Rahul Sharma (Editor)

Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)

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Released
  
1966

Recorded
  
1966

Length
  
2:44

Format
  
7" single

Genre
  
Folk rock

B-side
  
"Needles and Pins" "Our Day Will Come"

"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.

Contents

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."

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.

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; 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. 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.


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.
  • 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.
  • Beyoncé, singing to her husband Jay Z in an August 2014 commercial for an HBO tour special.
  • The Monophonics, a funk band from San Francisco on the album In Your Brain
  • The Raconteurs, a rock group consisting of Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler covered the song during many of their live shows.
  • References

    Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) Wikipedia