February 16 . . .
A SONNY DAY
Let us now pause to praise those born with negligible talents and no particular genius, but blessed with a surplus of pluck, tenacity, ambition, timing and dumb luck – striving and working their way to . . well, mediocrity.
Salvatore Bono – called Sonny by his loving mum – was born this day in Detroit, Michigan, in 1935. While working as a delivery boy in Los Angeles, one of the stops along his route was Phil Spector’s recording studio. The ambitious twenty-something ingratiated himself to the brilliant but eccentric record producer, and talked his way into an engineering job. A quick study with a good ear but a nasal, whiny voice, Sonny absorbed the nuts and bolts of Spector’s methods, managing to work out arrangements and even writing a hit Spector-ish song, ‘Needles and Pins’. While working for Spector, he met and fell in love with a 15-year-old backup singer named Cherilyn LaPiere. They formed a duo called Caesar and Cleo, got married, changed the act’s name to Sonny & Cher, and took off for the top of the charts with Sonny’s catchy 1965 ditty, ‘I Got You Babe.’ In the early 70s, they became stars of a hit TV variety series, which lasted until their divorce in 1974.
You know the rest of the story. After Sonny & Cher fizzled, Bono opened a restaurant in Beverly Hills. When that eventually failed, he ran for mayor of Palm Springs – and won. Then he went on to become a U.S. congressman. In America, a little talent and a lot of chutzpah can take you a long, long way.
Commemorate the birth of one of the patron saints of perserverence will a Double Bill of Bono: In ‘Good Times’ (1966), the duo’s sole excursion into the movies as a team, Sonny and Cher play themselves, with George Sanders as a Hollywood tycoon who keeps dreaming up different parts they could play. Tracy and Hepburn they weren’t – they weren’t even George & Gracie – but they display the goofy chemistry that would take them to the top of the Neilsons with their later TV series. ‘Good Times’ also boasts the distinction of being the first movie ever directed by William Freidkin, who would later go on to direct ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘The French Connection.’
Then, if you stand stand the homage, ponder ‘Chastity’ (1969), Sony Bono’s sole effort as screenwriter, and Cher’s first starring role. She plays – surprise! – a free spirited young woman named Chastity. That’s about all you need to know – except here’s your opportunity to see Cher with her original nose.
Click here for 'It's The Little Things' from 'Good Times' . . .
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