Dark Lady | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1974 | |||
Recorded | 1973–74 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 28:59 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Producer | Snuff Garrett | |||
Cher chronology | ||||
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Singles from Dark Lady | ||||
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Dark Lady is the eleventh studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in May 1974 by MCA. Cher again collaborated with Snuff Garrett as a record producer, and with Al Capps for the arrangements. Dark Lady was the third and final studio album for MCA. It was also the last record promoted on her successful The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour show. After its release, the album received positive reviews from critics but, unlike her previous record produced by Garrett, was only moderately successful.
After the success of Half-Breed , Cher, for her final record under MCA, again chose Snuff Garrett to produce and Al Capps for arrangements. During that same year, she divorced her first husband Sonny Bono, dissolving the Sonny & Cher couple. This ended their professional musical ties and television show for a while. [2] Due to the success of previous albums produced by Garrett, Dark Lady followed the same narrative ballad style. [3] She attracted many young fans during this period of her career for her style of glamour pop, [3] and the album shows also what Cher could do back in the mid-70s, at the height of her popularity. [3] MCA released the album with the letter E accented in Chér on the album cover. The next studio albums released by Warner Bros completely remove the stress.
The opening track of the album is a song written by Alan O'Day "Train of Thought" that had moderate success on the pop charts. Three songs from the album were written by Johnny Durrill, and the last song "Apples Don't Fall Far From The Tree" was written by Bob Stone, who wrote her first success of the 1970s, "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves". The album also contains two covers, The Great Gatsby theme song "What'll I Do" and the 1965 Fontella Bass hit song "Rescue Me". Cher also does a tribute to Bette Midler on the retro "Miss Subway of 1952". [3]
In August 1993, the original album was combined with Half-Breed and issued on one CD titled Half Breed/Dark Lady, this release included all the tracks from both original albums. A CD of the original Dark Lady album in its entirety has not yet been produced.
"Dark Lady", the album's first single release, reached #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the Canadian Singles. The song became Cher's third solo U.S. number one hit on March 23, 1974, and her last until "Believe" twenty-five years later. [4] It also reached #3 on the Adult Contemporary chart. "Dark Lady" reached #36 in UK single charts. After "Dark Lady" the album spawned two more singles which charted on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single released was "Train of Thought" which reached #27 on the Hot 100 chart and #9 in the Adult Contemporary chart. Shortly after, "I Saw a Man and He Danced with His Wife" was released. "Rescue Me" was released as the fourth single in the US in 1975 but failed to chart. [5]
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [6] |
Dark Lady had received positive reviews from music critics. Decades later, Peter Fawthrop of Allmusic gave it three stars and compared this album with the previous Half-Breed saying that is "more upbeat". He also said that "she was more wholesome and organic in the early '70s," and about the covers in the album "is always fun to hear Cher's renditions of the classics." Billboard gave a positive review of the album, stating "this could finally be the LP that will establish Cher as a major album artist" and "she has put together a recognizable voice with fine songs, a set that flows throughout, and superb production." About Cher, magazine's stuff said that now "she is a personality as well as a singer." [7]
Dark Lady debuted on the Billboard 200 at #191 in early June 1974. [8] The highest position it reached was #69. The album debuted at number ninety-eight on the Canadian Albums Chart in late June, [9] eventually reaching its highest position at #33 in July. [10] Like her previous albums, the album didn't make it to the UK album charts.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Train of Thought" | Alan O'Day | 2:34 |
2. | "I Saw a Man and He Danced with His Wife" | John Durrill | 3:13 |
3. | "Make the Man Love Me" | 3:17 | |
4. | "Just What I've Been Lookin' For" | Kenny O'Dell | 2:36 |
5. | "Dark Lady" | Durrill | 3:26 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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6. | "Miss Subway of 1952" | Mary F. Cain | 2:16 |
7. | "Dixie Girl" | Durrill | 3:26 |
8. | "Rescue Me" |
| 2:22 |
9. | "What'll I Do" | Irving Berlin | 2:28 |
10. | "Apples Don't Fall Far from the Tree" | Bob Stone | 3:21 |
Chart (1974) | Peak position |
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Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) [11] | 86 |
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM) [12] | 33 |
US Billboard 200 [13] | 69 |
Cher is an American singer, actress, and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female autonomy in a male-dominated industry. She is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice, for having worked in numerous areas of entertainment and for adopting a variety of styles and appearances. Cher rose to fame in 1965 as one half of the folk rock husband-wife duo Sonny & Cher before releasing her first solo top-ten singles "Bang Bang " and "You Better Sit Down Kids". Throughout the 1970s, she scored the US Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves", "Half-Breed", and "Dark Lady", becoming the female solo artist with the most number-one singles in US history at the time.
