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Background and composition

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Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-wife, Cher, late at night in their living room. When Cher was woken up to sing the lyrics, she hated the song, not thinking it would be a hit, and immediately went back to bed.[1][2]

The recording session for the song was held on June 7, 1965, at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood and lasted between 2 and 5 PM.[3] Harold Battiste provided the instrumental arrangement, and session musicians The Wrecking Crew performed the instrumental track.[4][5] Richard Niles quotes Battiste as saying the prominent instrumental figure in the song is actually played on an oboe rather than an ocarina.[6]

"I Got You Babe" became the duo's biggest single, their signature song, and a defining recording of the early hippie countercultural movement.[citation needed] Billboard said of the song "using the successful combination of folk and rock, this one has the performance and production of a smash."[7] Record World called it "a meandering, funky piece of rock that will hit the top."[8]

AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann praised the song:

Recalling Dylan's bitter 1964 song "It Ain't Me Babe" (soon to be a folk-rock hit for the Turtles), Bono wrote his own opposite sentiment: "I Got You Babe." Where Dylan was lyrically complex, Bono was simple: His lyrics began with the ominous youth-versus-grownups theme of "they" who set up barriers to romance, but soon gave way to a dialogue of teenage romantic platitudes. Where Dylan was musically simple, however, Bono, without fully rebuilding Spector's Wall of Sound, was more structurally ambitious, following the song's standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus form with an ascending coda that built to a climax, then started building again before the fadeout, all in only a little over three minutes. Set to waltz time, the tune retained a light feel despite the sometimes busy instrumentation, led by a prominent ocarina [sic], and the alternating vocals of the two singers. If neither were interesting singers, their plodding, matter-of-fact performances gave the song a common-man appeal.[9]

In the United States, the song had sold more than 1 million copies in 1965 being certified Gold by the RIAA. As of November 2011, Billboard reported the digital sales of "I Got You Babe" to be 372,000 in the US.[10]

In 2011, the song was named as one of the greatest duets of all time by both Billboard and Rolling Stone magazines.[11][12] It was also listed at #444 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004. But in a 2011 poll Rolling Stone readers ranked "I Got You Babe" the eighth-worst song of the 1960s.[13] In early 2017 the song has been inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.[14]

  1. ^ Rothman, Michael. "Cher Reflects on 'I Got You Babe' 50 Years Later The icon reveals how the Sonny & Cher hit got made". abc News. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  2. ^ Locker, Mellisa. "Cher Didn't Think 'I Got You Babe' Would Be a Hit". Time. Archived from the original on April 25, 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  3. ^ "Phonograph Recording Contract Blank: American Federation of Musicians" (PDF). Wreckingcrewfilm.com. June 7, 1965. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 20, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2022.
  4. ^ Roberts, Sam (June 26, 2015). "Harold Battiste Musician Mentor and Arranger Dies at 83". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2017. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  5. ^ Hartman, Kent (2012). The Wrecking Crew. St. Martin's Griffin. pp. 261–263. ISBN 978-1-250-03046-7.
  6. ^ Richard Niles (2007). "THE INVISIBLE ARTIST : Arrangers in popular music (1950–2000); Their contribution and techniques" (TXT). Bura.brunel.ac.uk. Archived from the original on August 22, 2016. Retrieved September 29, 2016.
  7. ^ "Spotlight Singles" (PDF). Billboard. June 26, 1965. p. 43. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  8. ^ "Sleeper of the Week" (PDF). Record World. June 19, 1965. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  9. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "I Got You Babe – Sonny & Cher – Listen, Appearances, Song Review – AllMusic". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 17, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2013.
  10. ^ "Ask Billboard: Cher Information, Yes?". Billboard. November 5, 2011. Archived from the original on May 26, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  11. ^ "Top 40 Biggest Duets of All Times". Billboard. February 14, 2011. Archived from the original on January 29, 2013. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  12. ^ "The 10 Greatest Duets of All Time". Rolling Stone. February 14, 2011. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved March 11, 2012.
  13. ^ "Readers' Poll: The Worst Songs of the Sixties". Rolling Stone. 2011-11-16. Archived from the original on March 29, 2022. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  14. ^ Grammy Hall of Fame award Archived July 7, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. Grammy. Retrieved on December 4, 2016
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