"I Got You Babe" is a song performed by American pop and entertainment duo Sonny & Cher and written by Sonny Bono. It was the first single taken from their debut studio album, Look at Us (1965). In August 1965, the single spent three weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States where it sold more than one million copies and was certified Gold. It also reached number one in the United Kingdom and Canada. In 1968, R&B "The Matriarch of Blues" Etta James released a cover version, which peaked at number 69 on the Billboard single's charts for that year. In 1985, a cover version of "I Got You Babe" by British reggae-pop band UB40 featuring American singer Chrissie Hynde peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. In 1993, Cher re-recorded the song as a duet with American animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head; this peaked at number 35 in the UK and became a top 10 hit in the Netherlands.

Sonny & Cher version

Background and composition

Sonny Bono, a songwriter and record producer for Phil Spector, wrote the lyrics and composed the music of the song for himself and his then-wife, Cher, late at night in their basement. When Cher was woken up to sing the lyrics, she hated the song, not thinking it would be a hit, and immediately went back to bed. "I Got You Babe" became the duo's biggest single, their signature song, and a defining recording of the early hippie countercultural movement. Billboard said of the song "using the successful combination of folk and rock, this one has the performance and production of a smash." Record World called it "a meandering, funky piece of rock that will hit the top." AllMusic critic William Ruhlmann praised the song: "Recalling Dylan's bitter 1964 song 'It Ain't Me Babe' (soon to be a folk-rock hit for the Turtles), Bono wrote his own opposite sentiment: 'I Got You Babe.' Where Dylan was lyrically complex, Bono was simple: His lyrics began with the ominous youth-versus-grownups theme of 'they' who set up barriers to romance, but soon gave way to a dialogue of teenage romantic platitudes. Where Dylan was musically simple, however, Bono, without fully rebuilding Spector's Wall of Sound, was more structurally ambitious, following the song's standard verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-verse-chorus form with an ascending coda that built to a climax, then started building again before the fadeout, all in only a little over three minutes. Set to waltz time, the tune retained a light feel despite the sometimes busy instrumentation, led by a prominent ocarina [in fact an oboe – see below], and the alternating vocals of the two singers. If neither were interesting singers, their plodding, matter-of-fact performances gave the song a common-man appeal." The recording session for the song was held on June 7, 1965, at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood and lasted between 2 and 5 PM. Harold Battiste provided the instrumental arrangement, and session musicians The Wrecking Crew performed the instrumental track. Richard Niles quotes Battiste as saying the prominent instrumental figure in the song is actually played on an oboe rather than an ocarina. In the United States, the song had sold more than 1 million copies in 1965, being certified Gold by the RIAA. As of November 2011, Billboard reported the digital sales of "I Got You Babe" to be 372,000 in the US. In 2011, the song was named as one of the greatest duets of all time by both Billboard and Rolling Stone magazines. It was also listed at #444 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004. But in a 2011 poll Rolling Stone readers ranked "I Got You Babe" the eighth-worst song of the 1960s. In early 2017 the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Live performances

Sonny and Cher last performed the song together during an impromptu reunion on NBC's Late Night with David Letterman on November 13, 1987. Cher performed the song with R.E.M. on February 14, 2002, at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. It was her first performance of the song without Sonny, following his death in a skiing accident in 1998. During Cher's 2014 Dressed to Kill Tour and 2017–2020 Las Vegas residency Classic Cher using left behind vocals and a projection of videos of Sonny, Cher performed the song live with the projection of Sonny. The song is performed the same way during Cher's 2018–2020 Here We Go Again Tour. Cher sang a parody version of the song called I Got You Bae with James Corden on The Late Late Show with James Corden in 2016. The parody explained finding love in the modern 2016 era of online dating, swiping, social media, Netflix and chill, and internet pornography.

In popular culture

"I Got You Babe" has been frequently featured in film and television, including Sonny and Cher's own The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour. The song made a bit of a comeback when it was used repeatedly as Phil Connors's wake-up music in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day. On re-release, the single re-charted in the UK, reaching number 66. Other films have used the song, including Good Times which stars Sonny & Cher, Buster, The Muppets episode Pig Out, Look Who's Talking Too, Just Visiting, Me Without You, Riding in Cars with Boys, Jack and Jill and The Munsters. The TV show Monsters at Work adapted the song as "I Scare You Babe" for the end credits of the episode "Setting the Table" with altered lyrics to fit the series' world and characters. It was also used in an episode of Family Ties, when Steven starts singing the song and Alex joins in.

Personnel

The personnel, excluding Sonny & Cher, as seen in the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) contracts for the session include:

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UB40 and Chrissie Hynde version

Background

Twenty years later, in July 1985, British band UB40 with American singer Chrissie Hynde released a cover version of "I Got You Babe" for the group's sixth studio album, Baggariddim (1985). This version charted at number one on the UK Singles Chart and reached number 28 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song also appeared on the Pretenders' 1987 compilation album The Singles.

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Cher with Beavis and Butt-Head version

Background

In 1993, Cher re-recorded "I Got You Babe" with the American animated characters Beavis and Butt-Head. The song was the first single from The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience, a compilation comedy album released in 1993 by Geffen Records, which is one of the fastest-selling comedy albums; it has officially sold 1,610,000 units and was certified 2× Platinum by the RIAA in the United States. The single reached the top 40 in the UK, Belgium and Sweden, as well as the top 10 in the Netherlands.

Critical reception

A reviewer from AllMusic felt "I Got You Babe" is the "most interesting" track on The Beavis and Butt-head Experience album. Larry Flick from Billboard stated that Cher "delivers one of her strongest vocals to date." Troy J. Augusto from Cashbox viewed it as a "fun moment" from the album. Rob Fiend from the Gavin Report called it "a lovely duet", adding that "one can hardly keep the tears from flowing." In his weekly UK chart commentary, James Masterton wrote, that "MTVs doyens of bad taste, Beavis and Butt-Head charge onto vinyl in their own inimitable fashion on a remake of the 1960s classic." Sarah Kestle from Melody Maker declared it as "precious". Pan-European magazine Music & Media described it as "a smashing rendition". Martin Aston from Music Week gave it four out of five, writing that it "is undoubtedly the worst version of her and Sonny's classic Sixties cut, but the funniest too. Potential media exposure for this irreverent novelty item seems unlimited." A reviewer from Rolling Stone said that "Cher proves she's a good sport (or something) by letting B&B help her sing". Mark Sutherland from Smash Hits declared it as a "hilarious" duet. Rob Sheffield from Spin found that "Cher herself shows up to chat about Sonny" and "croon a truly mind-boggling" "I Got You Babe".

Music video

A funny and psychedelic music video was produced for the song, which received heavy MTV airplay. It featured Cher and Beavis and Butt-Head in a virtual animated world. In the video, the animated pair refer to her former husband Bono as a dork and a wuss, to which a live-action Cher agrees. It was placed at number 5 on the "50 Greatest Funny Moments in Music" list made by VH1 channel in 2004. On April 29, 2022, Cher's official YouTube channel uploaded the music video in remastered HD.

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In other media