"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" is a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

song written and recorded by

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the " Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and developed rhythm and blues into th ...

, originally released by

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock and roll ...

in September

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, Ed McCully, Jim ...

as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of "

Too Much Monkey Business "Too Much Monkey Business" is a song written and recorded by Chuck Berry, released by Chess Records in September 1956 as his fifth single. It was also released as the third track on his first solo LP, ''After School Session'', in May 1957; and as ...

." It was also included on Berry's 1957 debut album, ''

After School Session ''After School Session'' is the debut studio album by rock and roll artist Chuck Berry, released in May 1957 by Chess Records. With the exception of two tracks, "Roly Poly" and "Berry Pickin'", all selections had been previously released on 45 ...

''. The song title was also used as the title of a biography of Berry.

Background and recording

"Brown Eyed Handsome Man" was written after Berry visited several

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

and

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

areas in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. During his time there, he saw a Hispanic man being arrested by a policeman when "some woman came up shouting for the policeman to let him go." "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" was recorded at

Universal Recording Corporation Universal Recording Corporation was a recording studio in Chicago founded by Bill Putnam, Sr. for the purpose of investigating new recording techniques and the development of specialized recording equipment. Universal Recording was seminal i ...

in Chicago, Illinois on April 16, 1956. The session was produced by the Chess brothers,

Leonard Leonard or ''Leo'' is a common English language, English masculine given name and a surname. The given name and surname originate from the Old High German ''Leonhard'' containing the prefix ''levon'' ("lion") from the Greek wikiwikiweb:Λέων, � ...

and

Phil Phil may refer to: * Phil (given name), a shortened version of masculine and feminine names * Phill, a given name also spelled "Phil" * Phil, Kentucky, United States * ''Phil'' (film), a 2019 film * -phil-, a lexical fragment, used as a root te ...

. Backing Berry were Johnnie Johnson on

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

, L. C. Davis on

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

Willie Dixon William James Dixon (July 1, 1915January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, vocalist, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was proficient in playing both the upright bass and the guitar, and sang with a distinctive voice, but he ...

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, and

Fred Below Frederick Below, Jr. (September 6, 1926 – August 13, 1988) was an American blues drummer, best known for his work with Little Walter and Chess Records in the 1950s. According to Tony Russell, Below was a creator of much of the rhythmic stru ...

drum The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel-Sachs classification system, it is a membranophone. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a she ...

s. The song was released in September 1956 and reached number 5 on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's

R&B Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

chart later that year.

Relevance in race relations

Glenn C. Altschuler Glenn Altschuler is an American writer and university-level educator and administrator. At Cornell University, he is the Thomas and Dorothy Litwin Emeritus Professor of American Studies and a Weiss Presidential Fellow. An animating force in Ameri ...

, in a caption to photo of Berry, states that the lyrics of the song "played slyly with racial attitudes and even fears." Martha Bayles noted that "Berry's penchant for bragging about his 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man's appeal for white females outraged a lot of people."

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many artists, including

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

, whose recording was a posthumous hit in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

in 1963, where it peaked at number three, and was released on the album ''

Reminiscing "Reminiscing" is a song by Australian soft rock music group Little River Band, released in June 1978 as the second single from their fourth studio album ''Sleeper Catcher''. The song was written by the band's guitarist, Graeham Goble, and sung ...

'', which reached number two on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

. Holly's version also peaked at number three in Ireland.

Johnny Rivers Johnny Rivers (born John Henry Ramistella; November 7, 1942) is an American musician. His repertoire includes pop, folk, blues, and old-time rock 'n' roll. Rivers charted during the 1960s and 1970s but remains best known for a string of hit sing ...

also covered the song on his first album, ''

At the Whisky à Go Go ''Johnny Rivers at the Whisky à Go Go'' (shown as "''At Whisky-A-Go-Go''" on the original label) is a live album and is the debut album from American rock and roll singer, songwriter and guitarist Johnny Rivers. The album was released in Februar ...

