Sonny & Cher - This Good Earth (1970)

As 1967 became 1968, with two hit records and one flop movie, 'Good Times', representing Sonny & Cher's accomplishments for the year, Sonny Bono decided that movie stardom was the obvious future for Cher, with himself as auteur. As he threw himself into the film 'Chastity', recording output dwindled, with the duo cutting just two tracks in 1968. The first, 'Circus' was Bono's dump on psychedelic culture, with an atomic explosion for the record's finale, while the brassy 'You Gotta Have A Thing Of Your Own' was an improvement, but did no better in the charts than 'Circus'. As a business plan, there's some wisdom in diversifying into movies and general entertainment, and Bono was correct about Cher's potential as a superstar, but he bowdlerized the script of 'Chastity' to suit his opinions about modern girls, and despite some praise for Cher's acting, the resulting film was a flop. 1969 began tenuously, with Cher migrating to Atco as a solo artist with hopes of a musical revival, and she was taken to Muscle Shoals studios in Alabama, with an album green-lighted for an April release. Sonny & Cher's next single, the passably commercial duet 'You're A Friend Of Mine', failed to chart, and featured a solo Bono song on the flip, and to finalize their contract with Atco, Sonny & Cher once again reunited at Gold Star studios in early 1970 for 'Get It Together', which followed their last few singles in failing to bother the charts. Rumour has it that around this time Bono wanted to create an album which would repeat the success of 1965's 'Look At Us', and they decided to call it 'This Good Earth'. It was planned to be released after 1967's 'In Case You're In Love' album, maybe in 1970 or 1971, but their new record label Kapp Records issued 'Sonny & Cher Live' in 1971 instead, followed by 'All I Ever Need Is You' later the same year, and 'This Good Earth' was quietly forgotten. We know the names of six of the possible tracks, most of which were released as singles, and by adding a couple of stand-alone single releases from 1967, and some contemporary b-sides we have enough material to put together an approximation of what this album could have sounded like.   

Track listing

01 Circus  
02 You're A Friend Of Mine  
03 You Gotta Have A Thing Of Your Own  
04 Get It Together 
05 Hold You Tighter  
06 You And Me
07 Good Combination
08 I Would Marry You Today
09 She's No Better Than Me 
10 Just A Little
11 Gentle Foe
12 Plastic Man

Various Artists - The Hitmakers Sing Albert Hammond (1974)

Albert Louis Hammond was born on 18 May 1944 in London, after his family had been evacuated from Gibraltar during World War II, and shortly after the war ended they returned to Gibraltar where he grew up. In 1960 he joined Gibraltarian band The Diamond Boys, which had no real commercial success, but played a part in Spain's introduction to pop and rock music. In 1966 he co-founded the British vocal band the Family Dogg, reaching number 6 on the UK Singles Chart in 1969 with 'A Way Of Life', taken from the album of the same name. He also wrote songs for other artists with frequent collaborator Mike Hazlewood, including 'Little Arrows' for Leapy Lee, 'Make Me an Island' and 'You're Such A Good Looking Woman' for Joe Dolan, 'Gimme Dat Ding' for the Pipkins, 'Good Morning Freedom' for Blue Mink, 'Freedom Come, Freedom Go' for the Fortunes, and 'The Air That I Breathe' for the Hollies. In 1970, at age 26, he moved to the United States, continuing his professional career as a musician, although his greatest commercial success was in mainland Europe, with successful singles on Columbia subsidiary Mums Records, including 'Down By The River', 'It Never Rains In Southern California', 'The Free Electric Band' (his only single to chart in the UK), 'Half A Million Miles From Home', and '99 Miles From L.A.'. In 1971, he also sang on Michael Chapman's fourth album 'Wrecked Again', and he worked briefly with the Magic Lanterns on recordings of his and Hazlewood's songs. In 1972 he released his first solo album, 'It Never Rains In Southern California', following the success of the single of the same name, and with his reputation as a successful songwriter already established, other artists soon wanted to cover the songs on it. A couple of them seemed a bit too idiosyncratic to be attempted, and so as there were two that have yet to be covered, I've added some of the afore-mentioned hits from 1971 to replace them.  

Track listing

01 Listen To The World (The Undivided 1973)  
02 If You Gotta Break Another Heart (Cass Elliott 1972) 
03 Brand New Day (Cindy Kent 1973)
04 It Never Rains In Southern California (Sonny And Cher 1973) 
05 Anyone Here In The Audience (Agnes Chan 1973)
06 Names, Tags, Numbers & Labels (The Association 1973)
07 Down By The River (The New Seekers 1972)
08 The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies 1974)
09 Freedom Come, Freedom Go (The Fortunes 1971)
10 Good Morning Freedom (Blue Mink 1971)
11 Mama Sure Could Swing A Deal (The Magic Lanterns 1971)