May 20: Cher Covers Bob Dylan – Happy Birthday Cher

Sonny-and-Cher-with-Bob-Dylan-in-1965.

Cher (born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) Recognized for having brought the sense of female autonomy and self-actualization into the entertainment industry, she is known for her distinctive contralto singing voice and for having worked in various areas of entertainment, as well as continuously reinventing both her music and image, which has led to her being nicknamed the Goddess of Pop.

In his MusiCares speak Bob Dylan thanked Sonny and Cher for helping getting his songs known in the early days of his career:

“The Byrds, the Turtles, Sonny & Cher – they made some of my songs Top 10 hits but I wasn’t a pop songwriter and I really didn’t want to be that, but it was good that it happened. Their versions of my songs were like commercials, but I didn’t really mind that, because 50 years later, my songs were being used in the commercials. So that was good too. I was glad it happened, and I was glad they’d done it.”

Cher has covered many Bob Dylan songs throughout her career:

All I Really Wanna Do, Blowin’ In The Wind, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right, I Threw It All Away, Like A Rolling Stone, Masters Of War, The Times, They Are A-Changin’, Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You, Lay, Baby, Lay (yes, really!) and I Want You (Please tell us if there are more).

Like a Rolling Stone (audio):

Tonight I’ll be staying here with you (audio):

cher album

All I Really Want to Do is the debut solo album by Cher and was released on October 16, 1965 by Imperial Records. The album was produced for Cher by her husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono, with contributions from arranger Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a collection of cover versions and contain three songs written by Bob Dylan. Upon its release, the album was well received by critics and garnered positive reviews. The album was Cher’s first and most successful album of the 1960s, both in the UK and the U.S

All I Really Want To Do (Audio):