Cher - The Best Of Cher: The Imperial Recordings 1965-1968

Her early bell-bottom hits

Thankfully avoiding the Cher clich�s, this doubledisc set focuses on her early folk-rockpop material, and her more mature 60s recordings. Initially, under Sonny Bono’s direction, she was covering tracks such as All I Really Want To Do, Needles & Pins and Our Day Will Come. Some originals were thrown in, including the very Spectorish Dream Baby, the quite different Bang Bang, and You Better Sit Down Kids, which was a US Top 10 hit that dealt with divorce. Though her take on Bob Lind’s Elusive Butterfly isn’t too memorable, she fares much better with the same writer’s Come To Your Window.

Realising that folk-rock’s jingle-jangle wasn’t going to last, by her 1966-68 albums Cher was drawing from wider material, and sounding very self-assured on the likes of Alfie, Reason To Believe and Take Me For A Little While. There’s a lot more variety besides these on this budget-priced set.

4 stars 4 stars 4 stars 4 stars

EMI Gold | 094639298426 (2-CD)

Reviewed by Kingsley Abbott
<< Back to Issue 339

Login Here

Free Newsletter


Subscribe to
our email newsletter by emailing:

anna.bowen@
metropolis.co.uk