The Sonny Side of Chér is the second studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on March 28, 1966, by Imperial, shortly after the success of her debut album. Recorded while she was simultaneously charting as part of the duo Sonny & Cher, the album was produced by Sonny Bono.
Musically, the album follows the formula of its predecessor, combining rearranged cover versions with new songs written by Bono. Its track list draws from contemporary folk and pop standards, incorporating influences from French chanson alongside American and international material. Notably, the record includes "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" which became Cher's first solo top-ten hit.
Upon release, The Sonny Side of Chér received mixed critical responsess. Commercially, the album charted in both the United States and the United Kingdom, while the single "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" became one of the most successful songs of Cher's 1960s output.
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. 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".
The album also included Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual", the popular song "Our Day Will Come" and "The Girl from Ipanema". 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 No. 2 and which was also a hit in the UK Singles Chart at No. 3. 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.
CD releases
Cher's second successful album of the sixties, it was released on CD in 1992 by EMI together with Cher's first album as a 2fer. In 1995 EMI re-released this 2fer with the album Chér. Record Mirror wrote that Cher "sounds better than ever", praising "quite good selections" and noting she performs "Time" "delicately", "raves through 'Milord'", and excels on "A Young Girl", though criticizing "Like a Rolling Stone" as "a silly song for a girl to sing". Cash Box described it as a set of "goodies" spanning "the poetic and folk-rock bags". Record World wrote that the "fine, clever hand" of Sonny is behind the album, praising Cher for performing "charmingly and compellingly" on "Bang Bang".
AllMusic wrote that Sonny Bono's attempt to tinker with the folk-rock formula "ruins everything", leaving the album a "chuckle-inducing curiosity", though noting "good covers of Dylan" and "a couple of Bob Lind tunes", while criticizing its "over the top" arrangements, Cher sounding "game but uncommitted", and ultimately calling that it "is doomed by its lack of heart and inability to rise above the formulaic".
Commercial performance
The Sonny Side of Chér peaked at number 26 on the Billboard 200. The album entered into the chart while The Wondrous World of Sonny & Cher was also charting.
The album also entered in the UK Albums Chart and debuted at number 28 in May, and reached its highest position at number eleven, three weeks later.
The album remained in the chart for eleven weeks and exited in July.
Track listing
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
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Weekly chart performance for The Sonny Side of Chér
! scope="col" | Chart (1966)
! scope="col" | Peak<br>position
|-
! scope="row" | Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)
| 7
|-
! scope="row" | Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)
| 5
|-
|-
|-
! scope="row" |US Cash Box Top Pop Albums
| style="text-align:center;"|27
|-
! scope="row" | US Record World Top 100 LP's
| 15
|}
Year-end charts
{| class="wikitable"<!-- default listing is by Region/Country name per WP:CHARTS & References should be as specific as possible.-->
|+Year-end chart performance for The Sonny Side of Chér
!Chart (1966)
!Position
|-
|US Cash Box Top Pop Albums
|align="center"|87
|-
|}