'', in 1964, as did

Nina Simone Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), known professionally as Nina Simone (), was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned styles including classical, folk, gospel, blues, ...

on her 1967 album ''

High Priestess of Soul ''High Priestess of Soul'' is a studio album by jazz singer, pianist and songwriter Nina Simone. The songs are accompanied by a large band directed and arranged by Hal Mooney. The album contains pop songs (such as "Don't You Pay Them No Mind") a ...

'' and

Waylon Jennings Waylon Jennings (June 15, 1937 – February 13, 2002) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. He pioneered the Outlaw Movement in country music. Jennings started playing guitar at the age of eight and performed at age f ...

on a single from his 1970 album '' Waylon''. It was also covered by

Robert Cray Robert William Cray (born August 1, 1953) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He has led his own band and won five Grammy Awards. Early life Robert Cray was born on August 1, 1953, in Columbus, Georgia, while his father was stationed at ...

on the 1987 live tribute album to Berry, ''

Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll ''Hail! Hail! Rock 'n' Roll'' is a 1987 documentary film directed by Taylor Hackford that chronicles two 1986 concerts celebrating rock and roll musician Chuck Berry's 60th birthday. A soundtrack album was released in October 1987 on the MCA lab ...

'' and by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

on his 1999 album '' Run Devil Run'' and on a double

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

single with "

No Other Baby "No Other Baby" is a song written by Dickie Bishop and Bob Watson, originally recorded in 1957 by Dickie Bishop and The Sidekicks. Early cover versions were recorded by The Vipers (1958) (produced by George Martin), Bobby Helms (1959), Paul & Pa ...

". The song was also performed by the so-called "

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about the session ...

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American country singer-songwriter. Much of Cash's music contained themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially in the later stages of his ca ...

Carl Perkins Carl Lee Perkins (April 9, 1932 – January 19, 1998)#nytimesobit, Pareles. was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. A rockabilly great and pioneer of rock and roll, he began his recording career at the Sun Studio, in Memphis, Tennes ...

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock & roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis made ...

, and

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in a jam session on December 4, 1956. Lewis also released a solo version on his 1970 album ''She Even Woke Me Up to Say Goodbye''. Cash recorded it with Perkins on his posthumous 2003 album '' Unearthed''. "Brown Eyed Handsome Man" was performed in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

'', which opened in New York in April 2010, and was included in the album ''Million Dollar Quartet'', recorded by the original Broadway cast, with

Lance Guest Lance R. Guest (born July 21, 1960) is an American film and television actor, best known for his starring role in 1984's ''The Last Starfighter''. Biography Guest developed a serious interest in acting as a freshman while attending Saratoga H ...

as Johnny Cash, Robert Britton Lyons as Carl Perkins,

Levi Kreis Levi Kreis (born November 4, 1981) is an American actor and singer from Oliver Springs, Tennessee. In 2010, he won a Tony Award for playing Jerry Lee Lewis in '' Million Dollar Quartet''. Career Music Kreis's debut album, ''One of the Ones'', ...

as Jerry Lee Lewis, and Eddie Clendening as Elvis Presley."Song List" and "Performing Credits". ''Million Dollar Quartet'' (2010). CD booklet. p. 5. New York: Avatar Studios; Chicago: Chicago Recording Company. It was also covered by

Lyle Lovett Lyle Pearce Lovett (born November 1, 1957) Lyle Lovett Pageat Allmusic – Lovett's Genre and Styles. Retrieved February 2, 2007 is an American singer, songwriter, actor and record producer. Active since 1980, he has recorded 13 albums and relea ...

on his 2012 album '' Release Me''. The song is loosely referenced in

John Fogerty John Cameron Fogerty (born May 28, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. Together with Doug Clifford, Stu Cook, and his brother Tom Fogerty Thomas Richard Fogerty (November 9, 1941 – September 6, 1990) was an American mu ...

’s song " Centerfield" with the line, “A-roundin' third, and headed for home, It's a brown-eyed handsome man.”

References

{{authority control 1956 songs 1956 singles 1963 singles Songs written by Chuck Berry Chuck Berry songs Buddy Holly songs Johnny Rivers songs Nina Simone songs Paul McCartney songs Waylon Jennings songs Johnny Cash songs Carl Perkins songs Jerry Lee Lewis songs Songs released posthumously Chess Records singles Coral Records singles