How Now, Brown Song? Trivia Quiz

Answer: daughter

"Mrs. Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter" was about a singer pining over a lost love and perhaps trying to get the girl's mother on his side. It was one of two number one hits the group had on the "Billboard Hot 100" in the U.S. (along with "I'm Henry VIII, I Am". Neither 1965 song was released as a single in the UK.) It debuted on the "Hot 100" at number 12.

The only songs to debut higher in the '60s were "Hey Jude" and "Get Back" by the Beatles.

Answer: Charlie Brown

Songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote many hit songs in the 1950s. The Coasters recorded several of their songs, including "Charlie Brown". Like many songs of the day, it was a little short on weighty content but long on rhythm. More than 80 singers and groups have recorded it over the years.

Answer: Chuck Berry

It was a 1956 song from Chuck Berry, released as the B-side of "Too Much Monkey Business". It told of how brown-eyed men were lucky in life and in love. For instance, we found out in the song that a woman crossed thirty miles of desert sands to meet a brown-eyed handsome man.

Answer: Brown-Eyed Women

"The bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean". Never released as a single, "Brown-Eyed Women" first appeared on the triple-disc live album "Europe '72". The song is about a family trying to get by during the Great Depression, including making a little moonshine on the side.

Answer: Captain Fantastic

We usually remember Elton John's Captain Fantastic persona but sometimes forget the album and song "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy", a remembrance of the early careers of John and his co-songwriter Bernie Taupin (the Brown Dirt Cowboy). The 1975 album debuted at number one on the U.S. "Billboard 200", the first album ever to do so.

It was nominated for "Album of the Year" at the 1976 Grammy Awards but lost to Paul Simon's "Still Crazy After All These Years".

Answer: made them blue

"Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue" was originally intended for Shirley Bassey but Gayle's record producer, Allen Reynolds, heard it and steered it to her. The play-on-words, lost-love song became a worldwide hit in 1977, and crossed-over from the country music charts to a number two ranking on the "Billboard Hot 100" list. For the record, Ms. Gayle has blue eyes.

Answer: Van Morrison

Van Morrison was originally with the group Them. Following their breakup in 1966 he went solo and wrote "Brown Eyed Girl" in 1967 while contracted to Bang Records. It is considered his signature song and has been downloaded and received radio play more than any other song of the 1960s. Morrison says he signed the contract with Bang Records without legal advice and has never received any royalty payments for the song. Because of its calypso beat it caught the attention of Jimmy Buffett who includes it in most of his concerts.

Answer: James Brown

Was (Not Was) was a pop music group formed by Don Fagenson and David Weiss in 1979. "I Feel Better Than James Brown" was on their 1990 album "Are You Okay?" A rather befuddling music video accompanied it. If you don't understand the name of the group it is pronounced wass, not was. Got that?

Answer: shoe

George Harrison wrote "Old Brown Shoe" and sang lead; John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang backing vocals. It was first released as the B-side of "The Ballad of John and Yoko" single in 1969. A love song of sorts, it featured some of Harrison's extensive chord knowledge (not a 3-chord rock song) and some electronic trickery.

Answer: Jim Croce

Croce's record company released "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" in 1973. It was the song of a man who thought he owned the south side of Chicago but got his comeuppance when he flirted with "the wife of a jealous man". The song rose to number one on the "Billboard Hot 100" and the "Canadian RPM Top Singles" lists in July of that year.

After seven years, Croce was at the peak of his popularity with that song; he was killed in a plane crash two months later.