Customer Reviews

The Beat Goes On: The Best of Sonny & Cher

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'll never forget it. They were virtually unknown. And within a period of just a few weeks in that summer of 1965 Sonny and Cher burst onto the scene like few acts in the history of rock and roll have managed to do. By August Sonny and Cher had three big hits on the charts simultaneously. Of course "I Got You Babe" was the big one but "Just You" and "Baby Don't Go" were proving to be huge hits as well. And Cher, who had signed a seperate agreement with another record label for her solo recordings was riding high with her rendition of Bob Dylans "All I Really Want To Do". And if that was not enough Sonny himself, who any reasonable person (including Sonny) would readily conclude could not sing had his own solo hit "Laugh At Me". Sonny and Cher would prove to be far more than just a "flash in the pan". In fact, they would continue to churn out hits for several more years and as we all remember were the hosts of a highly successful variety show on CBS in the 1970's.
This collection from Atlantic features all of the Sonny and Cher hits on the Atco label. It was really their best work. In addtion to the tunes mentioned earlier this disc also includes other hits like 1966's "What Now My Love". You'll also find some very impressive but lesser known singles including "Little Man", "It's The Little Things" and the high energy "Good Combination". I could never quite figure out why that one never caught on. You'll also find a nicely done 16 page booklet included. The price is certainly right and this collection is a lot of fun and sure to bring back memories. Recommended.

The duo really strikes a chord on this excellent little set of songs. You might be disappointed if you want any Cher solo material. All of these tracks are love songs between the then couple or statements on the world and are very convincing. The tracks are a bit rough due the their age, but they still stand up well. Highlights include "Baby, Don't Go", "Living For You" and of course "I Got You Babe" which has the original and a mellower version from the movie "Good Times". For any fan of those years inn pop music when Sonny and Cher's style riled the charts, you'll love this CD. I should warn that only there sixties material is on here and not any seventies tracks like "All I Ever Need Is you". Still very lovely music

If you had Sonny & Cher records during their heyday like I did, you might remember that they recorded for the Atco label, a division of Atlantic Records.

Whenever I want to buy a CD of music from many years ago, I try to make sure that I don't get remakes (recordings that aren't the exact ones that we heard on the radio way back when). Most artists re-record their songs for cheesy remake labels and, trust me, you'll be disappointed with them.

I read all the owner reviews at Amazon and, many times, a CD buyer will let you know that the CD you're considering buying has newer recordings or, just as bad, live concert recordings of songs. For instance, Joan Baez's big hit song "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down" was on the Vanguard label when it was a hit song. But she defected to A&M Records soon after and A&M has a greatest hits package that includes songs from her Vanguard days--but they're live concert recordings. You have to look for the Vanguard label so you get the recording that you remember from the radio--they still retain the rights to the songs she recorded for them.

Also, you would think you could trust Capitol Records every bit as much as A&M. But I was looking at Andrews Sisters' CDs recently and noticed that 2 different labels offer their greatest hits--MCA and Capitol. Fortunately, an Amazon reviewer said that Capitol's compilation contains newer recordings that the Andrews Sisters recorded in the 50's. I bought MCA's CD and was not disappointed.

So, you can see that this Sonny & Cher CD is on the label "Elektra/WEA". Other Web sites list this same CD as "Rhino/WEA". One Web site just says "Rhino".

I just received this CD and the label is REALLY "Atco", the label Sonny & Cher recorded all their hits for in the 60's. Therefore, these songs are the actual recordings you remember from the 60's.

By the way, anytime you see the Rhino label for a CD, you can buy it without any worry of remakes. I own many CDs from Rhino and I have never been stuck with a remade song. They license the legitimate recordings from the company that owns the rights to the songs.

Why 4 stars instead of 5? Not anyone's fault, really, but some songs on Sonny & Cher's CD don't sound too good. This is surely due to the aging of the master tapes. After all, they've been around 40 or more years!

The energy and sweetness of 60's Sonny and Cher are here in a great number of the tracks represented. The best cuts are "Baby Don't Go", and the classic "I Got You Babe". "Have I Stayed Too Long", competes with these tracks though never a real hit. The productions are Sonny Bono Spectorian, and the harmony is unique. The songs have a simple beauty that has long left the arena of opo music. This set includes all the major hits, prior to the 70's more slick output.This is Sonny and Cher in love.

I would have thought I would have recognized more songs on this collection of hits from Sonny & Cher, but aside from "I Got You Babe" and "The Beat Goes On," nothing here really rang a bell. Amazing. However, this album turns out to be better than I would have thought. Even Sonny's solos are not that bad and I sort of like their cover of "What Now My Love." I think the problem is that way back when the one Sonny & Cher record I had was the one where they did all those great cover songs, more of which should have been included on this one. But apparently the idea was to go for more "original," and therefore less familiar, songs. This is an album for those who really liked Sonny & Cher and do not want to get all of the CDs of their old albums. The other Sonny & Cher collections tend to have a lot more of Cher's solo work, so this is the one for the true fan of the duo's work.

Because Cher has sung som very many songs herself, there are not many Sonny & Cher songs on her greatest hits album. But if you like I Got You Babe, for example, you will like this album. Some of the songs are not very good but there are no bad songs and most of them are good and some are great. My favourite songs are "Why Don't They Let Us Fall In Love", "It's The Little Things", "But you're Mine" and "It's The Little Things". And "The Beat Goes On" of course. So, if you like the songs you've heard by Sonny & Cher, there's no reason not to buy this album.

My first thought upon seeing this with the "Atlantic & Atco Re-Masters Series" logo on it was "Geez, Sonny & Cher in the same series with Ray Charles, Clyde McPhatter and LaVern Baker." Then I realized that they were also in the same reissue series as The Coasters and Bobby Darin, and my sense of balance was restored.

