Excellent collection of songs
Charles - Music Lover | Phoenix, AZ, USA | 06/25/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"Cher's first two albums for Imperial Records are reissued together on this remastered CD. Sonny produced these recordings using Phil Spector's famed wall of sound production techniques and the results are endurably memorable. The remastered sound highlights the solid musicianship (which sometimes sounded ramshackle on vinyl) and Cher's great vocals. The songs are classics, written by Bob Dylan, Jackie DeShannon, Sonny Bono, and Pete Seeger, among many others. Don't miss out on this great CD!!"
Cher: All I Really Want To Do
M. W. Johnson | Sacramento, CA | 09/07/2005
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is unbelievable. I was 7 years old when this album was released in 1965. My parents bought the album for my birthday. However, because I was somewhat irresponsible, I left it in the car, in the sun. You know the rest if you ever owned a vinyl record. I am delighted that this is now available on CD. I never thought I would see this album again. We do live in a fabulous age."
It's "Time"
grooverider | Toluca Lake LA | 06/27/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
""The Sonny Side of Cher" was the best of her early solo albums, indeed, her best album next to "Stars". Sonny Bono really knew what kind of a singer he was working with. Sonny utilized the legendary New Orleans musician, Harold Battiste and the talents of musicians that although, not the Motown Funk Brothers, were top notch, incredible musicians where the rhythm section "smoked"! In hindsight it seems so surprising to hear where these songs came from: Edith Piaf!!!(Milord), the 1927 musical production "Showboat" by Jerome Kern & Oscar Hammerstein (Old Man River), Antonio Carlos Jobim (The Girl From Ipanema), Tom Jones!!!(It's Not Unusual, one of my favorites), Ruby & The Romantics (Our Day Will Come-another fave), just what was Sonny thinking?! Even "world music" influences (Bang, Bang) and somehow it all works, I don't know how or if any contemporary artist could manage an album like this, male or female. No record company would EVER ok an album that had this kind of range and I'm not sure what that says about this album and the current state of music but I know I will treasure it for what it is, my hats off to both Sonny (as producer) and, of course, Cher(still going strong, who knew?). An album of it's time, indeed.
"All I Really Want To Do", released in 1965, was Cher's first solo album and it contains some gems: "I Go To Sleep", "Dream Baby" (heavily influenced by Phil Spector, who Sonny worked with), "Cry Myself to Sleep". I VERY much appreciate Sonny's acknowledgement of the musicians who played on the album by listing them. I don't believe that was common practice in 1965 but it was informative to know people like Julius Wechter, Mike Rubini, Lyle Ritz and Gene Estes, among others, were the wonderful players. Cher recorded this album at the legendary Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. An essential CD that documents the beginnings of the recording career of the one-of-a-kind Cher."
Track Listings (24) - Disc #1