"Half-Breed" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Cher | ||||
from the album Half-Breed | ||||
B-side |
| |||
Released | July 23, 1973 | |||
Recorded | Larrabee Sound Studios, 1973 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 2:46 | |||
Label | MCA | |||
Songwriter(s) |
| |||
Producer(s) | Snuff Garrett | |||
Cher singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
Alternative covers | ||||
Alternative cover | ||||
"Half-Breed" is a popular song recorded by Cher in 1973.
Cher's version,recorded with instrumental backing by L.A. sessions musicians from the Wrecking Crew, [1] was recorded on May 21,1973 at Larrabee Sound in Los Angeles. Lyrically,the song describes the life of a girl who faces societal rejection due to having a White father and Cherokee mother. It contains themes of racism and double standards. The song reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100,becoming Cher's second solo number 1 hit in the US. [2] The single was certified Gold in the US in 1974 for the sales of over 1 million copies. [3]
The 1973 version was the first international release from Cher's album Half-Breed ,recorded and intended for the American market. Written and performed by non-Natives,it is a classic "Tragic mulatto" narrative,from a non-Native perspective,of a young woman with a White father and an alleged Cherokee mother. The song offers a scenario in which the singer relates that oppressive Whites call her "Indian squaw",and claims that Native Americans do not accept her as one of their own because,"The Indians said I was White by law." [4] The lyrics are in error,as the Cherokee (like most Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands) are a matrilineal culture,meaning that a child born to a Cherokee mother is accepted as Cherokee,no matter the nationality or ethnicity of the father,and thus the parental ethnicities would have to be reversed—a White mother and native father—for such a situation to arise. [5]
The song is written in the key of A minor,with a moderato tempo of 116 beats per minute in common time. Cher's vocals span the notes of F3-A4. [6]
In 1973,"Half-Breed" topped the United States Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks,becoming Cher's second solo and third overall Number 1 hit,and second Gold certified solo single for the sales of over 1,000,000 copies. It was a Number 1 hit in Canada and New Zealand,and a Top 10 hit in Australia and Quebec,respectively.
Peter Fawthrop wrote that this song has a jingling rhythm and that it is one of the lighter-hearted songs on the album. [7] Rolling Stone recommended it and described Cher's vocals as frantic and the production as supremely commercial. [8]
In 1999,after almost 25 years of not performing the song live,Cher performed the song in her Do You Believe? Tour. In 2002,she performed the song 326 times in her Living Proof:The Farewell Tour. In 2018,she performed the song during her Here We Go Again Tour. She performed it in Oceania but it was dropped after the first leg.
Cher performed the song on the following concert tours:
The video for "Half-Breed" is a recorded performance of the song on The Sonny &Cher Comedy Hour in 1973,with stereotypical,"Hollywood Indian" imagery. Cher is on a horse,wearing a Bob Mackie imitation of an assortment of men's regalia:Plains-style warbonnet,a halter top modeled after a hair pipe breastplate,and a glittery loincloth. [4] None of these things have ever been part of Cherokee clothing or regalia. Symbols the showrunners believed represented Native Americans—flames surrounding Pacific Northwestern totem poles,also not part of Cherokee culture—are also used as props. [4] Cher has been criticized for cultural appropriation by Native American activists for the song and continuing to wear this type of costume in her live performances,or for having her dancers wear it,as recently as 2017. [4] [9] [10] In a 2017 twitter exchange,Cher said she would no longer perform the song or wear the costume. [9] [11] [12] However in 2018 she continued to perform the song at her shows in Vegas and then on part of her Here We Go Again Tour,as part of a medley with "Gypsys,Tramps &Thieves" and "Dark Lady" with dancers wearing the costumes. [13]
In 2002,a special remix medley was created by Dan-O-Rama for a video montage that was used in Cher's Living Proof:The Farewell Tour. The medley contains the videos of "All I Really Want to Do","Gypsys,Tramps &Thieves","Half-Breed",and "Dark Lady".[ citation needed ]
According to the AFM contract sheet,excluding Cher’s vocals,the following musicians played on the track. [14]
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
Certifications
|
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.
"Take Me Home" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Cher for her fifteenth studio album. The album, released in 1979, bore the same name as the single. "Take Me Home" is a disco song conceived after Cher was recommended to venture into said genre after the commercial failure of her previous albums. The lyrics center around the request of a woman to be taken home by her lover. It was released as the lead single from the Take Me Home album in January 1979 through Casablanca Records, pressed as a 12-inch single.
"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.
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 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.
