Diana Ross - Touch Me In The Morning
Year Released: 1973
Genre: Soul / Vocal / Orchestral Pop
Description:
Touch Me in the Morning is the fourth solo studio album by Diana Ross, released in 1973 on Motown Records (M-772L). While best known for the title track — a lush, chart-topping ballad that became one of Ross’s signature songs — the album also contains several deep cuts that reveal her interpretive depth and connection to African American musical heritage. Among these, “Brown Baby” stands out as one of the album’s most soulful and socially resonant performances.
Originally written by Oscar Brown Jr. in the early 1960s, “Brown Baby” is a tender, poetic lullaby celebrating Black pride, heritage, and the hope for a better future. In Ross’s hands, the song becomes both intimate and powerful — a quiet anthem of dignity and motherhood that resonates deeply within the broader context of post–civil rights era soul.
Musically, “Brown Baby” is arranged with understated elegance. A soft rhythm section anchors gentle strings and piano, while Ross delivers one of her most emotionally nuanced vocal performances of the early 1970s. Her phrasing alternates between warmth and restraint, infusing the lyrics — “Brown baby, with your sparkling eyes, I’ll dry your tears when you cry” — with genuine tenderness and a sense of generational hope.
Unlike the album’s more polished adult-contemporary tracks, “Brown Baby” leans into soulful intimacy, reflecting the influence of Motown’s classic vocal tradition while allowing Ross a freer, more expressive delivery. The production, handled under Michael Masser and Tom Baird, retains Motown’s orchestral lushness but avoids over-arrangement, letting the message breathe.
While not released as a single, “Brown Baby” has endured as a deep cut cherished by collectors and soul enthusiasts. It embodies Diana Ross’s ability to convey social and emotional depth beyond the pop glamour for which she was most famous. In later years, the song has been celebrated in retrospectives and reissues for its emotional sincerity and subtlety.
Original 1973 U.S. pressings of Touch Me in the Morning on Motown Records (M-772L) are known for their warm analog mastering and classic gatefold artwork. The LP reached #5 on the Billboard 200 and #1 on the R&B chart, confirming Ross’s dominance in the early 1970s crossover soul landscape.
“Brown Baby” stands as one of the album’s most personal and culturally significant moments — a meditative, heartfelt performance that bridges pop, soul, and quiet resistance. It remains a testament to Diana Ross’s artistry at a time when she was expanding her musical and emotional range beyond Motown’s hit formula.