Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

"Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" is the second single by American singer-actress Cher from her second studio album, The Sonny Side of Chér. Written by her then-husband Sonny Bono and released in 1966, the song reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart and No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week (behind "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration" by The Righteous Brothers), eventually becoming one of Cher's biggest-selling singles of the 1960s.^[1]^[2]

Song history

The single proved successful, charting high in several countries worldwide. It became Cher's first million-selling single and her first top 3 hit in the UK (and her last until "The Shoop-Shoop Song" reached No. 1 in 1991). Critic Tim Sendra, in his album review of The Sonny Side of Cher, gave the song a mixed review: "The only track that has any real zest is the Bono-written novelty "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)," the kind of dramatic song Cher could knock out in her sleep but also a song with no real heart."^[3]

In 1987, Cher recorded a rock version of the song for her 1987 Platinum-certified comeback album Cher. Produced by Desmond Child, Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora, the song featured backing vocals by Jon Bon Jovi and Michael Bolton, among others, and was released as a promotional single in 1988. Cher performed this version on her Heart of Stone Tour and on Living Proof: The Farewell Tour, and it was played instrumentally on the Dressed to Kill Tour in 2014.

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1966)	Peak position
Australian Singles Chart	11
Austrian Singles Chart^[4]	6
Belgian Singles Chart	9
Canadian RPM Top Singles^[5]	4
Dutch Singles Chart	16
German Singles Chart	17
Irish Singles Chart	3
Italian Singles Chart	6
New Zealand Singles Chart	2
Polish Singles Chart	15
South Africa Singles Chart	10
Swedish Singles Chart	12
UK Singles Chart^[6]	3
US Billboard Hot 100	2
US Cash Box Top 100^[7]	2

Year-end charts

Chart (1966)	Position
German Singles Chart^[8]	114
Italian Singles Chart^[9]	35
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)^[10]	53
US Billboard Hot 100^[11]	60

Cover versions

Nancy Sinatra recorded one of the best-known covers of the song, for her 1966 album How Does That Grab You? Her version features tremolo guitar, played by her arranger, Billy Strange;^[12] and had a resurgence in popularity when it was used in the opening credits of the 2003 Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill Volume 1. In the sequence preceding the credits, Tarantino creates a literal, bloody interpretation of the song's chorus and the third verse, about a wedding day.^[13] Her version also was the theme for BBC coverage of the 2005 Wimbledon tennis championships, and has been sampled on several hip-hop recordings, including the Audio Bullys (featuring Nancy Sinatra) top 3 UK hit "Shot You Down" in 2005.

Besides Sinatra, artists who covered the song in 1966 include Stevie Wonder on his album Down to Earth, The Beau Brummels on Beau Brummels '66; Petula Clark on her album I Couldn't Live Without Your Love; and Gábor Szabó on his album Spellbinder. Sheila's version (with French lyrics) became a big hit in France in the summer of 1966; Claire Lepage's French-language cover was released in Canada (as "Bang! Bang!") The song was also very popular in Italy in the '60s and was covered in Italian by Dalida, Mina, and the psych bands Equipe 84 and I Corvi.^[14]

Other notable cover versions include those by:

Vanilla Fudge in 1967; the version from the album Vanilla Fudge was used in David Fincher’s 2007 film Zodiac and season 2 episode 8 of Lilyhammer.
Jamaican group Tomorrow's Children, as "Bang Bang Rock Steady" in 1967.
Terry Reid on his 1968 album Bang, Bang You're Terry Reid.
Cliff Richard's version, recorded in October 1968, appears on his 1970 album Tracks 'n Grooves.
Hong Kong actress Betty Chung, a funk/soul version with Mandarin vocals on her 1968 Mini Mini EP.
The Bonzo Dog Band, recorded sometime in 1968; it appeared as a bonus track on the 2007 reissue of The Doughnut in Granny's Greenhouse.
Frank Sinatra, Nancy's father, for his 1981 album She Shot Me Down.
Barnes & Barnes (Bill Mumy of Lost in Space fame and Robert Haimer), on their 1984 album Amazing Adult Fantasy.
Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet, an instrumental version on their 1991 album Dim The Lights, Chill The Ham.
Paul Weller, on his 2003 compilation Fly on the Wall: B Sides & Rarities.
Isobel Campbell, on her 2004 EP Time Is Just the Same.
Carla Bruni, in a Lancia Musa TV advertisement broadcast in Europe in January 2008.
Welsh classical crossover singer Charlotte Church, on her 2010 album Back to Scratch.
Alternative rock group Nico Vega for their album Lead To Light. Used for the TV advertisements for the 2013 cable TV miniseries Bonnie & Clyde.
8-year-old Angelina Jordan Astar [b. Jan. 10, 2006], on the semi-finals of Norske Talenter (Norway's Got Talent) on April 12, 2014. The talent show's judges voted her into the finals, which she won the following month.
Lady Gaga in July 2014 at Jazz at Lincoln Center, for the TV special "Cheek to Cheek: LIVE". The song appeared as an iTunes bonus track with her jazz album with Tony Bennett, Cheek to Cheek and debuted at No. 1 on Billboard's Jazz Digital Songs Chart.^[15]
Beyoncé, singing to her husband Jay Z in an August 2014 commercial for an HBO tour special.^[16]
The Monophonics, a funk band from San Francisco on the album In Your Brain

