behind the making of Sonny
& Cher are all feature players in their own right: dazzlingly talented,
unforgettable, unforgotten. Sonny’s earliest connections on the
or their remarkable contributions
to the American musical landscape. Later players constitute the
veritable
Who’s Who of the Spectropop genre: artists and musicians par excellence, and
characters one and all.
A&R (man) for “Artists & Repertoire
The person who selects artists and songs and
often hires arranger, musicians etc. As well as the terms “A&R” there’s also
“producer” and “supervision” - which Sonny can clam a lot of. In the days of A&R Men, engineers had
most of the clout in-studio, with arrangers having varying degrees of same. The terminologies are
interchangeable – with some owners of master recordings claiming “producer” or
“supervision” credits
though they may not have even been in the same city as the actual recording
session venue.
AH = AL HAZAN writes:
“Great idea honoring Sonny. He was my best friend along with Jack Nitzsche
in the music business. It’s a shame they’re both gone now. Reading it here brought back
many memories of those days at Gold Star with Sonny, Nitzsche,
Spector, Steve Douglas, Stan Ross, Larry Levine and
the many others who recorded there. Little did I realize how far he would go as
a performer, and how well he could sing. I loved the
guy and we remained friends
long after we were both out of the music business.”
A true renaissance man,
Al Hazan is an accomplished producer, musician,
songwriter, singer and photographer. He now practices as a qualified
psychologist / psychotherapist . All has some terrific
memories of working with Sonny, some great music, and fascinating insider
accounts of his Sixties California
recording sessions online….Visit HERE
Arr = ARRANGER
The arranger of a rock’n’roll record functions at a number of levels: he may
write individual charts for the band / orchestra players, he may conduct the
orchestra in the studio and transpose key changes for instruments or sections
or devise “head arrangements” on the spot.
The arranger is invaluable in helping translate a producer’s vision of
the overall sound design.
Don Bowman Harris and
Dewey Terry are seminal So-Cal rockers best remembered as writers of “I’m Leaving It
All Up To You”, but Sonny &
Cher and especially The Righteous
Brothers were to benefit from both the Harris / Terry catalog and energetic style….Read more about
the duo HERE
was Sonny’s more-regular
recording and performing 1959-62, along
with
RONNY SOMMERS.
The recording engineer
is the guy who rolls the tape and twiddles the dials in the studio. Engineers
have made enormous contributions to the art of rock’n’roll
recording: they’ve developed new technology, built recording consoles and
entire studios, and their know-how has helped many producers and A&R men make unique and ground-breaking
records. Stan Ross engineered for Sonny
on countless sessions at
his state-of-the-art Gold Star Studios during most of the
‘sixties…Read about the legendary studio HERE
G&S = CHARLES GREENE
& BRIAN STONE
met Sonny & Cher at the
Hale & The Hushabyes session in 1964 and
subsequently signed them to their business outfits: Greene-Stone Enterprises
for management, Ten-East and Five-West for music publishing; and
York-Pala Records for record production.
York-Pala has a
stake in the Sonny & Cher Atco recordings - similarly most of
During their tenure with
Sonny & Cher they recruited West Coast acts for Atco Records, discovering
groups like The Cake and The Rose Garden. With a post-’65
slowdown, Sonny came to resent their social and professional presence and
(with much difficulty) set about firing them. He was finally able to buy out
part of their contracts and Greene & Stone went on to successfully perform
similar services for
Iron Butterfly and
"I
am very happy that their is continued interest in their story.
Among many of my jazz friends I seem to always have to explain, and sometimes
defend, Sonny's gifts and insights."
Harold Battiste is
respected globewide for his body of work as a
musician, arranger, producer, record company executive, teacher and advocate
for the music and musicians of
He introduced audiences
to Mac Rebbenack as "Dr John", and produced
his early albums. Earning six gold records, he spent thirty years in
Harold's contributions
to Sonny & Cher's records as (often uncredited)
arranger and musician were towering inasmuch as he
brought exotic musical ideas and sophisticated elements which went far beyond
straight-ahead pop. Sonny - lacking extensive musicianship - relied heavily on
Harold Battiste's abilities to translate grand
visions of musical soundscapes into the unique Sonny
& Cher recordings of the 1960's.
This site is indebted to
Harold for his contributions...for more about him and his current activities
visit him HERE
HBB = H.B. BARNUM
can't be accused of lacking
diversity in his impressive credentials: as arranger, producer, pianist,
songwriter, singer and actor he's collaborated with Sinatra, Puff Daddy, B.B.
King and Sonny Bono, to name just a few. As an R&B artist he was a member
of the Doo-Tones and The Robins, and arranged for The
Coasters.
JN = JACK NITZSCHE
Sonny collaborated with
the brilliant arranger / producer from the onset of their friendship (at
Specialty Records) until 1964, when he was hired to write lead sheets. They
co-wrote songs and organized recording sessions - with Sonny as producer (and
sometimes vocalist), and Jack arranging. Their greatest success came in 1963
when The Searchers covered "Needles & Pins".
Unconcerned with genre
limitations or traditional approaches, Jack Nitzsche
helped many a song belie its ordinary origins. His signature string figures -
whether ethereal or on-the-attack - and his percussive surprises added
delicious flavors to his confoundingly diverse
rhythmic structures.
Jack Nitzsche's
most respected and valued talent however was his mastery of
his trade: he was able to transpose entire orchestral arrangements on
the job, and with astonishing speed. Such men once walked the planet - they now
no longer do...visit HERE and enter the world of Jack Nitzsche: The
Sorcerer's Apprentice.
For in-depth information
about Johnny and his achievements visit him HERE
The
terms "record
producer" and "record production" were coined (and defined) in
1955 when Jerry Leiber &nd
Mike Stoller were contracted to
ongoing
ownership of recorded masters, but instead be a titular
record company employee. (see A&R man)
What Phil Spector did, aside from his genuine innovations in
production itself - the Wall of Sound was no mere imitation - was to bring
recognition to record producers as artists. A gifted self-promoter, he significantly
raised the profile of the record producer in the eyes of the record-buying
public. People bought Leiber & Stoller's records because they liked the way they sounded,
without necessarily knowing who'd made them; Phil Spector's
records being bought on the basis of brand recognition. (with
thanks to Peter Stoller)
SB = SONNY BONO
SC = S.CHRISTY
was Sonny's songwriting
name 1958-62 for music publishing deals with companies like Art Rupe's
SPECIALTY RECORDS
are on CD as Specialty in
the
A star in his own right,
Billy Vera has compiled landmark Specialty reissues and collections...visit Billy
HERE for more details of his work.
were a loose-knit '60s
aggregation of highly-skilled studio musicians, considered fundamental to the
creation of quality records in
and Sonny Bono followed
Phil Spector's example of individually crediting the
contributions; to not do so here would be remiss. A partial list includes:
DRUMS: Hal Blaine, Frank Capp, Sharkey Hall, Earl Palmer, Jesse Sailes
PIANO: Harold Battiste,
Gabriel Mekler, Don Randi
BASS: Rene Hall,
GUITARS: Don Peake (lead) Glen Campbell, David Cohen (12-string) Monte
Dunn,
Carol Kaye, Barney Kessel, Steve Mann,
Mike Post, Mack Rebbenack, Howard Roberts, Randy Steirling, Bob West
HORNS: "Teenage"
Steve Douglas
VIOLIN, FLUTE: George Poole
PERCUSSION: Frank de Vito, Gene
Estes, Jim Gordon, Jungle Geno, Julius Wechter
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