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3614 Jackson Highway
3614 Jackson Highway in Bloomington, MN
Current price: $13.99
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Size: CD
When
Sonny & Cher
first hit the charts in 1965,
Sonny Bono
was the brains of the outfit, producing their records and writing the bulk of their material. So after both the duo and
Cher
's solo career went into a tailspin in the late '60s, their record company proposed a little experiment -- giving
some new collaborators in a new surrounding. Under the guidance of producer
Jerry Wexler
, who had famously kick-started
Aretha Franklin
's career when she signed with
Atlantic
in 1967,
recorded 1969's
3614 Jackson Highway
in Alabama with the
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
(
Jimmy Johnson
on guitar,
Barry Beckett
on keys,
David Hood
on bass, and
Roger Hawkins
on drums), the same band that backed
Aretha
,
Wilson Pickett
Solomon Burke
, and many others on a string of classic
soul
hits. With ace guitarist and songwriter
Eddie Hinton
sitting in and
Tom Dowd
and
Arif Mardin
helping with the production (
Sonny
received a producer's credit, but didn't actually work on the sessions),
cut what was arguably the finest album of her career; it's no great surprise that the arrangements on
lean towards
Southern soul
, but the music nods politely to
's
pop
instincts as well, and the sidemen deliver the sort of straightforward but rock-solid support that was their trademark.
was given some weightier material than she usually handled, including no fewer than three
Bob Dylan
covers and some classic
numbers, and if
"I Walk on Gilded Splinters"
"For What It's Worth"
don't seem like ideal choices today, she sounds mature, forceful, and authoritative on every track. And while
doesn't quite come off like a
diva on these sessions, she welcomes the opportunity to dig deeper into the songs in a way she couldn't on many of her early hits, and she rises to the challenge posed by her collaborators -- she rides the slinky funk of
"Lay Lady Lay"
beautifully, knows just how to fill the quiet spaces of
"Please Don't Tell Me,"
and belts out
"Cry Like a Baby"
with the same punch as
the Memphis Horns
.
was a commercial disappointment and it would be another two years before
would return to the limelight with their television variety show, but
was rarely given a better showcase for her talents as a singer, and the album still sounds like a revelation four decades after it was released. ~ Mark Deming
Sonny & Cher
first hit the charts in 1965,
Sonny Bono
was the brains of the outfit, producing their records and writing the bulk of their material. So after both the duo and
Cher
's solo career went into a tailspin in the late '60s, their record company proposed a little experiment -- giving
some new collaborators in a new surrounding. Under the guidance of producer
Jerry Wexler
, who had famously kick-started
Aretha Franklin
's career when she signed with
Atlantic
in 1967,
recorded 1969's
3614 Jackson Highway
in Alabama with the
Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section
(
Jimmy Johnson
on guitar,
Barry Beckett
on keys,
David Hood
on bass, and
Roger Hawkins
on drums), the same band that backed
Aretha
,
Wilson Pickett
Solomon Burke
, and many others on a string of classic
soul
hits. With ace guitarist and songwriter
Eddie Hinton
sitting in and
Tom Dowd
and
Arif Mardin
helping with the production (
Sonny
received a producer's credit, but didn't actually work on the sessions),
cut what was arguably the finest album of her career; it's no great surprise that the arrangements on
lean towards
Southern soul
, but the music nods politely to
's
pop
instincts as well, and the sidemen deliver the sort of straightforward but rock-solid support that was their trademark.
was given some weightier material than she usually handled, including no fewer than three
Bob Dylan
covers and some classic
numbers, and if
"I Walk on Gilded Splinters"
"For What It's Worth"
don't seem like ideal choices today, she sounds mature, forceful, and authoritative on every track. And while
doesn't quite come off like a
diva on these sessions, she welcomes the opportunity to dig deeper into the songs in a way she couldn't on many of her early hits, and she rises to the challenge posed by her collaborators -- she rides the slinky funk of
"Lay Lady Lay"
beautifully, knows just how to fill the quiet spaces of
"Please Don't Tell Me,"
and belts out
"Cry Like a Baby"
with the same punch as
the Memphis Horns
.
was a commercial disappointment and it would be another two years before
would return to the limelight with their television variety show, but
was rarely given a better showcase for her talents as a singer, and the album still sounds like a revelation four decades after it was released. ~ Mark Deming
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