221 Goodbye Sonny* - All I Ever Need Is You

(* ...and  Cher )

Chart  entered : 15  January  1972

Chart  peak : 8

We  move  into  1972  now , at  the  end  of  which  I  was  an  avid  pop  music  fan. It's  the  last  year  of  my  life  which  is  somewhat  murky ; after  this  I  generally  know  when  events  happened  and  calendar  years  take  on  an  individual  character  in  my  memory.

In  chart  terms  it  was  great  because  glam  rock  established  itself  as  the  dominant  genre  and some  brilliant, exciting  records  were  big  hits. There  are  seven  goodbyes  and  three  acts   checked  in  with  their  final  hit  in  this  same  week. We  will  start  with  Mr  Bono.

This  was  a  comeback  hit  for  the  duo  - although   the  solo  Cher  had  recently  had  a  big  hit  with  the  brilliant  "Gypsies, Tramps  And  Thieves" - as  their  last  hit  was  back  in  February  1967. They  reacted  to  their  declining  sales  by  becoming  a  variety  act  working  mainly  in  the  Las  Vegas  clubs  and  hotels  with  Sonny  as  the  fall  guy  ( though  he  actually  scripted  it  all ). Eventually  their  hard  work  paid  off  and  in  1971  they  got  their  own  TV  show  The  Sonny  And  Cher  Comedy  Hour . This  prompted  a  return  to  the  recording  studio  and  this   song  was  the  title  track  of  their  new  album.

The  song  was  written  by  Jimmy  Holiday  and  Eddie  Reeves  and  first  recorded  by  Ray Charles  on  his  album The  Volcanic  Action  Of  My  Soul. Ray  Sanders  made  it  a  country  hit  and  that's  the  version  that  more  likely  influenced  the  duo. The  song  has  a  lush  country  rock  arrangement  with  piano  and  mandolin  prominent. The  duo  do  alternate  verses,  Cher  staying  in  her  wobbly  lower  register   throughout  and  Sonny  sounding  like  a  slightly  drunk  crow. Despite  the  pair's  obvious  vocal  imperfections  it  works  quite  well  as  middle  of  the  road  corn  for  their  new  audience  of  older  TV  viewers  and  turned  out  to be  one  of  the  biggest  hits  of  their  career  as  a  duo.

In  the  US  there  was  another  big  hit  from  the  album, "A  Cowboy's  Work  Is  Never  Done" which  was  Sonny's  own  composition. I  much  prefer  it  actually. The  unusual   arrangement  with an  electric  sitar  wailing  and  teasing  horns  suits  Cher's  ability  to  sell  a  melodramatic  lyric  (  although  on  close  inspection  it's  actually  about  a  boy  playing  at  being  a  hero ) and  Sonny  has  the  sense  to  give  her  the  bulk  of  the  song. Bafflingly  we  turned  our  noses  up  at  it  while  it  reached  number  8  in  the  US.  

"When  You  Say  Love"  from  August  1972  was  a  quick  cover  of  another  big  country  hit,  for  Bob  Luman  which  they  attack  with  their  usual  mix  of  gusto  and  big  production.  It  reached  number  32 in  the  US. The  following  year  they  came  out  with  Sonny's "Mama  Was  A  Rock And  Roll  Singer, Papa  Used  To  Write  All  Her  Songs" an  extraordinary,  sprawling  pyschodrama  of  a  song  spread  over  both  sides  of  the  single. Clearly  intended  to  be  Sonny's  last  word  on  their  partnership  ( the  rest  of  the  songs  on  the  LP  it  headed  were  covers ) , the  lyrics  are  pure  poison  spat  out  -and  it's  his  voice  mixed  higher - without  the  slightest  regard  for  melody. The  horrible  squelchy  synth  sounds  make  it  even  more  difficult  to  like. Amazingly  it  was  their  last  US  hit  reaching  77. "Good  God  !" screeches  Sonny  at  one  point. Quite.

