Do n't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue - wikipedia Do n't it Make My Brown Eyes Blue This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( October 2016 ) `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' Single by Crystal Gayle from the album We Must Believe in Magic B - side `` All I Wanna Do in Life '' Released August 9, 1977 Format 7 '' Genre Country pop, Adult contemporary Length 2 : 40 Label United Artists Songwriter ( s ) Richard Leigh Producer ( s ) Allen Reynolds Crystal Gayle singles chronology `` I 'll Do It All Over Again '' ( 1977 ) `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' ( 1977 ) `` I 've Cried ( The Blue Right Out of My Eyes ) '' ( 1977 ) `` I 'll Do It All Over Again '' ( 1977 ) `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' ( 1977 ) `` I 've Cried ( The Blue Right Out of My Eyes ) '' ( 1977 ) `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' is a song written by Richard Leigh, and recorded by American country music singer Crystal Gayle. It was released in March 1977 as the first single from Gayle 's album We Must Believe in Magic. Despite the title, Gayle herself has blue eyes. Contents 1 Background 2 Reception 3 Cover versions 4 Chart performance 4.1 Weekly singles charts 4.2 Year - end charts 5 References 6 External links Background `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' composer Richard Leigh had been responsible for all three of Crystal Gayle 's previous Top Ten C&W hits, the third of which `` I 'll Get Over You '' had reached number 1. According to Gayle 's regular producer Allen Reynolds, he was advised by Leigh 's landlady, songwriter Sandy Mason Theoret, that Leigh was `` a little down in the dumps lately because nothing much ( was ) happening '' after the success of `` I 'll Get Over You ''. At Theoret 's suggestion, Reynolds visited Leigh to cheer him up. Reynolds explained, `` we were sittin ' on the floor... singing songs to one another. ( Leigh ) mentioned a song that his publisher was gon na get to Shirley Bassey... ( and ) sang it for me : ' Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '. I said, ' Shirley Bassey my ass, I want that song ! ' '' Reynolds recalls that when he played `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' for Gayle `` she was just as excited ( by the song ) as I was. '' The track was recorded at Jack 's Tracks in Nashville on October 27, 1976. As Reynolds ' regular session keyboardist Charles Cochran had suffered a stroke with some resultant numbness in his hands, Reynolds hired Hargus `` Pig '' Robbins to play keyboards, and Robbins instantly devised the song 's signature acoustic piano riff ; Cochran was also featured on the session playing the horn parts on a Wurlitzer. Reynolds noted `` it was just one of those charmed sessions... ( After ) we presented the song to the musicians... it was about the third time running ( through ) that song that we ran tape... ( Gayle ) sang ( the song ) wonderfully. It came so fast that she was n't sure that she had done her best job. I had to let her try to sing it again on two or three different occasions until she was comfortable with the original ( vocal take ), and that 's what we went with. Everything on that recording was the original take as it went down, except the string section I added later. '' In a 2004 Country Music Television interview, Gayle stated that Leigh wrote the song because his dog had one brown eye and one blue eye. Reception The song became a worldwide hit single. In the United States, it topped the Billboard country music chart and was Gayle 's first ( and biggest ) crossover pop hit, reaching number 1 on the Cashbox Top 100 for two weeks, and number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 3 weeks, behind Debby Boone 's smash hit, `` You Light Up My Life ''. The album received Platinum status, the first by a female country singer. The song became Gayle 's signature piece throughout her career. In 1978, the song won Gayle a Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance. In 1999, the song was recognized by ASCAP as one of the ten most - performed songs of the 20th century. The song has a jazzy feel to it when compared to many other country songs of that era. Gayle had many more hit singles for the next ten years, such as `` Talking in Your Sleep '', `` Half the Way '' `` You and I '' ( a duet with Eddie Rabbitt ) and `` I 'll Get Over You '', but none have achieved the same level of success as `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue ''. Cover versions The song has been covered by Lorrae Desmond, Laura Fygi, Anita Meyer, the Nolans, Tessanne Chin, Alison Statton ( aka Devine & Statton ), Wendy Van Wanten, Georgia White and Dana Winner. Mireille Mathieu has recorded the song first in French as `` Un peu de bleu '' in 1977 