References

↑ "Cher - Awards - AllMusic". AllMusic.
↑ "Music: Top 100 Songs - Billboard Hot 100 Chart". Billboard.
↑ The Sonny Side of Cher - Cher | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards | AllMusic
↑ Austrian Singles Chart . Retrieved October 22, 2010.
↑ Canadian Singles Chart . Retrieved October 22, 2010.
↑ Nielsen Business Media, Inc. (1966). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 53.
↑ "Cash Box 100 Singles chart
↑ German Singles Chart (1966). "German Singles Chart; End of year charts". Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-27.
↑ "Top Annuali Single: 1966" (in Italian). www.hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 2013-08-31.
↑ "UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 1966 - Year End". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2014.
↑ "Billboard Top 100 - 1966". Retrieved 2009-09-15.
↑ "Guitarist Billy Strange Talks About Nancy Sinatra's 'Bang Bang' « Lost & Sound". Lostandsound.wordpress.com. 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
↑ "Bang Bang: Pop! Goes the Murder Ballad". Murder Ballad Monday. Sing Out!. March 2, 2015. Retrieved March 23, 2016.
↑ "I Corvi - Bang bang (1966)". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-01-04.
↑ "Jazz Digital Songs: Oct 11, 2014". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. October 2, 2014. Retrieved October 2, 2014. (subscription required (help)).
↑ "Watch Beyoncé Sing "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" To Jay Z". BuzzFeed.

External links

Official Cher site
Cher at the Internet Movie Database

Cher singles

1960s	"All I Really Want to Do" "Where Do You Go" "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" "Alfie" "I Feel Something in the Air" "Sunny" "Hey Joe" "You Better Sit Down Kids" "For What It's Worth"

1970s	"Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves" "The Way of Love" "Living in a House Divided" "Don't Hide Your Love" "Am I Blue" "Half-Breed" "Dark Lady" "Train of Thought" "Take Me Home" "Wasn't It Good" "Hell on Wheels"

1980s	"Rudy" "I Paralyze" "I Found Someone" "We All Sleep Alone" "Skin Deep" "Bang Bang" "Main Man" "After All" "If I Could Turn Back Time" "Just Like Jesse James"

1990s	"Heart of Stone" "You Wouldn't Know Love" "Baby I'm Yours" "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)" "Love and Understanding" "Save Up All Your Tears" "Love Hurts" "Could've Been You" "When Lovers Become Strangers" "Oh No Not My Baby" "Whenever You're Near" "Many Rivers to Cross" "Walking in Memphis" "One by One" "Not Enough Love in the World" "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" "Paradise Is Here" "Believe" "Strong Enough" "All or Nothing" "Dov'è l'amore"

2000s	"The Music's No Good Without You" "Song for the Lonely" "Alive Again" "A Different Kind of Love Song" "When the Money's Gone" "Love One Another"

2010s	"You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" "Woman's World" "I Hope You Find It" "Take It Like a Man" "I Walk Alone"

Guest singles	"A Love Like Yours (Don't Come Knocking Everyday)" "Dead Ringer for Love" "I Got You Babe" "It Ain't Necessarily So" "Love Can Build a Bridge" "Più che puoi" "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered"

Book Category Portal

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.