CHER: The Second Album (in mono)

Original released on LP Liberty LP 12301

(US, February 1966)

On Cher's second solo record, 1966's "The Sonny Side of Cher", Sonny Bono tinkers with the folk-rock formula that had made her previous album such a delight and ruins everything, leaving the album as nothing more than a chuckle-inducing curiosity, just the kind of silly record casual listeners might expect from the duo. While there are still good covers of Dylan ("Like a Rolling Stone") and a couple of Bob Lind tunes ("Elusive Butterfly" and "Come to Your Window"), for some reason Bono thought it would be a good idea to graft his Spectorized folk-rock sound onto MOR pop tunes like "It's Not Unusual," "Our Day Will Come," and "The Girl from Ipanema." Cher sounds game but uncommitted, the arrangements are over the top (check "Old Man River" for the best example), and it just doesn't work. The only track that has any real zest is the Bono-written novelty "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," the kind of dramatic song Cher could knock out in her sleep but also a song with no real heart. The album is doomed by its lack of heart and inability to rise above the formulaic. (Tim Sendra in AllMusic)

CHER Debut Album (in mono)

Original released on LP Imperial 12292

(US 1965, October 16)

After Sonny & Cher hit big with "I Got You Babe," Sonny Bono decided that he would strike while they were hot and got Cher a solo deal with Liberty Records. The angle they took for the 1965 album "All I Really Want to Do" was folk-rock with a tiny bit of girl group pop thrown in. Choosing from the songbooks of writers like Dylan (the title track, "Don't Think Twice," "Blowin' in the Wind"), Pete Seeger ("The Bells of Rhymney"), Jackie DeShannon ("Come and Stay With Me"), as well as Bono himself (the Jack Nitzsche co-write "Needles and Pins," the girl group classic "Dream Baby") and using his Spector-derived production skills to create rich, chiming backgrounds for Cher to sing over, the duo made what turns out to be one of the stronger folk-pop records of the era. Cher isn't the most subtle singer, but she sounds young and full of life on these tracks, like she really believes in what she is singing (a feeling you don't always get on her more lightweight material). No one will mistake her for Joni Mitchell or Sandy Denny, but you shouldn't belittle her efforts as a folksinger, either; "All I Really Want to Do" is proof that she was for real. (Tim Sendra in AllMusic)

CHER: "3614 Jackson Highway"

Original released on LP Atlantic ATCO 33-298

(US, July 1969)

I must admit that I am not a big fan of Cher's music. But this record which only recently I've listen to, is a hidden gem from the late sixties. It is her sixth studio solo album and it was named after the address of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio, in Sheffield, Alabama, where it was recorded, and produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin. Cher covers three Bob Dylan songs, all from his then current album "Nashville Skyline", but the best cover of all is the opening track, "For What It's Worth", a composition by Steven Stills, from the times of Buffalo Springfield. This album reveals that not only did Cher have soul, but the Swampers are the quintessential foil for her decidedly unique style. Like Soul Music serpent charmers, they summon from Cher the most authentic, if not interesting work she had been responsible for.