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Album Review
Chastity Review by Cher Fan Club
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Tracklist
Pick | # | Song | Writer(s) | Producer(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
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Singles
⭐ "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" (1969)
🎼 From the film CHASTITY
🪄 Originally recorded by Elyse Weinberg
📍 Released as the A-side in North America, with "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" as the B-side
📍 In Australia, both songs were issued together as a double A-side single
💡 In France and Portugal, "Splinters" was promoted to A-side status, making "Thieves" the B-side
💡 In the UK, "Thieves" remains unavailable in any physical format
🔎 THE CFC BREAKDOWN: "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)," Cher's only contribution to the soundtrack of CHASTITY (1969), her debut as a dramatic actress, was meant as her next major statement in mid-1969—the single that would carry her out of the passé Sonny & Cher routine and into the grittier, more adult world of her sixth album, 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY (also 1969). Atco shipped the record to stores in the US and Canada with "I Walk on Guilded Splinters," a then-unreleased track soon to appear on her forthcoming album, quietly buried on the flip side.
"Thieves," the single meant to mark a new era, slipped out quietly in North America and vanished almost immediately. The tepid response seemed to rattle parent label Atlantic Records: they reversed the sides in France and Portugal, promoting "Splinters" to A-side status, and went further in the UK, dropping "Thieves" entirely and pairing "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" (another 3614 cut) as the B-side to "Splinters." Many British listeners—those not inclined to import—would not hear "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" until decades later, when Rhino's 2001 US reissue of 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY finally reached UK streaming services in the 2010s.
It was one of those peculiar moments that came to define Cher's singles history: disjointed, reactive, full of label second-guessing, yet catnip for obsessive music historians.
✍🏻 BILLBOARD review (Jun 14, 1969): "Sensitive treatment of the Elyse Weinberg ballad from the forthcoming film CHASTITY has both play and sales potential."
✍🏻 CASH BOX review (Jun 14, 1969): "Getting funkier than she's sounded in a long time, Cher delivers a powerhouse side that should set her in the programming spotlight with top forty and underground stations (not necessarily in that order.) Brutal, forceful blues band backup gives the side dynamite potential."
🪄 Originally recorded by Elyse Weinberg
📍 Released as the A-side in North America, with "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" as the B-side
📍 In Australia, both songs were issued together as a double A-side single
💡 In France and Portugal, "Splinters" was promoted to A-side status, making "Thieves" the B-side
💡 In the UK, "Thieves" remains unavailable in any physical format
🔎 THE CFC BREAKDOWN: "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)," Cher's only contribution to the soundtrack of CHASTITY (1969), her debut as a dramatic actress, was meant as her next major statement in mid-1969—the single that would carry her out of the passé Sonny & Cher routine and into the grittier, more adult world of her sixth album, 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY (also 1969). Atco shipped the record to stores in the US and Canada with "I Walk on Guilded Splinters," a then-unreleased track soon to appear on her forthcoming album, quietly buried on the flip side.
"Thieves," the single meant to mark a new era, slipped out quietly in North America and vanished almost immediately. The tepid response seemed to rattle parent label Atlantic Records: they reversed the sides in France and Portugal, promoting "Splinters" to A-side status, and went further in the UK, dropping "Thieves" entirely and pairing "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" (another 3614 cut) as the B-side to "Splinters." Many British listeners—those not inclined to import—would not hear "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" until decades later, when Rhino's 2001 US reissue of 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY finally reached UK streaming services in the 2010s.
It was one of those peculiar moments that came to define Cher's singles history: disjointed, reactive, full of label second-guessing, yet catnip for obsessive music historians.
✍🏻 BILLBOARD review (Jun 14, 1969): "Sensitive treatment of the Elyse Weinberg ballad from the forthcoming film CHASTITY has both play and sales potential."
✍🏻 CASH BOX review (Jun 14, 1969): "Getting funkier than she's sounded in a long time, Cher delivers a powerhouse side that should set her in the programming spotlight with top forty and underground stations (not necessarily in that order.) Brutal, forceful blues band backup gives the side dynamite potential."
"I Walk on Guilded Splinters" (1969)
🪄 Originally recorded by Dr. John
📍 "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" was released as the A-side in France, Portugal, and the UK, backed with "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" in the first two and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" in the latter
📍 In Australia, both "Thieves" and "Splinters" were issued together as a double A-side single
💡 In North America, "Thieves" was issued as the A-side as originally intended, making "Splinters" the B-side
🌟 KSHE (St. Louis, MO): #8
🔎 THE CFC BREAKDOWN: "I Walk on Guilded Splinters," Cher's groove-driven reinterpretation of Dr. John's 1968 voodoo blues, became the centerpiece of her late-sixties artistic reinvention—her first magnum opus, 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY (1969).
Initially buried as the B-side to "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" in North America, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" was quickly elevated abroad when parent label Atlantic sensed that "Thieves" wouldn't fare better in Europe—the track had been intended as Cher's flagship entry into soul music but became another commercial casualty.
Atlantic promoted "Guilded Splinters" to A-side status in France and Portugal, with "Thieves" demoted to the flip. In the UK, subsidiary Polydor Records excised "Thieves" entirely—rendering it completely absent from Cher's UK singles and albums discography—and chose "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," another 3614 cut, as the B-side for "Splinters."
