''Half-Breed'' is the tenth studio album by American singer-actress

Cher Cher (; born Cherilyn Sarkisian; May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to by the media as the Honorific nicknames in popular music, "Goddess of Pop", she has been described as embodying female ...

, released in September, 1973 by MCA. For the production of the album Cher returned with

Snuff Garrett Thomas Lesslie Garrett (July 5, 1938 – December 16, 2015) known as Snuff Garrett or Tommy Garrett, was an American record producer whose most famous work was during the 1960s and 1970s. Early years Garrett was born in Dallas, Texas, United ...

and

Al Capps Allan Alfonzo Capps (April 26, 1939 – June 7, 2018) was an American record producer, arranger, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and vocalist. Beginning in the 1960s and 1970s, he produced and arranged albums for popular artists such as Cher, ...

. ''Half-Breed'' was her second record for MCA and was promoted on her successful ''

The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour ''The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'' was an American variety show that starred American pop singers Sonny Bono and Cher, who were married to each other at the time. The show ran on CBS in the United States, and premiered in August 1971. The show was ...

'' television show. After its release, the album faced mixed reviews from critics, and the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

certified it gold on March 4, 1974. The album was her second solo album to receive a certification by

Production and release

The second album released by Cher in 1973 was ''Half-Breed''. After the failure of the previous pop-

standard Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

style album, ''

Bittersweet White Light ''Bittersweet White Light'' is the ninth studio album by American singer Cher. The album was released in April 1973 by MCA. It was the last solo Cher album to be produced by then-performing partner and husband Sonny Bono. While many fans consid ...

'', Cher permanently abandoned her husband

Sonny Bono Salvatore Phillip "Sonny" Bono (; February 16, 1935 – January 5, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and politician who came to fame in partnership with his second wife Cher as the popular singing duo Sonny & Cher. A member of the Republica ...

as a producer for her albums. Snuff Garrett returned to work with Cher after the success of ''

'' and the minor hit ''

Foxy Lady "Foxy Lady" (or alternatively "Foxey Lady") is a song by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. It first appeared on their 1967 debut album ''Are You Experienced'' and was later issued as their third single in the U.S. with the alternate spelling. It is o ...

'', recording another narrative ballad album. The

opening track An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...

of the album is the cover of the hit song written by

Paul Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) *Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chris ...

and

Linda McCartney Linda Louise McCartney, Lady McCartney ( Eastman; September 24, 1941 – April 17, 1998) was an American photographer, musician, animal rights activist, vegetarian cookbook author and advocate, and entrepreneur. She was the keyboardist in th ...

, " My Love", that was released in March 1973. The album contains two other covers: the Bee-Gees' "

How Can You Mend a Broken Heart "How Can You Mend a Broken Heart" is a song released by the Bee Gees in 1971. It was written by Barry and Robin Gibb and was the first single on the group's 1971 album ''Trafalgar''. It was their first US No. 1 single and also reached No. 1 in ...

", and

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

The Long and Winding Road "The Long and Winding Road" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1970 album ''Let It Be''. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. When issued as a single in May 1970, a month after the Beatles ...

". All the songs that Cher covered in the album were originally number-one hits by the original artists on the US " ''Billboard'' 200" in the early 1970s. David Paich contributed on "David's Song" and for the arrangements in the album. The last song of the album, "Chastity Sun", was re-written by Cher. Originally entitled "Ruby Jean & Billy Lee", it was a song by

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

band

Seals and Crofts Seals and Crofts was an American soft rock duo made up of James Eugene Seals (October 17, 1942 – June 6, 2022) and Darrell George "Dash" Crofts (born August 14, 1938) They are best known for their hits "Summer Breeze (song), Summer Breeze" (1 ...

released in their 1973 album '' Diamond Girl''. The re-written version by Cher was a dedication to her first child,

Chaz Bono Chaz Salvatore Bono (born Chastity Sun Bono; March 4, 1969) is an American writer, musician and actor. His parents are entertainers Sonny Bono and Cher, and he became widely known in appearances as a child on their television show, ''The Sonny ...

. In August 1993, the original album was combined with '' Dark Lady'' and issued on one CD. Called ''Half Breed/Dark Lady'', this release included all the tracks from both original albums. In contrast, several budget CDs have also been released titled ''Half Breed'' (note the lack of hyphen) by various labels. These albums use different covers, and contain only two tracks from the original album alongside selected tracks from other Cher albums, including ''Cher'', ''Foxy Lady'', and ''Dark Lady''. The original ''Half-Breed'' album in its entirety remains unreleased on compact disc.

Critical reception

''Half-Breed'' received mixed reviews from music critics. Peter Fawthrop of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

gave the album three-and-a-half stars and pointed out that the title track is "the only song here which would turn up on a greatest-hits collection", and that "there are plenty of other melodic, hippie-era tunes which are tailor-made for nights around the campfire." About the album style, it read "Melancholy and bittersweet from start to finish, there are enough charms to keep it lighthearted". ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' reviewer

Paul Gambaccini Paul Matthew Gambaccini (born April 2, 1949) is an American-British radio and television presenter and author in the United Kingdom. He has dual United States and British nationality, having become a British citizen in 2005. Known as "The Grea ...

gave a negative review for the album and to the production work of Snuff Garrett, but regarding Cher said that "Cher's amazingly powerful voice is not being used effectively, and it is frustrating to hear it squandered on rubbish."

Commercial performance

''Half-Breed'' debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 at number 171 in late September, eventually peaking at number 28. During 1974, sales reached 500,000 copies in North America, and it was certified

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

. The album also charted in the Canadian album chart and reached No. 21. In Europe, it charted only on the Norway album chart. Like a number of her previous albums, it did not enter the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

Singles

Like her previous successful albums ''Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves'' and ''Foxy Lady'', only two singles were released. "

Half-Breed Half-breed is a term, now considered offensive, used to describe anyone who is of mixed race; although, in the United States, it usually refers to people who are half Native American and half European/white. Use by governments United States In ...

" was the first single released. It was her second song that reached number one in the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and it peaked in the

Adult Contemporary chart The Adult Contemporary chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and lists the most popular songs on adult contemporary radio stations in the United States. The chart is compiled based on airplay data submitted to ''Billboard'' by sta ...

at No. 3. It reached number one in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and in

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. The song was performed live in ''

'', featuring Cher dressed as an Indian. A second and final single, " Carousel Man", was released 1973. It peaked at No. 11 in the ''Billboard'' Airplay chart.

Track listing

Personnel

*Cher –

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

*Snuff Garrett –

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

*Al Capps – arrangement assistance *

David Paich David Frank Paich (born June 25, 1954) is an American musician, best known as the co-founder, principal songwriter, keyboardist and singer of the rock band Toto since 1977. He wrote or co-wrote much of Toto's original material, including the ba ...

– arrangement assistance *Lennie Roberts – sound engineer *Richard Grant – album art concept *Gene Trindl – cover photo *J. Engstead – liner photos

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Half-Breed 1973 albums Cher albums Albums produced by Snuff Garrett MCA Records albums Articles containing video clips