10 Albums And Songs That Feature Cissy Houston’s Background Vocals

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Brown Eyed Girl, Van Morrison

It only makes sense that this song should have a Black woman’s voice on it. In fact, Cissy’s contribution wasn’t the only bit of Blackness. The song was originally titled “Brown-Skinned Girl.” There are two different versions of how the title was changed. Morrison says that it was a mistake on his part. “That was just a mistake. It was a kind of Jamaican song. Calypso. It just slipped my mind. I changed the title. After we’d recorded it, I looked at the tape box and didn’t even notice that I’d changed the title. I looked at the box where I’d lain it down with my guitar and it said ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ on the tape box. It’s just one of those things that happen.” 

Another theory is that since the song was about an interracial relationship, the phrase Brown Eyed Girl was more palatable to radio listeners.

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