Tuesday Tunes 294: Brown

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Having given you a couple of weeks themed around black I thought I would also do some with brown songs. I said at the outset that these were kind of prompted by current events, and wondered if anyone could work out how my strange mind would come up with these connections. No one has yet, but adding in this second colour might help – if you want a clue, then a knowledge of 1930s European history might help. Take it from there!

Now, on to the music. This is probably an obvious place to start, but I’ve never let that deter me:

Van Morrison released Brown Eyed Girl as a single in June 1967, and it reached #10 in the US. Van the Man has barely dented the UK singles charts, which I find amazing, and this one didn’t chart in the UK at that time. It did eventually make it in 2007, and achieved its highest ever UK placing of a meagre #60 in 2013 – talk about a sleeper! It was also included on Van’s debut album, Blowin’ Your Mind, which came out in September 1967, making #182 in the US but not appearing in any other albums chart as far as I can tell. When you consider that this has become a pop-rock classic over the years this all seems a little strange to me.

Next up is one from a couple of years later. Oh alright, four years. I played these guys in the first of my black posts, but I think they are worth another airing:

Brown Sugar was released in April 1971, as the lead single for the Rolling Stones’ Sticky Fingers album – the one with the zip on the album sleeve. Yes, it did work (but you only got to see some underwear!). This was a US #1, but only got to #2 in the UK, where it spent three weeks behind Dawn’s Knock Three Times. Sometimes I despair of the British record buying public – how could we! The album went to #1 in both the US and the UK – the first time they had achieved that – and in many other countries as well. It has sold more than 3m copies in the US and 300k in the UK, and for my money is one of the greatest rock albums ever made. The song has been deemed to be both racist and sexist in our current times, and with its reference to slavery the band have stopped playing it in their live shows. I still think it is a great rock record, though, so as I don’t have to worry about not being paid for playing it I’m going with it anyway.

Unless, like me, you are a big fan of this next guy this one may be new to you:

Apologies if the sound on that is a bit quiet, but I had to find this unofficially shared version of the song, as the official one is heavily restricted. John Mellencamp included Jackie Brown on his tenth album, Big Daddy, which was released in May 1989 and went to #1 in Australia, #3 in Canada, #7 in the US and #25 in the UK. It is still one of my favourites of his, as much for its social conscience as for the music, which is fantastic. Big Daddy is folk-inspired as fiddles (among other instruments) are to the fore on a number of its tracks. The album’s lyrics largely take a serious tone and the album as a whole is regarded by some as Mellencamp’s most reflective. I’m with them on that. This song was released as a single, peaking at #48 in the US, but it didn’t make the UK charts.

Mining my collection of favourites that you may not know, how about this:

Steve Earle made one album with the Del McCoury Band, and Carrie Brown was one of its tracks. The album was The Mountain, released in February 1999, peaking at #133 in the US and at #19 in the US Country Albums chart. Needless to say, it wasn’t a UK hit, but I bought it and loved it. The marriage of Steve and a bluegrass band was fantastic, and this clip shows how much fun they had with it. The record is a blast from start to finish, and is one that I still go back to.

I’m closing this first set of brown songs with something from the biggest band ever. But it may not be one of their better known songs:

Written by George Harrison, The Beatles’ lead guitarist, Old Brown Shoe was released on a non-album single in May 1969, as the B-side to The Ballad of John and Yoko. The song was subsequently included on the band’s compilation albums Hey Jude (not released in the UK), 1967–1970 and Past Masters, Volume Two. Although it remains a relatively obscure song in their catalogue, several music critics view it as one of Harrison’s best compositions from the Beatles era and especially admire his guitar solo on the track. I was lucky to find this video of the band playing the song in the studio, from the time when things were beginning to collapse around them: it shows they still had what made them great.

That’s today’s set of five done and dusted, with a final note. As I did last week, I’m sharing this post at the Senior Salon Pit Stop and at Cathy’s CAAC link, where you can find other good things to read.

See you again soon 😊

34 thoughts on “Tuesday Tunes 294: Brown”

  2. Clive, well played. Your first two are simply awesome songs. “Brown Sugar” was recorded in Muscle Shoals, AL where many R&B songs took shape. They recorded a few songs on “Sticky Fingers” there. It and “Honky Tonk Women” are two of my favorites. Van Morrison also had many great songs with “Brown Eyed Girl” on a short list. Keith

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    • PS – “Old Brown Shoe” was a below the radar song. It has a different guitar sound like he is playing the chords in an unusual manner. When Eric Clapton, Paul McCartney honored the life of George Harrison, they included this and many other beneath the radar songs. Keith

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      • It is well documented how difficult George found it to get his songs recorded by the band, due to Lennon and McCartney vetoes. All Things Must Pass was the perfect answer to them, with all the songs he had been saving up. Old Brown Shoe may have gone under the radar but it is a good example of his songwriting skills.

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      • Clive, true that. I think I have asked you if you read “And in the end,” a documentary about their final year together as they recorded “Abbey Road.”George had pretty much written all of “All things must pass.” Plus, he wrote arguably the two best songs on “Abbey Road.” Keith

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  3. The only one I wouldn’t listen to again is the Steve Earle tune. It is too old-school, twangy country for my tastes. The other one I hadn’t heard before (John Cougar Mellencamp) was my favorite of the week. I like both his fast and slow songs equally.

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  7. for a color that is my least favorite, there’s some surprisingly good songs that reference it!

    great opener – a classic. I am surprised it never hit No. 1

    another great one at number two.

    and hile I know the final three artists, I was not familiar with any of the songs. I probably like the Steve Earle one the best of thee three songs. As you note, Steve and a bluegrass band is a winning combo!

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    • There are indeed, and I have more to play for another set. Those first two are both classics, though I thought the others might be less familiar. Steve and Del’s band do go well together, don’t they!

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  9. Although, it’s not my favorite song, the first title to come to mind is Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboys. The album does a few good ones on it, though. Thanks for sharing your music with the 4M gang and hitting the dance floor this week, Clive. Have a boogietastic week!

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  10. Five excellent and very familiar songs for me this morning. 👏🏼 The only one I did not know was Carrie Brown, but I know Steve Earle and I enjoyed this song very much. FYI …. did you know that Brown Eyed Girl was initially banned by the BBC because the original title was Brown Skinned Girl? Hard to believe when you think about the giant leap in what’s now considered “acceptable lyrics”. The Rolling Stones’ Brown Sugar also had a different working title but I will not type it here. If you do a little digging, I’m sure you’ll find it. Also, “brown sugar” does not refer to heroin which Mick Jagger made very clear in his candid autobiography; that has always been a source of debate among critics and fans. Besides, if you know the working title of the song I alluded to earlier, there’s no question it’s not about heroin! 😆 Of course, I can’t finish without mentioning Old Brown Shoe …. one of my best loved George Harrison songs which I’ve featured numerous times on my site. Exceptional start to my morning, Clive. Thanks for some really great tunes and a fab write up! 🤩

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  11. Okay Clive. I’ll take the bait: Mussolini’s “Blackshirts” and Hitler’s “Brownshirts.” Now expecting your next colour to be red!

    “Old Brown Shoe” is not one of my favorite Beatle songs. But the Stones’ “Brown Sugar” still gives me goosebumps.

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    • Spot on! And Mosley’s blackshirts here too. Prompted by numerous news commentators suggesting that Trump is using their playbook.

      I’ve always liked Old Brown Shoe. I didn’t have the single but bought the Blue Album compilation.

      Brown Sugar is a classic, whatever some might say.

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