American entertainer Cher has released 27 studio albums, 11 compilation albums, two soundtrack albums, and three live albums. Widely recognized as the Goddess of Pop, Cher has sold over 100 million records worldwide and a further 40 million as part of Sonny & Cher, making her one of the best-selling female recording artists in history. Billboard ranked her as the 109th Greatest Artist of all time and the 49th Greatest Hot 100 Artist of all time. According to RIAA, she has sold 12.5 million albums in the United States. Her signature hit "Believe" has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide, and it is the UK's best-selling single by a female artist in history, and one of the best-selling physical singles of all time.
"Just Like Jesse James" is a song recorded by American singer and actress Cher for her nineteenth album Heart of Stone (1989). It was released as the third North American and second European single in October 1989, by Geffen Records. The song was written by Desmond Child and Diane Warren, and produced by Child. It was a December 1989 top-ten hit. The song's title is a reference to legendary Wild West bandit Jesse James. The title phrase previously appeared in Linda Ronstadt’s hit “Poor Poor Pitiful Me”.
"Dark Lady" is a song recorded by American singer-actress Cher, and the title selection song from her eleventh studio album, Dark Lady released in 1974. 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.
"If I Could Turn Back Time" is a song performed by American singer and actress Cher from her 1989 nineteenth studio album, Heart of Stone. It was released as the album's lead single in June 1989, by Geffen Records. The song was written specifically for Cher by Diane Warren, who produced it in collaboration with Guy Roche. Cher was unmoved by a demo of the song sung by Warren, but Roche insisted she record it. The lyrics talk about the feelings of remorse due to bad deeds and the willingness to reverse time to make things right.
"How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees in 1971. It was written by Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 album Trafalgar. It was their first US No. 1 single and also reached No. 1 in Cashbox magazine for two weeks.
"After All" is a song performed as a duet by American singers Cher and Peter Cetera, released on March 3, 1989 by Geffen Records. It was used as the love theme for the film Chances Are and was nominated for Best Original Song at the 62nd Academy Awards. The song was also the first North American single release from Cher's nineteenth album Heart of Stone. The song appears on Peter Cetera's 1997 album You're The Inspiration – A Collection and his 2017 album, The Very Best of Peter Cetera.
"I Found Someone" is the name of a chart single originally written and composed for Laura Branigan by Michael Bolton and Touch keyboardist Mark Mangold. The song was a bigger hit for Cher in 1987, reaching the top 10.
Living Proof: The Farewell Tour was the fifth concert tour by American singer-actress Cher to promote her twenty-fourth studio album, Living Proof and her eighth official compilation album, The Very Best of Cher. It began on June 14, 2002 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and was originally planned as a 59-date tour in North America.
"Carousel Man" is a song recorded by an American singer/actress Cher, released as a second and final single from the album Half-Breed. The single was commercially released only in the US. It charted on Billboard Adult Contemporary chart at #41, as well as on Canadian singles chart at #83.
"Don't Pull Your Love" is the debut single by Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds which became a top ten hit single in 1971. The song was written by Brian Potter and Dennis Lambert.
"You Better Sit Down Kids" is a major hit single by American singer/actress Cher in 1967 from her fourth studio album With Love, Chér, released in November 1967 by Imperial Records. The song was written by her then-husband Sonny Bono. Sung from a father's perspective, the lyrics tell the story of a divorce as explained to the couple's children. The song is featured on the compilation albums Cher's Golden Greats (1968), Superpack Vol. 1 (1972) and Gold (2005).
"Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" is a song by American singer and actress Cher from her 1971 seventh studio album Chér. Kapp Records, a division of MCA Records, released it as the album's lead single on September 1, 1971. The song was written by Bob Stone, and produced by Snuff Garrett. Since Sonny Bono's first attempts at reviving Cher's recording career had been unsuccessful, the record company recruited Garrett as her producer and he chose Stone to write a song specifically for Cher, in order to cater to an adult audience.
Classic Cher was the third concert residency by American singer-actress Cher. The show is performed in Las Vegas, Oxon Hill, and Atlantic City.
The Here We Go Again Tour was the seventh solo concert tour by American singer-actress Cher in support of her twenty-sixth studio album Dancing Queen. This was the first time the singer had embarked on a world tour since her Living Proof: The Farewell Tour (2002–2005). The tour started on September 21, 2018, and was forced to conclude on March 10, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
I Did Song 50 yrs ago,& it wasn't meant 2🐝offensive. However,That's kinda Bull Shit excuse.Need to retire beautiful Costume,& stop singing it,it's WAY past time.
Already said I'd stop doing it.