Search - Sonny Bono :: Inner Views

A so-bad-it's-great 'Sixties classic

Joe Sixpack -- Slipcue.com | ...in Middle America | 07/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Sonny Bono's infamous, self-indulgent psychedelic-kitsch "classic" solo album, from 1967. This edition, on Collector's Choice Music, only includes the five original tracks from the 1967 LP. It does NOT also include all the bonus tracks that were included on an earlier Rhino Handmade release. The CCM version has five songs on it. They are: "I Just Sit There," "I Told My Girl To Go Away," "I Would Marry You Today," "My Best Friend's Girl Is Out Of Sight" and "Pammie's On A Bummer" ...And they are pretty funny, in a painful, "The 'Sixties were so kooky" kinda way."

Your mother's cooking sturgeon/your sister's still a virgin

jon sieruga | Redlands, CA USA | 04/22/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"EP from Sonny Bono(sans Cher)is scattershot, half-baked, dated--but it's a glittering relic. A high-minded and spotty bid at success(with an underlying feel of complete indifference to the pop market). The effort could've used a better music editor, for the songs go on too long. The lyrics are a fruity batch of witticisms, but Bono's singing isn't bad and on the slower, tender "I Told My Girl To Go Away", he almost renders a throwaway classic."

A "SLEEPER" album from one of the 60's best producers of 'po

CMW-Tzvi | Philadelphia, PA | 10/28/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"When I call this album a "sleeper", I mean that it grows better the more you listen to it. This item only has the 5 songs released on the original LP platter, no extra tracks, no "bonus" surprises, etc. The songs are as follows:



1. "I Just Sit There,"

This must be what induced the previous reviewer to call the entire disc a "self-indulgent psychedelic-kitsch "classic" solo album". First, it IS a bit repetitive, and Sonny sounds like he's trying too hard to be 'hip' in what was the rapidly changing music scene of 1967. Hence the long (over 12 minutes!) song taking cues from various sources, especially the Beatles.



2. "I Told My Girl To Go Away,"

At first this sounds like it's a take off of "A Day in the Life", but with a typical 'pop' boy-and girl-breaking-up theme, but wait!! Listen to the lyrics carefully (or read them carefully from the insert- you may need to magnify the text to do this). Sonny appears to be writing about a cross-cultural or maybe even a cross-racial relationship! Pretty gutsy EVEN for 1967 in most of the country!



3. "I Would Marry You Today,"

A careful listen to (or reading of) the lyrics pictures a guy willingly entering into a rather disfunctional relationship: that MAY explain how things really were between him and his wife (Cher)!



4. "My Best Friend's Girl Is Out Of Sight"

This is possibly the previous picture from another angle: a guy who's with one girl (his girlfriend) but develops a crush on his BEST FRIEND's girlfriend, who apparently later becomes the BF's WIFE! Pop music did not (yet) take on these subjects in the kind of analysis Sonny gives the situation here.



5. "Pammie's On A Bummer"

At first listen, this song may be painful to take for some, but that's because (as you were warned by the title) the subject of the song is ON A BUMMER!! Sonny uses the darkness of the background to empasize that point. You wouldn't want a light 'happy!', celebratory background for this type of song- you'd sound like it was nothing to worry about. Look at the lyrics, and you'll see that this is a cautionary tale! Having lived through the sixties and part of the seventies among a loose hippy-college group of friends, I can picture this song's background only too well- I can give names if I'm pressed for proof!



Obviously, this is not a fit with the typical Sonny & Cher collection- a LITTLE TOO HEAVY for that crowd, but if you've ever heard of Sonny's other solo pieces ("Laugh at Me", "The Revolution Kind", etc. ... oh yeah, HIS version of "You'd Better Sit Down, Kids" also), you can see this as a logical part of his work.



Also remember that MOST of the songs that he & his then-wife put out were written by Sonny, as well as arranged and produced by Sonny- including her solo recordings most of the way through the seventies!



Admittedly, this is not to everybody's taste, but this description should help you know whether or not it might be for you."