40 Years Ago: Gypsies Tramps & Thieves Reached The Charts!

On 18th September 1971, exactly 40 years ago, one of Cher's biggest and best singles made its debut on the US Singles Chart.

"Gypsies Tramps and Thieves", backed with the beautiful "He'll Never know", appeared at number 88 on the US Hot 100, on this day in 1971. It would be one of Cher's biggest comebacks of her entire career. Just by reaching that position alone, the single had already become Cher's biggest hit since "You Better Sit Down Kids", released in late 1967. All tracks since then had been missing the top 100, but this single showed that Cher was back on top, literally.


The track was written by Bob Stone as "Gypsies and White Trash" but experienced a name-change when producer Snuff Garrett advised Stone to do so. According to the liner notes in the 1999 compilation album, "The Best of Cher - Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves", the song was recorded on 9th June 1971.

The track entered the US Hot 100 singles chart on 18th September, at number 88. It would knock Rod Stewart's 'Maggie May/Reason To Believe' from the number one spot, and would eventually spend two weeks at number 1. The following is the chart positions of the single on that very chart, with the week that it hit each position on the chart:

18th September 1971: #88
25th September 1971: #66
2nd October 1971: #39
9th October 1971: #28
16th October 1971: #10
23rd October 1971: #4
30th October 1971: #2
6th November 1971: #1
13th November 1971: #1
20th November 1971: #2
27th November 1971: #2
4th December 1971: #5
11th December 1971: #7
18th December 1971:
#17
25th December 1971:
#19
1st January 1972: #25

1971 was the same year that Sonny & Cher's career also saw a phenomenal comeback. They were now stars of their own hit TV show, 'The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour'. They also scored their first top ten hit together since 1967. In fact, 'All I Ever Need Is You' was sitting at number 8 whilst 'Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves' was at number 7.

'Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves' has sold 2 million copies in the US alone and was also certified Gold. Of course it topped the US Singles Chart but it also topped the Canadian singles chart, and reached #2 in Germany and New Zealand, #3 in Ireland, #4 in the United Kingdom and France, #5 in Australia, and it hit the charts in several other countries. It surpassed 'Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)' as Cher's biggest solo hit.

The song was performed live on the 'Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour' and many people see this as Cher's very first music video. She has recognized the popularity of the song, by performing it in her last tours, the 'Do You Believe? Tour' and 'The Farewell Tour'. It was also featured in her recent Las Vegas concerts, 'Cher at the Colosseum'.