Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue (1977) 7/11/20

Songwriter Richard Leigh had written a few country hits for Loretta Lynn's kid sister, Crystal Gayle, but felt he'd run out of songs for her to record.

Crystal's producer Allen Reynolds stopped by Leigh's house to see if they could come up with something together, but the only new song Richard had on hand was something he thought would be great for Shirley Bassey (who had a Top 10 hit with “Goldfinger” in 1964)

The story goes that after Allen heard it, he said, “Shirley Bassey my a**, that's a Crystal song!”

Reynolds was right! In late 1977, ”Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue” became a “Great Song of the '70s!

Apparently it only took Crystal three takes to lay down the perfect vocal, and the rest of the recording session was completed in short order.

Then, when it was released, EVERYBODY agreed it was a “Crystal Song.” It went to #1 on Billboard's Country Chart and #2 on the Hot 100. (Kept from the #1 slot by Debby Boone's 10-week “You Light Up My Life” juggernaut.) It also hit #4 on the Adult Contemporary Chart.

In Canada, she topped all 3 matching charts...and it was a top 10 hit in 4 other countries.

It won the Grammy for “Best Female Country Vocal,” and in 1999, ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) announced that—thanks to Crystal Gayle and several cover versions recorded in the US and worldwide---the song made the Top 10 list of “Most Performed Songs of All Time!”

It's “Crystal” clear: “Don't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue” is a “Great Song of the '70s!” (Fun fact: Crystal has blue eyes. Think about it.)