The Sonny Side of Chér
The Sonny Side of Chér is the second studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on March 28, 1966, by Imperial, as her second album, Cher again collaborated with Sonny Bono and Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a covers album and contains two songs written by Bono. The title of the album is a pun on the name of Cher's first husband Sonny Bono. The album was Cher's second successful album of the sixties, it was released in CD in 1992, by EMI together with Cher's first album on one CD which.[3] After in 1995 EMI re-released this version together with the album Chér.[3] The last version of the album was released in 2005 only in UK by BGO Records. These editions feature a different track order than the original LP.
The Sonny Side of Chér | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | March 28, 1966 | |||
Recorded | September 1965 – February–March 1966 | |||
Studio | Gold Star Recording Studios, Hollywood, CA | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 33:35 | |||
Label | ||||
Producer | Sonny Bono | |||
Cher chronology | ||||
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Singles from The Sonny Side of Chér | ||||
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Background and production
After the success of her previous album, Cher quickly recorded another album. The Sonny Side of Chér was in the chart with the second studio album of Sonny & Cher, The Wondrous World of Sonny & Cher. The album follows the same formula of the previous album with rearranged covers and new songs written by Bono.[4] The Sonny Side of Chér was overall less successful than the previous release, but produced bigger hits than the first album did. It contains Cher's first solo Top Ten hit, the Bono-penned song "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)".[5] With "Bang Bang", Cher was definitively settled in the American pop culture. The album also had two songs with French influence, "A Young Girl" and "Our Day Will Come" and Edith Piaf's famous "Milord".[4]
Like her previous album All I Really Want to Do, Cher covered one song written and performed by Bob Dylan, "Like a Rolling Stone".[6] The album also included Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual", the popular song "Our Day Will Come" and "The Girl from Ipanema".[6] Other covers are "A Young Girl" and "Ol' Man River" (which shows the huge vocal power Cher already had on this early album).[6]
Singles
Two singles were released from this album; both were written by Bono. "Where Do You Go", the album's first single release, was a Dylan-mimic [6] and reached number twenty five in the Billboard Hot 100 and number seventeen on the Canadian Single Charts.[5][7][8] The second single released was Cher's most successful song of the sixties, "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)", which peaked in the US at #2 and which was also a hit in the UK Singles Chart at #3.[5][9] The song was covered by Bono in the Sonny & Cher live album Live in Las Vegas Vol. 2, and was later re-recorded for the 1987 studio album Cher.
Critical reception
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Allmusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Billboard | Favorable[10] |
The album received mixed reviews from music critics. Tim Sendra from AllMusic website wrote that even though the album uses "the folk-rock formula that had made her previous album such a delight" The Sonny Side of Cher is "nothing more than a chuckle-inducing curiosity, just the kind of silly record casual listeners might expect from the duo." He praised the cover songs "Like a Rolling Stone" by Bob Dylan, "Elusive Butterfly" and "Come to Your Window" by Bob Lind but criticized the fol-rock sound in pop tunes like "It's Not Unusual," "Our Day Will Come," and "The Girl from Ipanema." He concluded that "the album is doomed by its lack of heart and inability to rise above the formulaic." Billboard magazine review called the album "well produced", "well performed" and a "fast-moving item".
Commercial performance
The Sonny Side of Chér, like Cher's previous album, was a success in the Billboard 200. The album entered into the chart while The Wondrous World of Sonny & Cher was also charting, eventually reaching up to #26. The album also entered in the UK Albums Chart and debuted at #28 in May, and reached its highest position (#11) three weeks later.[11] The album remained in the chart for eleven weeks and exited in July.[11] The Sonny Side of Chér was also Cher's last album that entered in the UK Albums chart until her 1987 comeback album Cher (released by Geffen). The Sonny Side of Chér also entered in the Norway albums chart and peaked at #5.[12]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" | Sonny Bono | 2:40 |
2. | "A Young Girl (Une enfante)" |
| 3:22 |
3. | "Where Do You Go" | Bono | 3:12 |
4. | "Our Day Will Come" | 2:12 | |
5. | "Elusive Butterfly" | Bob Lind | 2:30 |
6. | "Like a Rolling Stone" | Bob Dylan | 3:45 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Ol' Man River" | 2:50 | |
2. | "Come to Your Window" | Lind | 2:48 |
3. | "The Girl from Ipanema" | 2:09 | |
4. | "It's Not Unusual" | 2:08 | |
5. | "Time" | Michael Merchant | 3:16 |
6. | "Milord" |
| 2:43 |
Personnel
- Cher - lead vocals
- Sonny Bono - record producer
- Harold Battiste - musical arranger
- Larry Levine - sound engineer
- Stan Ross - sound engineer
- Woody Woodward - art direction
No musicians were credited, only: "A very special thanks to some of the greatest musicians in Hollywood for their part in making this album possible"
Charts
Weekly charts
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Year-end charts
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References
- "Cher - Where Do You Go". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- "Cher - Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Retrieved 7 February 2019.
- "All I Really Want to Do albums". Homepages.ihug.com.au. Archived from the original on July 17, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
- Allmusic review
- "Cher Chart History: Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved October 7, 2018.
- "The Sonny Side of Chèr Review". CherScholar.com. Retrieved 2009-02-05.
- "Cher Singles Discography". RPM. RPM Library Archives. Archived from the original on 2012-10-12. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/028020/f2/nlc008388.5586.pdf
- "Cher Singles Discography". The Official Charts Company. 1965–2005. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (9 April 1966). Billboard: Album Reviews. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. pp. 75–. ISSN 0006-2510.
- "The Sonny Side of Chér UK chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2009-08-12.
- Norway's LPs Best Sellers Americanradiohistory.com. Retrieved October 15, 2020.
- UK Albums Chart . Retrieved October 31, 2010.
- Billboard charts - Cher Billboard. Retrieved July 8, 2016.
- "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1966". Archived from the original on August 26, 2012.. Cash Box magazine.