"The Beat Goes On" popped in my head tonight so I played it and realized I had completely forgotten how much I really love it. It's the only Sonny and Cher song I can say I think is essential to pop music.
I have nothing against them (I absolutely loved their tv variety show when I was a child), but was never fascinated by any of their songs like I was this one.
And it's mostly because of this:
Making the beat go on in this song was Carol Kaye , who played bass at the session. One of the top Los Angeles studio musicians, Carol played on hundreds of records, including tracks for Phil Spector and Brian Wilson. She had recently switched from guitar to bass - Sonny Bono would often use her for electric 12-string fills. This song had a very sparse bass part written, which Carol elaborated into the key part of the instrumentation. She told us it was one of her biggest creative contributions to a hit record. "It was a nothing song, and then the bass line kind of made that," said Carol. She adds that it was only one chord, but its impact made her realize how important a bass line could be and inspired her to play more of the instrument.-- from Songfacts
No offense to Sonny or Cher, but I really don't think the song would be anything at all without that bass line.
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