country songs chart with the gorgeously melancholy “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue”. Reaching number two on the pop chart as well, the single established Gayle as a crossover star in her own right. She has since amassed more than 20 number-one hits and taken home multiple awards, including a Grammy for Best Female Country Vocal Performance with this very song.
Why Crystal Gayle Almost Missed Out on Her Signature Hit
By the late 1970s, Crystal Gayle was beginning to find her voice. She had reached the top 10 of the country songs chart three times, including her first number-one hit, “I’ll Get Over You”.
Songwriter Richard Leigh had been behind all of Lynn’s chart successes at this point. He had recently written “Don’t Make It My Brown Eyes Blue”, which he planned to pitch to Welsh hitmaker Shirley Bassey. Then he played the song for Gayle’s producer, Allen Reynolds.
“I said, ‘Shirley Bassey my a–, I want that song!’” Reynolds later recalled.
He then played the song for Gayle, who fell in love with it. “It’s a timeless song and I always say I’m glad I got a hold of it,” the singer told Rolling Stone in 2014.
It Needed Just One Take
In October 1976, Crystal Gayle recorded “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” at Jack’s Tracks recording studio in Nashville, with iconic session player Hargus “Pig” Robbins on keyboard.
Reynolds described the session as “charmed,” adding that, “Everything on that recording was the original take as it went down, except the string section I added later.”
Released in June 1977 as the lead single from Gayle’s album We Must Believe in Magic, “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” spent four weeks at number one until Conway Twitty edged it out with “I’ve Already Loved You In My Mind”.
It marked Gayle’s second time at the top spot that year after “You Never Miss a Real Good Thing (Till He Says Goodbye)” reached number one in January.
We Must Believe in Magic reached number two on the Billboard country albums chart and number 12 on the main albums chart. Selling more than a million copies, it also became the first Platinum-certified album by a female country artist.
“Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” remains Gayle’s signature hit, consistently landing on various “all-time great country songs” lists.
Featured image by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
The post 49 Years Ago Today, Crystal Gayle Set Herself Apart From Her Famous Sibling With One of the Decade’s Greatest Country Songs appeared first on American Songwriter.
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