Sonny & Cher - Look at Us (1965)

"Baby Don't Go" by Sonny & Cher


Another relative of Vince Guaraldi and Muzzy Marcellino's in the music business was singer, songwriter, and producer Sonny Bono.

Sonny Bono worked for Phil Spector.  He played percussion and wrote songs and learned from the master but lacked the master's talent.  Sonny met the young Cherilyn Sarkisian and arranged for her to sing as a backup singer, a brick in Spector's Wall of Sound.  She sang on a handful of notable iconic Spector hits and recorded a couple singles for him to no success.  Cherilyn wasn't really a Spector project anyway, she was Sonny's (and they eventually married).  Sonny started packaging the two of them as the musical duo Caesar & Cleo, a girl-boy partnership based on the previous successes of Les Paul & Mary Ford, Mickey & Sylvia, and even Bob Dylan and Joan Baez.  They had no notable success as Caesar & Cleo.

The name change to Sonny & Cher on the duo's third single "Baby Don't Go" coincided with it being a local hit.  When they released the follow-up, a Sonny penned and produced "I Got You Babe", Sonny & Cher had a surprising #1 hit single and cultural landmark.  Its success pulled up their associated debut 1965 album, Look at Us to #2 on the album charts.  The single's success also ended up featuring the two on a good number of talk and variety shows and even the occasional movie appearance.  Sonny & Cher had become household name.

Here is the discography surrounding Sonny & Cher's debut album:

The Letter (1964 single as Caesar & Cleo)
Love Is Strange (1964 single as Caesar & Cleo)
Baby Don't Go (1964 single)
Baby Don't Go (1965 compilation album by Sonny & Cher and Friends)
I've Got You Babe (1965 single)
Look at Us
Just You (1965 single)
The Letter (1965 single)

"I've Got You Babe" by Sonny & Cher


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