Four years before their hippie trappings were co-opted and sanitized by Madison Ave. and the Partridge Family, Sonny & Cher were the stuff of rebellion: real teen rebellion against uptight teachers, twistin' grandmas, ... more »hopelessly Donna Reed parents, the entire gamut of squares. Theirs was a quantum leap in the history of teen insolence, overnight transforming a hitherto dark, greasy, James-Dean-dangerous rebellion into a long-haired, bell-bottom, bobcat-vest luv-fest rebellion, with its own musical accompaniment. Sonny & Cher were postwar-America's first rebels without switchblades. Their near-cuddly outrageousness was irresistible. In an era of smashed traditions and questioned authority, Sonny & Cher showed their anti-establishment audience how two people could be married, even married and singing silly love songs to one another, and still be the epitome of cool.« less
Four years before their hippie trappings were co-opted and sanitized by Madison Ave. and the Partridge Family, Sonny & Cher were the stuff of rebellion: real teen rebellion against uptight teachers, twistin' grandmas, hopelessly Donna Reed parents, the entire gamut of squares. Theirs was a quantum leap in the history of teen insolence, overnight transforming a hitherto dark, greasy, James-Dean-dangerous rebellion into a long-haired, bell-bottom, bobcat-vest luv-fest rebellion, with its own musical accompaniment. Sonny & Cher were postwar-America's first rebels without switchblades. Their near-cuddly outrageousness was irresistible. In an era of smashed traditions and questioned authority, Sonny & Cher showed their anti-establishment audience how two people could be married, even married and singing silly love songs to one another, and still be the epitome of cool.
"As a few other reviewers have pointed out, Sundazed made the indefensible decision to release all of Sonny & Cher's albums mixed down to monaural sound. When I wrote to the company to complain, they explained that the original mixes were not acceptable, and that the easiest solution was to make them all mono. It is true that some of Sonny and Cher's first albums (and the first Cher solo album) were oddly mixed, so that essentially all of the instrumental sounds came from one channel, with the vocal(s) on the other--and nothing in between. But Sundazed overlooked two facts: One, at least some of the tracks on the original S&C albums--most significantly their signature hit "I Got You Babe"--exhibited excellent stereo separation on the original LPs (and let us remember that the brilliant orchestration, including those gorgeous woodwinds, was a great part of the appeal of that song). And second, when I buy a CD release of a beloved LP, it's because I want the original in a durable format, free of pops and clicks; I don't want someone else's idea of how the record should originally have sounded (another example of this is the disastrous remix on the first CD release of Frank Zappa's "We're Only In It For The Money"). One reviewer complained that it's like coloring a classic black-and-white movie, but it's actually worse--like releasing a Technicolor classic like "Gone with the Wind" in black and white. It's a sad state of affairs when a nearly 40-year-old LP has better sound than a brand-new CD. Even more objectionable, at least one song has been "edited" from the original: for reasons no one explains, the second verse of "Just You" has disappeared (the part where Cher sings:
"Thought right then he'd break my heart,
I could feel the teardrops start.
Why, didn't he know I love him so,
I could never let him go.")
WHY WOULD THEY DO THAT? (That verse at least is included in the "Best of" album, although again, it's mixed down to mono.)
To sum up, this is a sad representation of a glorious pop classic. Maybe someday someone will release the REAL Sonny & Cher albums."
Sonny and Cher in their most endearing LP
Ward J. Lamb | slate hill, new york United States | 01/15/2000
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This Lp was the most exciting the pair released.The lp is packed with heart-felt duets. It is vital folk rock. "Look at Us" has genuine sensititvity, and Sonny Bono is at his best, both writing, singing?, and his Spector-homage production. The haunting "Unchained Melody", and the folkie 500 miles are fresh and heart-felt."Just You " is still a rhapsody for teenagers. The anthem "I Got You Babe" has surely lasted and become an American piece of pop history. I do own the LP in stereo, and wrote the notes for this reissue series. I regret that these recordings have not been issued in stereo, though I was told this was for tape condition reasons. The LP "Good Times" has since been reissued in mono, so..I made my own cd from the original LP, so I could enjoy the stereo separation. Sonny and Cher sound better as duets in stereo, though I was thrilled to see these reissues come forth."
Back to Stereo
J. Priessen | Amsterdam Netherlands | 10/04/1998
(3 out of 5 stars)
"As a vintage music collector I was pleased to see some interest was put in the music of Sonny & Cher.I know the label Sundazed to be relaible to come up with the best possible sound quality of vintage recordings.But what a dissapointment to find, after buying all three discs, that the stereo masters were not used but again the sometimes overmodulated mono versions.Being in the position of owning the original albums on Atco, I know that they had a srange idea about stereo recording engineering at Atco (Atlantic). But anyone who is in the possesion of the original stereo "Good Times" album (Atco 33-214) must agree that the producing skills of Sonny Bono (wich sometimes go beyond Phil Spector' ones, who by the way also battered his recordings by mixing them down to mono on his cd boxset "Back to mono") sound much better in stereo!With nowdays technology it is possible to remix these "weird" sounding stereo masters to "normal" stereo. Listen for example to the recordings of Bobby Darin on the recently re-released albums on Atlantic. (thanks to the effort of Stephan Innocenzi).Maybe someone ought to explane to Bob Irwin (who mastered the recordings for these cd's) that releasing these original intended stereo recordings in mono is like colouring original black and white intended movies (like The Longest Day)!So if anyone feels the same way about this, please let me know!And for the label Sundazed, you still can make it up by releasing the album "Good Times" by Sonny & Cher in it's original stereophonic sound!!!"
LOOK AT US!! It's Sonny & Cher's First Album!!!!!
Lawrance M. Bernabo | 02/27/1999
(5 out of 5 stars)
"SONNY & CHER's first album "LOOK AT US" sold over 4,000,000 million copies in the USA alone!! This reissue of it reminds everybody what the excitement was all about!! Yes this is the album that has the greatest love song of the rock folk movement of the sixties, "I GOT YOU, BABE". This album evokes the best of the Phil Spector Sound in which Sonny Bono Copied and improved on!!!! Outstanding songs include, "Just YOU", "Let It Be ME', "Then He Kissed Me", & "YOu Really Got A Hold On ME". Yes, this is the definite Sonny & Cher Album!!"
Track Listings (15) - Disc #1
