The Beat Goes On (Sonny & Cher song)

The backing music for the song was recorded using a group of Los Angeles session musicians nicknamed "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:

:Songfacts: "What's an example of one of the songs that you guys really added to and made it into a hit?"

:Carol Kaye: "Well, 'The Beat Goes On' is a biggie. I mean, it was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that. But you'd have to say all of them. There's only a certain song, like 'You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'' that was guaranteed to be a hit because it was a great song. But about 95% of that stuff would not have been a hit without us, that's true."{{cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/carol_kaye/|title=Songfacts: Songwriter Interviews - Carol Kaye (interviewed Oct. 12 2011)|website=Songfacts.com|access-date=25 October 2014}}

The recording session for the song was held on December 13, 1966 at the Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles with a backing band of 19 musicians from The Wrecking Crew.{{cite web|title=Phonograph Recording Contract Blank: American Federation of Musicians|url=https://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/afmcontracts/Sonny+Cher_TheBeatGoesOn.pdf|access-date=April 6, 2014|publisher=Wreckingcrewfilm.com}} After a two and a half hour session to record the song, guitarist Barney Kessel is reported to have stood up and proclaimed, "Never have so many played so little for so much."{{cite book |last1=Hartman |first1=Kent |title=The Wrecking Crew |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312619749 |url-access=registration |date=2012 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |isbn=9780312619749 |page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780312619749/page/163 163] |edition=1st}}

The song's lyrics deal mainly with current events of the time, with the refrain "(And) the beat goes on, the beat goes on" following each verse.

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 The Farewell Tour. Cher performed the song live with Sonny Bono'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 was also performed during her Here We Go Again Tour (2018–2020). In 2019, Cher performed the song during the season 28 season finale of Dancing with the Stars.{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab64kl0kaiI|title = - YouTube|website = YouTube}}

According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians played on the track.{{cite web |url=https://www.wreckingcrewfilm.com/afmcontracts/Sonny+Cher_TheBeatGoesOn.pdf |title=The Beat Goes On AFM Contract|publisher=American Federation of Musicians |website=The Wrecking Crew |accessdate=January 1, 2023}}

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• Harold Battiste
• Gene Daniello
• Dr. John
• Michel Rubini
• Frank Capp
• Jim Gordon
• Nick Pellico
• Stanley Ross
• Lyle Ritz
• Bobby West
• Keith Allison
• David Cohen
• Barney Kessel
• Carol Kaye
• Mike Post
• Bill Green
• Lou Blackburn
• Frederick Hill
• Melvin Moore

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{{Infobox song

| name = Beat Goes On

| cover =

| caption =

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = All Seeing I

| album = Pickled Eggs and Sherbet

| B-side = Booty in the I

| released = {{Start date|1997}}

| recorded =

| studio =

| length = 4:03

| label = Earth Records, FFRR

| writer = Sonny Bono

| producer =

| prev_title = I Walk

| prev_year = 1997

| next_title = Walk Like a Panther

| next_year = 1998

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|3b9D1HaOKHs|"The All Seeing I - Beat Goes On (Official Music Video)"}}}}

}}

In 1997, British electronic music group All Seeing I released a version sampling the vocals from the Buddy Rich version. When re-released in 1998, it peaked at number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and No. 1 on the UK Dance Singles Chart.Roberts, David (Ed.) (2004). British Hit Singles & Albums (17th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. {{ISBN|0-85112-199-3}}. It also reached the top 40 in Scotland and New Zealand.

All Seeing I 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.

• In 1967, the American jazz musician Buddy Rich performed a version on his Big Swing Face album, with his daughter Cathy Rich on vocals, arranged by Shorty Rogers.{{cite web|url=http://www.discogs.com/Buddy-Rich-Big-Band-The-Big-Swing-Face/release/1450508 |title=The Buddy Rich Big Band* - Big Swing Face (Vinyl, LP, Album) |website=Discogs.com |year=1967 |access-date=2016-09-30}}
• In 1968, Vanilla Fudge included a version of it on their album The Beat Goes On, which they released that year.
• 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 song was covered by Giant Sand on their 2002 album Cover Magazine.{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3444-cover-magazine/ |title=Giant Sand: Cover Magazine |last=Dahlen |first=Chris |date=14 March 2002 |website=Pitchfork |access-date=15 November 2021}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{YouTube|abJSc6KY07M|"The Beat Goes On"}}

{{Sonny & Cher}}

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Category:1967 songs

Category:1967 singles

Category:1998 singles

Category:Sonny & Cher songs

Category:The All Seeing I songs

Category:Atco Records singles

Category:FFRR Records singles

Category:Songs written by Sonny Bono