Foxy Lady (Cher Album) - Album Information

Album Information

When it was released, Foxy Lady was on the charts with two other Cher-related albums: Cher's Cher and Sonny & Cher's comeback album All I Ever Need Is You. This period was very successful for Cher, in which she established herself as a solo recording artist and also as a TV personality (The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour). During this period Snuff Garrett helped with Cher's records.

Foxy Lady was produced mainly by Garrett; Bono was a co-producer for only three tracks: "A Song for You", a remake of Cher's 1969 Atco single "The First Time", penned by Bono, and "Don't Hide Your Love", the last single released from the album. These collaborations were so stress filled that Garrett resigned as producer after the LP was finished. Bono then went on to produce Cher's next album Bittersweet White Light (MCA), which was a commercial flop. Garrett was then approached to return to record Half-Breed; he accepted with the condition that Bono not produce any song.

The opening track of the album starts strong with "Living in a House Divided", a song about divorce, but the album as a whole wasn't strong enough to compete with Cher's other early 70s solo records. The album contains two covers, "A Song For You" and "Never Been to Spain"; the latter was a top five hit in the US for rock band Three Dog Night before "The Way of Love". On this album, Cher again collaborated with Bob Stone, who previously wrote the song "Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves". Two songs from the album were also later covered by American singer Maureen McGovern for her 1973 debut album The Morning After.

Foxy Lady received positive reviews from music critics. Joe Viglione of Allmusic said of the songs that "the other titles here display Cher's rich expression and the superb production work of Sonny Bono and Snuff Garrett.", and called Foxy Lady "an impressive collection of ten songs which holds up years later with more staying power than when it was first released." Rolling Stone praised the album saying that it "is dynamite work and will take her right up the charts once again" and described it as "a sure and speedy chart topper for the "Foxy Lady"." Despite good sales of the first single, "Living in a House Divided", the album wasn't appreciated by the public, and unlike its predecessor, the record had limited success. The war between Garrett and Bono may have damaged the sales of the record.

In 1976, when Cher was busy with "The Cher Show", a line of dolls was released by Mego Corporation. One outfit was dedicated to the album. The "Foxy Lady" outfit is in two pieces, a pink metallic with a overlaid black lace. This outfit also includes a black cape. In 1999, the album and Cher's 1971 album Cher were reissued onto one CD called Cher/Foxy Lady, which featured all tracks from both. The original Foxy Lady album in its entirety remains unreleased on compact disc.