21 tracks, over *68* minutes of music. A number of must-haves (mostly the big hits), some surprises, and quite a bit of filler. Listening to this disc is an interesting lesson in the way that Oldies radio reshapes your view of the past. The obvious tracks (#1 "I Got You Babe" and #6 "The Beat Goes On") are very familiar, as is the often replayed "Baby Please Don't Go" (which reached #8). On the other hand, the #2 charting "Why Don't They Let Us Fall in Love" is all but forgotten to my ears.

The best find for me is Sonny's killer Phil Spector tribute, complete with wall-of-sound, glockenspiels, the whole bit: the incredibly hook filled "It's the Little Things." Who else but Sonny Bono could ever write such self-deprecating, us-against-the-world (babe) lyrics as "You're not the kind of guy / That makes the girls all sigh / And they never turn their heads and Look / When you walk by" and "You're not the smartest man / That I've ever met / Yet every word you've ever said / I won't forget".

Other finds include Sonny & Cher's second single "Just You" (which reached #20 in rerelease after "I Got You Babe" hit), Sonny's solo single "Laugh At Me", a waltz-time string-quartet and brass "Beautiful Story", the light soul groove of "Good Combination", a rambling acoustic version of "I Got You Babe" (culled from the soundtrack of the film "Good Times"), an odd spoken b-side called "Hello", and a quick radio promo reminding kids that "school is where it's at.... stay cool, go back to school."

The liner notes, which are mostly an essay by Ken Barnes aren't particularly enlightening, and the track listings only give chart numbers and dates, without any recording/session information. The remastering (often from the original mono mixes!) are handled with the usual deft hand by Bill Inglot.

Perhaps that most disconcerting thing about this disc is that it's really "Sonny & Cher and Sonny." That is, it features the duo's tracks, plus a few of Sonny's solo sides. Missing are the Cher solo tracks (all produced and mostly written by Sonny) that were interleaved with the duo's. What's presented is only about 1/2 of the real Sonny & Cher story. Interweaving the tracks on this disc with those from the recently issued Cher's gravest hits disc would produce a more satisfying collection.

The 60's were an incredible time for pop vocal
groups. Alongside the Beatles, Beach Boys, the
Motown groups, Young Rascals, Mamas & Papas,
Association, Byrds, and so many others was the
dynamic duo of Sonny & Cher. This fantabulous
CD celebrates their orignal string of hits for
the Atco label (along with "Baby Don't Go", released
on Reprise) before their fall from favor and
subsequent rebirth via The Sonny & Cher Show in
the early 70's. Younger fans of the current "New

Millennium" Cher may be unfamiliar with these
recordings, but make no mistake, this is prime
Cher, her voice rich and throbbing even at such
a young age. All of their 60's classics are
included, along with some great album cuts and a
few rarities. My fave is "What Now My Love", which is
as bombastic as anything Phil Spector ever produced.
Sonny's years working with Phil on his "Wall of Sound"
paid off well. The production on these cuts is
amazing, and the sound here (at least to my ears) is
much better than the ABKCO Phil Spector CD releases.
All in all, a fun-filled trip down memory lane with
some of the most catchy, heartfelt, and just plain
groovy songs from an era which contained the GROOVIEST
music of all time! Put on your bell-bottoms and
enjoy!

First, I was totally in love with Sonny & Cher back in 1965! Yes, they were, my guilty pleasure even when it wasn't cool. Like another review said, post-1967, with the exception of "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves", Cher as a solo, just isn't as great. I love the early years, c. 1965 - 1967. One thing has always amazed me, and that is the lack of respect that Sonny has received for his introducion of a variety of music into rock in the mid-60's. While Paul Simon has, appropriately, been given credit for his use of different rhythms, I've never seen Sonny receive such recognition. Yet, from the French waltz of "Sing C'est La Vie", to the slow "Bolero" march of "What Now My Love?"; the Gypsy beats of "Bang Bang", and "Little Man", and even country hoedown in the middle of "Living For You", Sonny was never afraid to try different rhythms in rock music. Remember, in 1965 and 1966, singles just didn't do this. As was also mentioned earlier, his production techniques, learned at the feet of Phil Spector, were impeccable. And, he had the great sense to surround himself in the recording studio with some of the great production staff and musicians of Spector's Gold Star Studios. And, let's give special credit to Harold Battiste, the pianist, who assisted Sonny. Sonny was, to be sure, never given the proper respect he deserved as a producer and song-writer.

A great CD of Sonny & Cher's first era of hits in the 60's. Very underrated pop classics, especially the songs written by Sonny. They are all here, as far as the biggest chart hits. Nice liner notes & photos too. This was the VERY first Sonny & Cher best of CD in the US issued in the early 90's. It is a superb collection of the duo's greatest hits, plus a couple of Sonny's solo chart hits, like the punkish LAUGH AT ME.

The ONLY thing that could have made it more complete would be the inclusion of S&C's late 60's Atco singles that were not hits. Songs like Sonny's original tunes for them like CIRCUS, GET IT TOGETHER, HOLD YOU TIGHTER and others would have made it far more complete. Seeing as how this CD was issued in the early 90's, and with Sonny's passing, it would be a wonderful idea for Rhino to do a more complete history of S&C's music , and include all the early Reprise songs from where BABY DON'T GO , LOVE IS STRANGE, DO YOU WANT TO DANCE, and others began their career to the end of their Atco contract in 1969-1970. Too much to ask or not?

A fine CD of some of the much loved pop duo, and their enduring hits here. A 2 CD set that includes the non-LP and not yet on CD songs is needed for the collector's, diehards & music fans . There is much material not on CD that Sonny & Cher cut.