I Got You Babe

Single infobox |
Name = I Got You Babe


Caption = French 7-inch single cover
Artist = Sonny & Cher
from Album = Look at Us
Released = 1965
Format = 7" single
Recorded = 1965
Genre = Rock, ballad
Length = 3:11
Label = Atlantic
Writer = Sonny Bono
Producer = Sonny Bono
Certification = Gold (US)
Chart position =
Reviews =
* William Ruhlmann, "All Music Guide" [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:2t1uakjk5mfp~T001 link]
Last single = "Love Is Strange"
(1964)
This single = "I Got You Babe"
(1965)
Next single = "The Letter"
(1965)"I Got You Babe" is a 1965 number-one hit single by American rock music duo Sonny & Cher.

History

Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the song for himself and his wife, Cher, late at night in their basement. Noted session drummer Hal Blaine performed the drums for the song. Bono was inspired to write the song to capitalize on the popularity of the term "babe," as heard in Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" which was a hit for The Turtles.

Upon recording and releasing the song, "I Got You Babe" became the duo's biggest single, their signature song, and a defining recording of the early hippie countercultural movement. In August of 1965, the single reached the number-one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States for three weeks, and reached number-one in the United Kingdom for one week.

The song has been frequently covered and featured in film and television, including Sonny and Cher's own "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour". "I Got You Babe" made a bit of a comeback when it was heavily featured as Bill Murray's wake-up call in the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day". Upon this re-release, the single re-charted in the UK, reaching number sixty-six.

The song was later covered by Cher in a music video that featured Beavis and Butthead as a rapt audience to Cher's performance. In the video, the idiot pair refer to her former husband Bono as a and a wuss, to which Cher agrees.

Sonny and Cher last performed the song together during an impromptu reunion on NBC's "Late Night with David Letterman" in 1987.

The song was placed at #444 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time.

Cher performed the song with R.E.M. on February 14 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. [ [http://members.iinet.net.au/~darryl74/2000.html The R.E.M. Timeline] ] It was her first performance of the song without Sonny. ["Entertainment Tonight", February 15, 2002]

Single infobox |
Name = I Got You Babe


Artist = Cher and Beavis and Butt-Head
from Album = The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience
B-side = "Fire Down Below (Live)"
Released = 1993
Format = CD single
Recorded = 1993
Genre = Rock
Length = 9:22
Label = Geffen Records
Writer = Sonny Bono
Producer = David Geffen
Certification =
Chart position =
Misc =Extra chronology
Artist = Cher
Type = North American singles
Last single = "When Lovers Become Strangers"
(1992)
This single = "I Got You Babe"
(1993)
Next single = "One by One"
(1996)Extra chronology
Artist = Cher
Type = European singles
Last single = "Many Rivers to Cross"
(1993)
This single = "I Got You Babe"
(1993)
Next single = "Love Can Build a Bridge"
(1995)

Influences on popular culture

Released covers
* 1968 Etta James on the album "Tell Mama"
* 1968 Tiny Tim on the album "God Bless Tiny Tim"
* 1973 David Bowie with Marianne Faithfull on "The Midnight Special", released on the bootleg "Dollars In Drag: The 1980 Floor Show"
* 1975 The Dictators on their album "The Dictators Go Girl Crazy!"
* 1982 The Ramones' Joey Ramone and Holly and the Italians' Holly Beth Vincent performed the duet.
* 1985 UB40 (with Chrissie Hynde) on the album "Baggariddim" ; also appears on The Pretenders 1987 album "The Singles". It reached number one on the UK charts in August 1985.
* 1991 The Cynics released their tribute to Bono titled 'Bonograph' and the Get Hip single "I Got You Babe b/w Bang Bang". These feature their cover of the song; the music video includes photographs paying respects to Sonny and Cher [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlXyRWFg7gw YouTube - The Cynics - I Got You Babe ] ] .
* 1993 Cher (with Beavis & Butt-Head) on the album "The Beavis & Butt-Head Experience"
* 1998 Merril Bainbridge feat. Shaggy on the album "Woop Woop Soundtrack" and "Between the Days"
* 2005 Capitol Steps on the album "Four More Years in the Bush Leagues", the parody "Sunni and Cher" being based on the song
* 2006 Bradley Joseph, an instrumental arrangement on the album "Piano Love Songs

Movies and Television
*In an episode of the fifth season, "An Illegitimate Concern", of The Golden Girls, Sophia and Dorothy dress up as Sonny and Cher, respectively, for a mother-daughter talent show. They practice singing "I Got You Babe" while Rose accompanies them on the piano. The episode aired February 12, 1990 [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Golden_Girls_episodes] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6SvfImLjfY YouTube - Sonny & Cher in Golden Girls "I Got You Babe" ] ] .
*In an episode of Full House, Uncle Jesse has Michelle sing along to "I Got You Babe" as they strum on their respective guitars [http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/02/i-got-you-babe.htm] .
*In Bill Murray's "Groundhog Day", the song serves as Murray's wake-up song [ [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film) Article on Wikipedia] ] .
*Britney Spears appeared on British comedian Frank Skinner's show and performed the duet with the host [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lep-YmhjriM YouTube - Britney Spears & Frank Skinner - I got you babe (live) ] ] .
*Another episode of "The Frank Skinner Show" featured the incongruous pairing of Ron Jeremy and Mo Mowlam.
*In The Nick and Jessica Variety Hour, then-married Nick Lachey and Jessica Simpson close their variety show special (that was already very a la Sonny and Cher) by singing the duet [http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2008/02/i-got-you-babe.html WFMU's Beware of the Blog: I Got You Babe ] ] .
*The Rolling Stones don costumes and lip sync to the original version of the song.
*On the New York City- and internet-based television show that regular features local songwriters and musicians, Duets with Deni, Deni Bonet and Robyn Hitchcock sing the song from Deni's apartment [ [http://www.denibonet.com/duets.htm Duets With Deni ] ] .
*In an episode of "Eli Stone" entitled "I Want Your Sex", in a vision of the title character, Taylor Wethersby (Natasha Henstridge) and Matt Dowd (Sam Jaeger) sing it. After he sees it, Taylor reveals that she actually hates that song. It is later revealed that he saw them singing that song only because Matt's cat was named Sonny Bono.
*In Delta Farce (2008), Sgt Kilgore (Keith David) is forced to sing "I Got You Babe" with villain Carlos Santana's gay nephew, Ruben (Joe Nunez).
*In an episode of "Boy Meets World (1999)" entitled "Cutting The Cord", when Shawn (Rider Strong) sings the song with his new girlfriend in a karoake contest.
*In an episode of "Blossom", Blossom dreams that she and Anthony are playing "I Got You Babe" while homeless on the street. Then Sonny Bono, who makes a cameo appearance, shows up disgusted that they stole his song and takes away the money people put on their cup.Games
*It is featured on the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3.

Charts

onny & Cher

Achievements

onny & Cher

UB40 & Chrissie Hynde

References