That  should  have  been  the  last  word  but  the  record  company  released  their  version  of  Bob  Stone's  "The  Greatest  Show  On  Earth", itself  a  break-up  song. It's  a  good  song  with  both  of  them  in  restrained  form  although  its  big  production  sounds  a  bit  dated  for  1973.

The  show  had  to  come  to  an  end  in  1974  as  the  pair's  personal  relationship  fell  apart. Rumours  of  massive  rows  offstage  started  to  leak  out  from  1973  onwards  and  they  had  separate  quarters  in  their  Bel  Air  mansion  , kept  together  by  CBS  threatening  to  pull  the  show  if  one  moved  out. It  was  Sonny  who  brought  things  to  a  close  by  filing  for  divorce  which  was  granted  in  1975, the  pair  actually  making  a  well-oiled  appearance  together  on  The  Tonight  Show  to  celebrate.  In  august  1974  he  released  his  final  solo  single  "Our  Last  Show" , a  big  band  ballad  which  reflects  wryly  on  the   end  of  their  partnership  and  is  quite  touching  despite  his  unlovely  singing.  people  weren't  inclined  to  buy  it  though.  

Both  of  them  got  separate  TV  shows. Sonny  took  most  of  the  team  with  him  for  The  Sonny  Comedy  Revue  but  it  lasted  barely  two  months. He  struggled  for  quality  guest  stars  and  the  scripts  were  patchy  at  best.  When  it  was  cancelled  - before  Cher's  show  had  even  aired - he  went  out  on  a  tour  with  Darlene  Love  but  that  wasn't  well  received  either. He  turned  to  guest  star  roles  as  an  actor  in  TV  series.

After  a  good  start  Cher's  show  struggled  and  she  found  the  workload  too  much.  At  the  end  of  1975  she  announced  that  she  and  Sonny  would  reunite  professionally.  Contractual  commitments  meant  this  would  also  entail  another  album  and  a  tour  together  but  in  February  1976  The  Sonny  And  Cher  Show  aired. It  was  beset  with  problems. Sonny  couldn't  pull  back  a  lot  of  the  features  he'd  taken  over  to  a  different  TV  company  when  they  split. Cher  was  criticised  for  her  immodest  clothing; her  response  was  "Hell, Sonny  didn't  die !"  and  when  she  divorced  new  husband  Greg  Allman   three  months  after  the  birth  of  their  child  , the  ratings  sank  like  a  stone. The  show  was  pulled  in  August  1977.

Sonny  returned  to  acting  appearing  in  Airplane  II , Troll  and  Hairspray. He  occasionally  crossed  paths  with  his  ex  and  they  appeared  on  Letterman  in  1988. He  also  diversified  into  the   restaurant  business. When  the  bureaucrats  of  Palm  Springs  frustrated  his  attempts  to  open  a  restaurant  there  he  followed  Clint  Eastwood's  recent  example  and  got  himself  elected  Mayor. He  served  four  years  from  1988  to  1992.  He  started  the  Palm  Springs  International  Film  Festival  which  has  since  been  renamed  in  his  honour. In  1993  "I  Got  You  Babe"  made  a  brief  return  to  the  UK  chart  after  its  prominent  role  in  Groundhog  Day.   As  a  Repblican  he  tried  for  the  Senate  nomination  in  1992  but  was  defeated  and  had  to  settle  for  becoming  a  Congressman  in  1994. He  is  best  known  for  his  work  on  copyright  term  extension  although  he  was  not  the  actual  author  of  the  Act  that  bears  his  name. He  also  advised   Newt  Gingrich  on  how  to  improve  his  PR.

On  January  5th  1998 ,  whilst  still  in  office, he  died  after ski-ing  into  a  tree  at  a  Californian  holiday  resort -  a  curiously  fitting  end  for  a  man  who'd  spent  most  of  his  professional  life  pretending  to  be  a  bit  of  a  clown. With  his  wife  Mary's  blessing  Cher  gave  a  eulogy  at  his  funeral. Mary  herself   was  elected  to  replace  him  and  served  until  defeated  two  years  ago.