Cher - Absolutely the Best Vol. 1

 

Growing up in the 60's, I was a fan of Sonny'n'Cher and even watched their (pretty corny) TV show regularly, and they put out some great pop tunes early on. And even before that (maybe also during? I'm not 100% sure) Cher had a solo career and put out some top notch songs and this collection (that we've had for a while but I just randomly grabbed from our shelves) puts together a good selection of them.

"Dream Baby", released under the name Cherilyn, is an excellent stab at the girl group/Phil Spector sound and while I don't remember it on the radio at the time, I've had the single and it is a terrific Bono tune. Here's the original (?) take on Sonny's "Bang Bang" (although I remember it with Sonny singing, as well - a later version?), followed by a catchy number about divorce ("You Better Sit Down Kids"). Ironically, considering her husband's first name, she does a cover of "Sunny", there's more social commentary from Sonny, an unnecessary cover of "Alfie", but her version of "All I Really Want To Do" was at least somewhat of a hit (although her take on "I Want You" isn't as successful artistically or commercially), they were certainly fans of their peers, the Byrds, as "The Bells of Rhymney" attests, and many others around them also covered "Hey Joe" and while Cher does a fine job singing, this doesn't really break any new ground.

The rest of the CD is, unfortunately, fairly forgettable. But the initial tunes are well worth the price and Cher's voice is outstanding throughout, even on the weaker numbers.