The Smiley Smile Message Board

what's story behind Sonny hanging out at the studio with Spector? I've heard him on some studio trackings and seen a lot of pics of them hanging out.

He was a general gofer and apprentice of Phil's.

And go back and have a listen to I Got You Babe.   Sure sounds like a Spector Record to me.

Phil would tell Hal Blaine to give Sonny something to play..a tambourine or something so that sonny could be included and get paid.

Cher was a backing singer on a lot of his stuff too. Sonny was one of the general percussionists on most Spector sessions. He obviously was a good learner!

Spector didn't like to talk with the musicians and he didn't do his own arrangements, that's where Jack Nitsche comes in. Nitsche would do the arrangements and Bono would communicate this info to the musicians, his job was to talk to them, explain what they were supposed to do, he was one of Spector's biggest helpers in the studio.

Bono was on a radio show in the early sixties and he agreed with the DJ that 'Walking In The Rain' sounded tired. Spector heard about this and was so pissed he fired Sonny Bono.

Also, Sonny Bono and Jack Nitsche wrote the song 'Needles and Pins' together. That was prior to either one of them working with Spector.

Also, Bono had tried to sell Spector on Cher and Spector told him her voice was too deep and manly. He did produce on Cher 45, a great Beatle novelty entitled Ringo I Love You, where she was credited as Bonnie Joe Mason. Sonny split to produce her, but she was too shy to sing by herself in the studio, so he had to form a vocal duo with her. He never intended to be a singer himself. The act was originally entitled Caesar And Cleo, switching to Sonny and Cher for their first hit Baby Don't Go, which first hit in LA, then was picked up nationally by Atco.
I would also recommend Sonny's wacked acid-rock solo LP, Inner Views.

Speaking of Mr. Spector. His trial has been postponed until January 16, 2007.

dang, maybe he can give us a record before then....when was he last in the studio?

He did a couple of tracks for Starsailor. I've never heard of them or their music. They fired him during the recording of one of their albums, and three tracks were completed. Before the shooting he was supposed to work with U2 and The Vines. I would love it if he produced The Vines.


I don't think Spector is guilty. I really believe it was an accident, so after this is over he'll still have the option of producing a new band. Hell, he'll probably be bigger than ever.

That was a pretty nasty accident.  I doubt Lana Clark's family is very happy about the trial delay.  He's probably guilty of at least negligent homicide.  He's also open to a civil lawsuit by her family.

Phil is also now being sued by Michelle Blaine (daughter of Hal Blaine) for sexual harassment and other charges.  He sued her prior to her countersuit.  That's a nasty sideshow unto itself.  Link to the story is here:

http://www.courttv.com/trials/spector/032906_harassmentsuit_ap.html

My fave sonny production is on Cher's 1st album. A beautiful version of the Ray Davies tune "I Go To Sleep"

Another Great Sonny Spector style record is "Dream Baby" . Included on the same album

Best Bono Specs imitation for me is It's The Little Things, from the Good Times soundtrack.