The UK release sparked minor backlash from British music fans, coming just as local newcomer Marsha Hunt's version was climbing the charts. Fans and the British press viewed the move as an American couple attempting to kneecap a promising homegrown artist. It was said to have stalled Hunt's version at No. 46 while failing to generate any momentum of its own—a lose-lose proposition that left "Guilded Splinters" shut out of the UK charts and every other market.
Cher and Sonny remained oblivious to the strategy until it was too late. In a September 1969 interview with UK trade paper RECORD MIRROR, Sonny Bono attempted damage control: "Hey, I hope the British fans don't think we have deserted them ... I noticed that Cher's version of 'I Walk on Guilded Splinters' was released in Britain as a single. We did not want that record issued there to compete with the Marsha Hunt version. It was originally intended to be an LP track, and it is on the new album." When asked what their current UK single was, Sonny lamented: "It's funny I can't explain it, but our releases don't go out onto the international market as they should. It's a shame."
Produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin at Muscle Shoals, the track jettisoned the string-laden arrangements and vocal theatrics of Cher's Sonny & Cher hits for a swagger-heavy, danceable groove that traded Dr. John's ritualistic atmosphere for something physically immediate. Her version distilled the original's menace into something cooler, more detached and dangerous—foreshadowing the hardened persona she would refine in the early seventies.
Despite achieving the rare feat of radio appeal and underground credibility, "Splinters" charted nowhere. Its psychedelic swamp-rock aesthetic proved too alien for AM radio tastes. Yet it became one of those cult-favorite deep cuts that outlived its own release—a curiosity rediscovered by collectors and critics who later recognized 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY as Cher's first serious bid for artistic legitimacy.
✍🏻 MELODY MAKER review (UK, Jun 14, 1969): "Cher's version of the Dr. John song is excellent—evil and rocking. The band are funky and the whole production makes it a better bet than Marsha Hunt's version, if the tune is going to take off here at all."
✍🏻 NME review (UK, Jun 14, 1969): "An excellent styling, in which the effect is heightened by voodoo-like chanting, crashing cymbals and shrieking brass."
📍 "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" was released as the A-side in France, Portugal, and the UK, backed with "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" in the first two and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" in the latter
📍 In Australia, both "Thieves" and "Splinters" were issued together as a double A-side single
💡 In North America, "Thieves" was issued as the A-side as originally intended, making "Splinters" the B-side
🌟 KSHE (St. Louis, MO): #8
🔎 THE CFC BREAKDOWN: "I Walk on Guilded Splinters," Cher's groove-driven reinterpretation of Dr. John's 1968 voodoo blues, became the centerpiece of her late-sixties artistic reinvention—her first magnum opus, 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY (1969).
Initially buried as the B-side to "Chastity's Song (Band of Thieves)" in North America, "I Walk on Guilded Splinters" was quickly elevated abroad when parent label Atlantic sensed that "Thieves" wouldn't fare better in Europe—the track had been intended as Cher's flagship entry into soul music but became another commercial casualty.
Atlantic promoted "Guilded Splinters" to A-side status in France and Portugal, with "Thieves" demoted to the flip. In the UK, subsidiary Polydor Records excised "Thieves" entirely—rendering it completely absent from Cher's UK singles and albums discography—and chose "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You," another 3614 cut, as the B-side for "Splinters."
The UK release sparked minor backlash from British music fans, coming just as local newcomer Marsha Hunt's version was climbing the charts. Fans and the British press viewed the move as an American couple attempting to kneecap a promising homegrown artist. It was said to have stalled Hunt's version at No. 46 while failing to generate any momentum of its own—a lose-lose proposition that left "Guilded Splinters" shut out of the UK charts and every other market.
Cher and Sonny remained oblivious to the strategy until it was too late. In a September 1969 interview with UK trade paper RECORD MIRROR, Sonny Bono attempted damage control: "Hey, I hope the British fans don't think we have deserted them ... I noticed that Cher's version of 'I Walk on Guilded Splinters' was released in Britain as a single. We did not want that record issued there to compete with the Marsha Hunt version. It was originally intended to be an LP track, and it is on the new album." When asked what their current UK single was, Sonny lamented: "It's funny I can't explain it, but our releases don't go out onto the international market as they should. It's a shame."
Produced by Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd, and Arif Mardin at Muscle Shoals, the track jettisoned the string-laden arrangements and vocal theatrics of Cher's Sonny & Cher hits for a swagger-heavy, danceable groove that traded Dr. John's ritualistic atmosphere for something physically immediate. Her version distilled the original's menace into something cooler, more detached and dangerous—foreshadowing the hardened persona she would refine in the early seventies.
Despite achieving the rare feat of radio appeal and underground credibility, "Splinters" charted nowhere. Its psychedelic swamp-rock aesthetic proved too alien for AM radio tastes. Yet it became one of those cult-favorite deep cuts that outlived its own release—a curiosity rediscovered by collectors and critics who later recognized 3614 JACKSON HIGHWAY as Cher's first serious bid for artistic legitimacy.
✍🏻 MELODY MAKER review (UK, Jun 14, 1969): "Cher's version of the Dr. John song is excellent—evil and rocking. The band are funky and the whole production makes it a better bet than Marsha Hunt's version, if the tune is going to take off here at all."
✍🏻 NME review (UK, Jun 14, 1969): "An excellent styling, in which the effect is heightened by voodoo-like chanting, crashing cymbals and shrieking brass."
We're working on this section. Please check back soon.
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