"The Beat Goes On" is a Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 hit song written and composed by Sonny Bono and recorded by Sonny & Cher. It was issued as a single and appeared on their 1967 album In Case You're in Love. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 chart on January 14, 1967, peaking at number six.
Song information
The backing music for the song was recorded using the renowned group of Los Angeles session musicians who, in time, came to be known collectively as "The Wrecking Crew." The arrangement is credited to Harold Battiste, but Wrecking Crew bassist Carol Kaye asserts that at the session she devised the distinctive syncopated bass line that is featured on the released recording, replacing the original walking bass line in the prepared arrangement: The song was sung at Sonny Bono's funeral, and the phrase "And the beat goes on" appears on his tombstone. AllMusic highlighted this track in its review of the In Case You're in Love album. The song's lyrics deal mainly with current events of the time, with the refrain " the beat goes on, the beat goes on" following each verse.
Live performances
Sonny and Cher performed the song many times on their hit 1970s television variety shows, as well as in their live concerts. The song was included in the "Sonny and Cher" video montages during Cher's Do You Believe? Tour and. Cher performed the song live with Sonny's voice track on her successful Cher at the Colosseum show as well as her 2014 Dressed to Kill Tour and 2017-2020 Classic Cher shows. It's also performed during her Here We Go Again Tour. In 2019, Cher performed the song during the season finale of Dancing with the Stars
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Cover versions
Over the years, the song has been covered by numerous artists.
In 1967, the American jazz musician Buddy Rich performed a version on his Big Swing Face album, with his daughter Cathy on vocals, arranged by Shorty Rogers.
The song was covered by Turkish band Silüetler and Gabor Szabo on his 1967 album The Sorcerer.
In 1968, Vanilla Fudge included a version of it on their album The Beat Goes On, which they released that year.
The R&B band Booker T. & the M.G.'s released a version on their Doin' Our Thing album in April 1968.
Other versions were recorded by jazz pianist/singer Patricia Barber, Italian singer Mina, and the French duo Casino Music. In 1982, an electro cover version was released by Orbit featuring Carol Hall with production by Don Was. It became a substantial dance club hit in January 1983. An Australian version, produced by former Skyhooks guitarist Red Symons, became a Top 30 hit in 1983; it was recorded by Melbourne cabaret duo the Globos, which featured singers Wendy De Waal and Mark Trevorrow, the latter of whom later gained renown for his comedic alter-ego Bob Downe. The British band Strange Cruise covered the song for their 1986 album Strange Cruise. In 1998, a version by British electronic music group All Seeing I peaked at number 11 in the UK Singles Chart. The group also produced a cover version of the song for Britney Spears in November 1998, as the last track on her debut album, ...Baby One More Time. "The Beat Goes On" is the first track on Songs We Should Have Written by Firewater. The Pittsburgh, PA-based band The Spuds recorded a version for the 2007 tribute albumBONOGRAPH: Sonny Gets His Share. In 2008, a version by the French acid jazz group Le Cercle was included on their album Magnetic. The Canadian jazz singer Emilie-Claire Barlow recorded the song for her album of the same title, which was nominated for "Vocal Jazz Album of the Year" at the Juno Awards of 2011. This song is sometimes incorrectly referred to as "And the Beat Goes On", as the closing lyric adds the word "and" to the song's title. R&B vocal group The Whispers, released an unrelated song, entitled "And the Beat Goes On," in 1980.