then in German as `` Tränen Würden Mir Nicht Stehn '' in 1980, another French rendering `` Mes yeux bleus sont gris '' was recorded by Michèle Torr, Matell, and a Cantonese version titled `` 你 說 是 甜 我 說 苦 ( Your Words Are Sweet, Mine Are Bitter ) '' was recorded by Prudence Liew for her Jokingly Saying album. Chart performance Weekly singles charts Chart ( 1977 -- 78 ) Peak position U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs US Billboard Hot 100 US Adult Contemporary ( Billboard ) U.S. Cash Box Top 100 Canadian RPM Country Tracks Canadian RPM Top Singles Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary Tracks Irish Singles Chart UK 5 New Zealand Singles Chart 9 Netherlands 10 Australia KMR 16 Year - end charts Chart ( 1977 ) Rank Canada RPM Top Singles 29 U.S. Cash Box 62 Chart ( 1978 ) Rank Australia 82 U.S. Billboard Hot 100 71 References ^ Jump up to : Kosser, Michael ( 2006 ). How Nashville Became Music City USA : 50 years of Music Row ( 1st ed. ). Milwaukee WI : Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 272. ISBN 0 - 634 - 09806 - 3. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2004 ). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits : 1944 - 2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 131. Jump up ^ `` Crystal Gayle -- Chart history '' Billboard Hot 100 for Crystal Gayle. Jump up ^ `` Crystal Gayle -- Chart history '' Billboard Adult Contemporary for Crystal Gayle. Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Bac-lac.gc.ca Jump up ^ ( 2 ) Jump up ^ Australian-charts.com Archived October 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. Jump up ^ `` Top 100 Hits of 1978 / Top 100 Songs of 1978 ''. Musicoutfitters.com. Retrieved 2016 - 10 - 12. External links Song review from AllMusic Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics Preceded by `` Way Down '' by Elvis Presley Billboard Hot Country Singles number - one single August 27 -- September 17, 1977 Succeeded by `` I 've Already Loved You in My Mind '' by Conway Twitty RPM Country Tracks number - one single September 24 -- October 1, 1977 Succeeded by `` Christopher Mary '' by Burton & Honeyman Preceded by `` Elite Hotel '' ( Emmylou Harris, 1977 ) Best Female Country Vocal Performance 1978 Succeeded by `` Here You Come Again '' ( Dolly Parton, 1979 ) Crystal Gayle singles Albums Singles 1970s `` Wrong Road Again '' `` Somebody Loves You '' 1976 `` I 'll Get Over You '' `` You Never Miss a Real Good Thing ( Till He Says Goodbye ) '' 1977 `` I 'll Do It All Over Again '' `` Do n't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue '' 1978 `` Ready for the Times to Get Better '' `` Talking in Your Sleep '' `` Why Have You Left the One You Left Me For '' 1979 `` When I Dream '' `` Your Kisses Will '' `` Half the Way '' `` Your Old Cold Shoulder '' 1980s 1980 `` It 's Like We Never Said Goodbye '' `` The Blue Side '' `` If You Ever Change Your Mind '' 1981 `` Take It Easy '' `` Too Many Lovers '' `` The Woman in Me '' 1982 `` You Never Gave Up on Me '' `` Livin ' in These Troubled Times '' `` ' Til I Gain Control Again '' You and I '' ( with Eddie Rabbitt ) `` Everything I Own '' `` Our Love Is on the Faultline '' `` Baby, What About You '' `` The Sound of Goodbye '' 1984 `` I Do n't Wanna Lose Your Love '' `` Turning Away '' `` Me Against the Night '' 1985 `` Nobody Wants to Be Alone '' `` A Long and Lasting Love '' `` Makin ' Up for Lost Time ( The Dallas Lovers ' Song ) '' ( with Gary Morris ) 1986 `` Cry '' `` Straight to the Heart '' `` Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas '' `` Another World '' ( with Gary Morris ) `` Nobody Should Have to Love This Way '' `` Only Love Can Save Me Now '' `` O Holy Night '' `` Nobody 's Angel '' 1990s `` Never Ending Song of Love '' 1999 `` Two Sleepy People '' ( with Willie Nelson ) 2000s 2003 `` Hallelujah I Love Him So '' Book Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Don%27t_It_Make_My_Brown_Eyes_Blue&oldid=800251949 '' Categories : 1977 singles 1977 songs Crystal Gayle songs Torch songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number - one singles RPM Country Tracks number - one singles Songs written by Richard Leigh ( songwriter ) RPM Adult Contemporary number - one singles Song recordings produced by Allen Reynolds United Artists Records singles Hidden categories : Webarchive template wayback links Articles needing additional references from October 2016 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats Singlechart usages for Billboardhot100 Singlechart called without song Singlechart usages for Billboardadultcontemporary Talk Contents About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 12 September 2017, at 10 : 42. 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Question: who wrote don't it make my brown eyes blue
Answer: Richard Leigh