Sonny & Cher were an American pop and entertainment duo in the 1960s and 1970s, made up of spouses Sonny Bono and Cher. The couple started their career in the mid-1960s as R&B backing singers for record producer Phil Spector.
The Sonny Side of Chér is the second studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on March 28, 1966, by Imperial, as her second album, Cher again collaborated with Sonny Bono and Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a covers album and contains two songs written by Bono. The title of the album is a pun on the name of Cher's first husband Sonny Bono. Cher's second successful album of the sixties, it was released on CD in 1992 by EMI together with Cher's first album as a 2fer. In 1995 EMI re-released this 2fer with the album Chér. The last version of the album was released in 2005 only in UK by BGO Records. These editions feature a different track order than the original LP.
Thomas Lesslie Garrett known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s.
"Half-Breed" is a popular song recorded by Cher in 1973.
Tanya Tucker is the self-titled fourth studio album by American country music singer Tanya Tucker. It was released on April 21, 1975, by MCA Records. The album was produced by Snuff Garrett and includes two No. 1 singles, "Lizzie and the Rainman" and "San Antonio Stroll".
"The Beat Goes On" is a song written and composed by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher. It was issued as a single and appeared on their 1967 album In Case You're in Love. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 14, 1967, peaking at number six.
Chér is the self-titled seventh studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in September 1971 by Kapp Records. For this album, Cher left her husband Sonny Bono to produce the album, and for the first time she collaborated with Snuff Garrett and with Al Capps for the arrangements. The album was retitled after the success of the single of the same name. It received positive reviews from critics, and the RIAA certified it Gold on July 2, 1972. The album was her first and most successful album of the '70s. Two singles were released from the album, "The Way of Love" and "Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves", both reaching the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Foxy Lady is the eighth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in July 1972 by Kapp Records. Following the commercial success of the previous album Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, Cher again collaborated with Snuff Garrett (producer), Al Capp (arrangements) and her then-husband Sonny Bono (co-producer). Foxy Lady was also the second and last record for Kapp. The album was also promoted on Cher's successful The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour show. After its release, it was well received by critics, but unlike her previous effort Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves, had only moderate chart and sales success.
Bittersweet White Light is the ninth studio album by American singer Cher. The album is composed mostly of covers of American pop standards and was released in April 1973 by MCA both in the UK and the US. It was the last solo Cher album to be produced by Sonny Bono, then her husband and performing partner. While the album is a favorite among Cher fans, critical reviews were mixed and Bittersweet White Light was Cher's first commercial failure of the 1970s.
Half-Breed is the tenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released in September 1973 by MCA. For the production of the album Cher returned with Snuff Garrett and Al Capps. Half-Breed was her second record for MCA and was promoted on her successful The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour television show. After its release, the album faced mixed reviews from critics, and the RIAA certified it gold on March 4, 1974. The album was her second solo album to receive a certification by RIAA.
"Dark Lady" is a folk song recorded by American singer-actress Cher, and the title selection from her eleventh studio album, Dark Lady. Written and composed by John Robert "Johnny" Durrill and produced by Snuff Garrett, it was released as the album's first single in December of 1973. The song became Cher's third solo U.S. number 1 hit on March 23, 1974.
Chér is the third studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on September 5, 1966 by Imperial. Cher collaborates again with Sonny Bono, with Harold Battiste and with Stan Ross. The album is by-and-large a covers album and contains only one song written by Bono. This album was a moderate commercial success, peaking at number 59 on the Billboard 200.
Cherished is the fourteenth studio album by American singer-actress Cher, released on June 4, 1977 as Cher's final studio album released by Warner Bros. Records. This album, like several other predecessors, was a commercial failure and failed to chart. The album was promoted by the release of the lead single, "Pirate" which charted at #93 on the Billboard Hot 100 and a second single, "War Paint and Soft Feathers" which failed to chart. "Pirate" was the only single from the 70s Warner era to chart despite the album being her lowest selling album of her entire career.
"Living in a House Divided" is a song by American entertainer Cher, released as the lead single from her album Foxy Lady. The song's lyrics discuss the separation of a couple, as a rather poignant descriptor of Cher's marriage to then-husband, Sonny. Due to Cher's feelings of resentment over Sonny's control of both her life and her career, their marriage soured. They divorced two years after this song became a hit.
"Rescue Me" is a rhythm and blues song first recorded and released as a single by American soul singer-songwriter Fontella Bass in 1965. The original versions of the record, and BMI, give the songwriting credit to Raynard Miner and Carl William Smith, although many other sources also credit Bass herself as a co-writer. It would prove the biggest hit of Bass's career, reaching #1 on the R&B charts for four weeks and placing at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. "Rescue Me" also peaked at #11 on the UK Singles Chart.
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