Baby Don't Go - Releases and Success

Releases and Success

In September 1964, they released "Baby Don't Go" on Reprise as their first effort under the name of Sonny & Cher. (By some accounts, Caesar and Cleo's take on "Love Is Strange" was released the same day as "Baby Don't Go"; by another, it was the first B-side for "Baby Don't Go".)

"Baby Don't Go" became a big local hit in Los Angeles and a minor regional hit on the U.S. West Coast but did not make the national charts. More importantly, it gained the couple additional attention within the industry, and led to the duo getting a recording contract from the Atco Records division of Atlantic Records while Cher gained a solo contract from the Imperial Records part of Liberty Records.

The duo broke through with the huge success with "I Got You Babe" in the summer of 1965. "Baby Don't Go" was re-released by Reprise and became another big hit for Sonny & Cher. It played a major role in their rise to fame, peaking at number 8 on the U.S. pop singles chart, number 11 on the UK pop singles chart. It did even better in Canada, where it hit number one for two weeks in October 1965 (replacing Sonny's "Laugh At Me", which had been released around the same time and which had also capitalized on the new-found success of the pair in several countries). "Baby Don't Go" also placed in the top twenty in Sweden and the Netherlands.

The song was then included as the title track on the 1965 Reprise compilation album Baby Don't Go – Sonny & Cher and Friends, an odd collection that also included some of the unsuccessful Caesar and Cleo material as well as songs from artists such as Bill Medley, The Lettermen and The Blendells.