Reader’s Choice/Tom’s Top Tunes…Song #49/250: I Got You Babe by Sonny and Cher

In 1962, two years before I was even born, a sixteen year old dark haired beauty named Cherilyn Sarkisian walked into an L.A. coffee shop on the arm of her boyfriend. This young man knew that Cherilyn had a good singing voice and had arranged for her to meet an “industry insider” named Salvatore Bono. Bono, who was twenty seven at the time, was working for veteran record producer Phil Spector. Cherilyn’s boyfriend was hoping that his friend Salvatore could broker a meeting between Cherilyn and Spector. What he wasn’t counting on was that Bono would, indeed, agree to introduce young Cherilyn to Spector but that he would do so as the new boyfriend in her life. There was just something about the twenty-something Bono that appeared all worldly and sophisticated to Cherilyn. She left her boyfriend and became the girlfriend, lover and then wife of Salvatore Bono. While Phil Spector didn’t think that much of young Cherilyn’s talent, he did employ her as a backup singer on hits such as “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes and “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling” by The Righteous Brothers. Meanwhile, young Salvatore was helping Spector produce records and was dabbling in songwriting, too. 

The story of how “I Got You Babe” came to be is as simple as the song itself. Like many people, Bono was a fan of singer Bob Dylan. In the mid 1960s, Dylan had set the music world on fire by “going electric” and then releasing a series of albums that would come to be regarded as among the best of all time. On his fourth album The Other Side of Bob Dylan, there was a song called “It Ain’t Me Babe”. That song was among a new wave of Dylan songs that saw him moving farther away from simpler Folk and Pop tunes and moving closer toward songs that were lengthier, more creatively complex and which explored deeper ideas and themes. “It Ain’t Me Babe” ended up being a hit for The Turtles, as well as being covered by the Man in Black, Johnny Cash, along with Jan and Dean, too. Sonny Bono enjoyed the song, as well. However, what he liked about it wasn’t Dylan’s more poetic musings, it was the fact that he had used the word “Babe” in the title. “Babe” was Bono’s affectionate little nickname for his bride Cherilyn. 

The 1960s was a time of great social change in America. Among many things, social mores became looser and more liberal. A generation of young people who called themselves Hippies emerged as a social demographic group that mattered politically and culturally. Hair grew longer. Everyday fashion became more colourful. The mood of the land drew toward peacefulness. Social constructs such as marriage became a matter of debate as more and more couples sought to simply be with each other in all regards rather than declare themselves as being married because of a legal document and ceremony. Sonny and Cher, as they had come to be known, were not living the free-love lifestyle of many of their peers but they did look the part. Sonny had let his hair grow longer. Cher’s hair had always flowed past her shoulders and down her back. Not everyone agreed with the idea of this long haired music man partnering up with this teenage girl so they both had to deal with resistance and discrimination throughout the early days of their relationship. And so it was that one night after Cher had gone to bed, Sonny found himself still up after midnight. His ears were filled with Dylan’s music. His heart was filled with love for Cher. His head was filled with the angry words of those who thought that he was robbing the cradle. In a fit of inspiration, Sonny Bono decided to get all of his feelings out of his system by writing a song about his love for Cher and how he believed that they were going to thrive as a couple regardless of what others said. The song that he wrote was called “I Got You Babe”.

Sonny worked on the song until almost four in the morning. Once finished, he rushed to wake Cher up so that she could come out to the living room and sing the song with him (because, of course, it was a duet). Cher groggily agreed. However, when she saw the lyrics and, even after she and Sonny had run them through, Cher thought that the song was a silly little tune that was sweet but that wouldn’t amount to much in terms of becoming a hit. Cher was not the only one who felt that way. Sonny was convinced from the outset that “I Got You Babe” had potential but Phil Spector thought it was a novelty song at best and refused to record it. But this was one of those moments that came to define Sonny Bono’s life. He was not highly regarded by those in the industry. Instead, he had been considered a lightweight who was lucky to have his job working for Phil Spector. However, being taken for granted became a strategy that Sonny Bono used to get what he needed and wanted in life. In later years, his persistence and his ability to negotiate successfully allowed him to become mayor of Palm Springs, California, as well as a United States congressman. But in the 1960s, what his easy-going, non-threatening manner eventually got him was some recording time with a man named Harold Battiste. Session players from the famous Wrecking Crew sat in and Sonny convinced Cher to sing his song with him. This resulted in a single being produced. However, even with that, the owner of that record label, Ahmet Ertegun, thought the song was B-side material and refused to release it as an A-side single. Ever the hustler, Sonny Bono grabbed some copies of the single and began taking them directly to radio DJs in the L.A. area. He convinced a DJ named Ron Jacobs to play the song once an hour for a twenty-four hour period in return for a promise of exclusive access should the song gain popularity. Well, Jacobs played the song. The reaction from listeners was overwhelmingly positive. “I Got You Babe” went on to sell over one million copies. It came to be one of the songs that helped define the mood of the 1960s. It also became Sonny and Cher’s signature song and their only real hit together as a duo.

