On this date in 1965, SONNY & CHER recorded the song I GOT YOU BABE (Jun 7, 1965)

[elleng]

NOTE: The video here is SONNY & CHER performing I GOT YOU BABE on German TV show 'Beat Club' in 1966. I've sharpened and colorized the original black and white film.
Sonny Bono was an up-and-coming record producer when he got Cher a job with Phil Spector as a session singer. They started dating and moved in to their manager's house, where Bono would write songs on a piano in the garage. He came up with "I Got You Babe" and wrote the lyrics on a piece of cardboard.
Cher didn't like it at first. She recalled to Billboard magazine: "Sonny woke me up in the middle of the night to come in where the piano was, in the living room, and sing it. And I didn't like it and just said, 'OK, I'll sing it and then I'm going back to bed.'"
Sonny changed the key in the bridge to fit her voice and she loved it.
"The lyrics of my songs are very important to me," said Sonny Bono in 1966.
"I never write anything until that very moment when I feel the emotion conveyed in the words I write. I know what it is like to be kicked around because you dress differently. I know what it is like to see the girl you love hurt because a hotel refuses you admission because of your dress. I know what it is like to have that one person stand by you. There are a lot of other people who have experienced these things and I'm trying to put our feelings into words for everyone."
Ahmet Ertegun, who was the boss at the duo's label Atco Records, didn't think much of this song, so he planned to issue it on the B-side of "It's Gonna Rain." Bono was sure "I Got You Babe" was the hit, but he couldn't convince Ertegun.
This was an era when disc jockeys could overrule record executives when it came to airplay, so Bono brought a copy of "I Got You Babe" to the Los Angeles radio station KHJ, and made a deal with their program director, Ron Jacobs. If Jacobs played the song once an hour, he could have it exclusively. When KHJ started playing it, the song got a great reaction, leading Ertegun to issue it as the A-side.
This isn't an anti-war song, but it went over well with the hippie crowd because it stuck up for guys with long hair when Cher sang, "Let them say your hair's too long, I don't care, with you I can't go wrong."

[rog]

1. The 'definitive' version of this tune.

I love Sonny and Cher.

But i was privileged to see Tiny Tim's show every day for a week when I was playing at a lakefront festival. I tried to get down to his stage if I had a break during his slot. This was late in his career, but still every tune was epic. By the time I saw him, he had refined I Got You Babe into a show-stopping set closer ... he built up the duet until the two parts were alternating rapid fire. He used this as a set closer several times during the week, and ALWAYS brought the crowd to its feet.

I'm glad there is a video of it, even though it's pretty tame. Here's a short version from the Ed Sullivan show. Try to imagine a 5-10 minute tour-de-force.

RIP Sonny Bono, and RIP Tiny Tim ... both great, and Cher is still great.

Tiny Tim ... I Got You Babe, duet with himself.

[Layzeebeaver]

2. And in 11/2005...

…I found myself in a karaoke club in Albemarle street in London.

There, with my team mate John Hale, we sung a powerful duet of this song. All in honour of our year long (successful) legal dispute with a London City financial entity.

I know I was shattered when, after that, me, the boy from Detroit, couldn’t remember the lyrics to “Detroit Rock City”. Even when they were displayed on the monitor screen.

I was in substantial pain the next day.

Thank you for the jog to my memory!

[rsdsharp]

3. In June of 1965, KHJ and Sonny and Cher needed each other.

KHJ was only a month out from adopting a new format, switching from MOR to Top 40 (Boss 30, actually) on May 3. They would be number 1 within 90 days, but right then they were the new kids on the block, and Bob Eubanks (yes, The Newlywed Game guy) at KRLA had the Beatles sewed up. KHJ needed somebody.

Sonny and Cher were really “who?” at that point. They had a minor hit with Baby Don’t Go, but they weren’t far removed from performing as Caesar and Cleo. The KHJ powers that be, Ron Jacobs, consultant Bill Drake, and music director Betty Brenneman agreed to put I Got You, Babe on the air, and had ringers (small pun intended) standing by to call the station and say how much they loved the song. It aired, and the ringers couldn’t get through because the listeners really did flood the switchboard. A hit was born, and a symbiotic relationship between artists and radio station was formed. Jacobs later said that Sonny and Cher were “living” at 5515 Melrose in the early days of Boss Radio.

That said, there is no way Jacobs agreed to play the song hourly. KHJ was rigidly formatted, and no station in 1965 would play a song hourly — least of all 93/KHJ. Nobody was playing songs that often until the early 70s, and even then the number one song would air about every 70 minutes, not every hour.

[ProfessorGAC]

4. Didn't You Post This Yesterday?

This thread needed a Groundhog Day reference.