Sonny and Cher Make Hit Song Way of Life

by Greg McGarry, The Knickerbocker News, August 29, 1973

Back in the early ’60s, Salvatore Phillip Bono was driving a truck in the Los Angeles area while struggling on the side to sell his songs.

Cherilyn Sarkisian had dropped out of a Los Angeles high school, was dabbling with acting and mingling with the L.A. recording crowd.

Tuesday, Sonny and Cher relaxed in the fashionable Gideon Putnam Hotel here following two sell-out concerts at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center.

America’s favorite comedy singing couple are living high these days. They have one of the nation’s most successful television shows, *The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour,” a host of hit records and all the niceties that go with “the good life” including a mansion in Holmby Hills, California.

But the stunning couple, both from broken homes, have known hard times.

Before their closing number Tuesday afternoon. Sonny put aside the slapstick to share his philosophy. It boils down to a confidence in their lives and their future. His “feeling” first came in 1965 when he and Cher were struggling to gain recognition.

“I wrote down what I felt, that no matter how tough things got, things would turn out all right and that became a song, and the song became a record and that became us.”

“I Got You Babe” has sold more than three million copies and catapulted the couple onto the national scene. Their concert routine varies little from their TV putdowns, with Cher downgrading Sonny for a lack of masculinity and Sonny coming back with funny remarks about Cher’s nose.

Sonny momentarily assumes the role of a Tom Jones. With tuxedo open and shirt falling out a bit, his legs spread in an Elvis stance, he casts a sneer out at the audience.

“They’re not buying it. Cher.”

“I didn’t think you sold it, Sonny.”

And so it goes. Sonny and Cher remain funny with the same basic routines, charming the audience with their elegant clothes, casual wit and loving glances.

The couple was married Oct. 27, 1964, in Tijuana, Mexico, a short time after being introduced by friends. Sonny was 29; Cher, 18. After Cher began singing Sonny’s songs around the house, they developed an act and began singing in clubs.

After “I Got You Babe,” Sonny and Cher sold out concerts throughout the country. They followed with a quick succession of hits.

But their fall was fast. With the acid rock of the late ’60s, Sonny and Cher were out of vogue.

The couple’s break came with a host spot on the Merv Griffin show. They impressed CBS executives were offered a summer show in 1971 and finally a five-year contract for the “Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour.”

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