Because of the popularity of “I Got You Babe”, Sonny and Cher became a well known media couple. Even though they didn’t have any other charting hits, Sonny and Cher had a charm about them that endeared them to the public. Because of this easy rapport, Sonny and Cher were given two different opportunities to host television variety shows. *(For those readers who are too young to know what a TV variety show was…it was a show that had a host and a series of guest performers, along with a cast of regular returning characters. Over the course of an hour, there would be musical performances, comedy skits, magic acts, ventriloquists and so on). 

It was while co-hosting their two shows that Cher was given the opportunity to sing with other talented performers. Her talent as a singer became evident to everyone. As time went on, Cher began wearing outfits that became increasingly revealing, too. With her beauty and her singing talent, Cher seemed to simply outgrow her marriage right before the eyes of those of us who watched their show each week on TV. The growing gulf between the two of them became so obvious that no one was terribly surprised when it was announced that they were divorcing and that Cher was moving on with a career that for the first time in her life didn’t include Sonny Bono. The decision by Cher to strike out on her own has proven to be a fortuitous one for her. Almost immediately, Cher released a solo album that contained the hit songs “Dark Lady”, “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves” and “Half Breed”. She also began dabbling in acting, earning rave reviews for her roles in the movies Mask, Moonstruck, Mermaids, Silkwood, The Witches of Eastwick and many others. Cher won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Moonstruck. She also had chart success with songs such as “If I Could Turn Back Time”, “Just Like Jesse James”, “Bang! Bang!”, “I Found Someone”, “Shoop, Shoop (the Mermaid Song)”, “We All Sleep Alone”, “Love and Understanding” and many more. On a personal note, one of the better concerts I have ever been to was Cher and Cyndi Lauper in Toronto. Both artists are true professionals and know how to put on a thoroughly entertaining show. To be honest, I was surprised that I enjoyed myself so much but I did and I have tipped my hat in their direction ever since.

As mentioned earlier, when it came to Sonny Bono, underestimating him was easy. When he and Cher ended their marriage and their television partnership as well, many of us thought that Sonny Bono’s moment in the spotlight had come and gone. It was clear from watching them together on TV that Cher possessed the real artistic talent between the two of them. Sonny was charming and likable, though. He was also a survivor and a hustler. The disparity of talent between he and Cher exposed him in a way but it also reinforced those qualities that he did possess that had brought him into the spotlight in the first place. Being a charismatic hustler served him well as he decided to leave the world of show business and enter the world of politics. When he decided to run for the job as mayor of Palm Springs, I think that many people thought it was almost a joke. But Sonny Bono proved to be a much better, honourable and effective politician than anyone had thought possible…anyone that was, except for Sonny himself. At his core, Sonny Bono was a good person. That aspect of his personality shone through once he stopped playing for laughs on TV and moved on to working for the betterment of others on the political stage. He did so well as mayor that there is a statue erected of him in Palm Springs to this very day. Sonny easily won election to the U.S. Congress and earned praise for his statesmanship while a senator. If not for a skiing accident that ultimately claimed his life at age 65, there is no telling where Bono’s political career might have taken him. At the time of his death, Sonny Bono was married to his fourth wife, a woman named Mary Whitaker. Credit goes to Mary for having the strength of character to have asked Cher to deliver a eulogy at Sonny’s funeral. For those interested, you can watch Sonny Bono’s memorial service from Washington here.

I will conclude this post with the simple thought that not all songs have to be deeply poetic to hold value and meaning. “I Got You Babe” is a song that some people view as not being a “real” rock n’ roll song but more of a cheesy novelty hit. That is fine. It is true that there are no throbbing bass beats anywhere in the song nor are there any guitar solos required. Instead, “I Got You Babe” is a simple song about how love feels when you first fall into it. I have always found that it captures that sense of partnership that exists when you and your beloved first unite as a couple as well as any song ever written. When love works well, it actually is kind of simple in many ways. Everything fits together. There is no drama or uncertainty. It all seems like magic medicine that is going to last forever. Whenever I really take the time to listen to the story being told with “I Got You Babe”, it makes me feel like I am holding the hand of the one I love, heading out into the world together, confident that nothing can stop us from finding happiness and contentment and peace. If “I Got You Babe” does that for me and my wife, hopefully it does that for you and yours as well. In any case, if you create a work of art that makes the lives of others better then you have really accomplished a lot. Well done Salvatore and Cherilyn. Thanks for one heckuva song!

The link to the video for the song “I Got You Babe” by Sonny and Cher can be found here.  ***The lyrics version is here.

The link to the official website for Cher can be found here.

The link to the official website for Sonny and Cher as a duo can be found here.

The link to a really cool interview/reunion that Sonny and Cher had while on Late Night with David Letterman can be found here. It is long but it is worth it. Even as divorced ex-partners, they still have plenty of chemistry.

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