by Session guitarists Hugh McCracken and Al Gorgoni recalled their memories and vital contributions
RECORDING WEEK 2025: Every good function band knows one thing: play ABBA’s Dancing Queen, Come On Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners or Van Morrison’s 1967 smash hit Brown Eyed Girl and the dancefloor will become a sea of writhing bodies. Even Van, usually dismissive of the track, concedes: “If you can shake your ass it must be all right.”
Brown Eyed Girl comes from a selection of tracks recorded in New York after the break up of his band, Them. Producer Bert Berns signed Morrison to his new label, Bang, and released the tracks as the album, Blowin’ Your Mind!. But while Brown Eyed Girl captured Morrison in effervescent mood and launched his solo career, it would leave a sour taste in his mouth due to poor contracts and unpaid royalties.
All but bankrupt when he recorded the track in New York’s A&R Studios with a team of NYC’s session elite, little could the singer have known that his fortunes were about to change forever.
