With a sweet voice that's easy to love and an unmistakable sense of style, Nancy Sinatra became a pop icon in the 1960s with a number of chart hits and film appearances that have come to define the look and sound of the era in our collective memory in major ways. My attention was first caught by her duet "Somethin' Stupid" with her father, the famous Frank Sinatra, and I soon realized she was the singer of many of my favorite songs from that time.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Here's 7 of my favorites from Nancy Sinatra.
Week 38: NANCY SINATRA
#259/420 - Nancy Sinatra, “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)”
Originally written for Cher by Sonny, Nancy’s version tones down the gypsy vibes and amps up the badassery for her second album’s closer. This was later used as the opening in Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 1, which is perhaps, though not for certainly, where I first heard it, but it does for certainly make an impact there, as it does in general upon hearing it.
Dead air is used very skillfully here with a complete lack of percussion. The guitar and Nancy’s voice take care of it all, and the guitar itself is even very minimal. While Nancy wasn’t quite the vocal powerhouse her father was, or even compared to Cher, who the song was written for, she has a great character to her voice that I enjoy very much and makes this a very eerie and memorable track in a way that really makes the song her own. Great music for a reflective nightcap in a dim room.
#260/420 - Nancy Sinatra, “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”
Written by frequent collaborator, Lee Hazlewood, and given to Nancy by her rightful insistence that it was better sung by a woman than a man, this was her biggest hit, reaching number one in the US and UK.
It also has an iconic and distinctly 60s music video (before “music videos” were really even a thing) with legs, legs, legs! Up-skirts and butts! Oh, and also boots.
A work of art worth the watch. It's the sexy '60s that birthed Austin Powers.
#261/420 - Nancy Sinatra feat. Lee Hazlewood, “Summer Wine”
Many of Nancy’s best duets are with Lee Hazlewood, who also wrote many of her hits, including this one. The contrast of their voices is just right, one very deep, and one very light. Together they make a great pairing and, really, one of the best male/female duet pairs there has ever been in popular recordings. The lyrics are colorful and the instrumentation is sweeping. Sip some summer wine, but hang onto your spurs.
Today I drove out through the vineyards in my ’91 Oldsmobile and finally hit 100,000 miles. I know few can even believe I drove it from Wisconsin to California, but on she rides.
#262/420 - Nancy Sinatra, “As Tears Go By”
One of the earliest songs written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, it was first recorded by Marianne Faithfull in perhaps what is the most well-known version, before later being recorded by The Rolling Stones themselves, and then by Nancy Sinatra as the first track on her debut album in 1966. Despite the fine quality of the first two versions, this is the version I actually prefer most. This is a slower, calmer take on the song, which I think suits its lyrics and music well, in addition to Nancy’s voice. It’s less baroque pop, and more jazz lounge. Like much of her music, this is a cool track, and with nice, light guitar, piano, and percussion to reflect by. One of her coolest, and lightest, in fact. And best.
#263/420 - Nancy Sinatra feat. Lee Hazlewood, “Some Velvet Morning”
My favorite from Nancy and Lee is this somewhat trippy, somewhat bizarre track, notable for switching between 4/4 time during Lee’s part and 3/4 time for Nancy’s, where she plays the role of Phaedra, of whom the song is about. It’s very much of the era in terms of its experimentation and psychedelic texture, and has Earth-worshipping overtones that at times sound even sexual. “Some velvet morning when I’m straight; I’m gonna open up your gate,” he says, as she describes pollinated flowers, and as he speaks of “how she gave [him] life” and “how she made it in.”
It is a great duet from this moment in time from a great pairing and, fittingly, this song is about a velvet morning, with its echoes of The Velvet Underground and their psychedelia in its sound. I think it is Lee’s best and boldest composition with Nancy. He even has a granddaughter named for it in Phaedra.
#264/420 - Nancy Sinatra feat. Dean Martin, “Things”
Written by the great Bobby Darin, my favorite of all of Nancy’s duets is with friend-to-her-father and legend in his own right, Dean Martin. While “Somethin’ Stupid” with her dad may be the better song by a hair, this I think is the better duet from the standpoint of having two distinct parts that work beautifully together. Dino has one of the smoothest voices to ever grace popular media and does all kinds of hoops and whirls on this one, really sounding like he’s having a good time reminiscing. Nancy, meanwhile, is softer and quite cute, with her “oohs” and “weee”s and pouty retorts. They really act it out well as if they’d been doing it for years.
There is laughter and smiles audible in the recording that are infectious when listening. Musically, I love the build up and the way it raises an octave towards the end with Dean’s, “memories are all I have to cling to!” There’s a lot to like here. It’s an under the radar classic that should really be more of a standard. With a Sinatra, Martin, and Darin in the mix, you really can’t go wrong.
#265/420 - Nancy Sinatra, “You Only Live Twice”
This is both the best from Nancy Sinatra, and the best Bond theme. The sweeping orchestration with the string and brass sections bring on the elegance and mystique right from the start, but the guitar and vocals heavy things up nicely with their power, perfect for a 60s action spy movie. Per usual, James Bond movies have some of the coolest opening credits sequences, and this is no exception with its bursts of lava behind silhouettes.
The soundtrack version is a little more rugged and rock-oriented than the one debuted in the movie itself, but both rock in their own ways. While there have been many great Bond themes over the years, this was their ultimate form for my tastes.
You could imagine it would be hard to live up to the musical talent of a father like Frank Sinatra, and it’s true Nancy never did, only really finding herself in the spotlight and actively releasing albums for span of just a few several years. But what she did release in that time was distinctly her own and helped define and shape the style and sound of an era in which that type of influence at the top was highly competitive. She did it her way, and we’re still enjoying it to this day.
Next, it’s mid February and that means commercial love is on the mind, and no one has written better commercial love songs than one of the few true child prodigies whose career has gone on to span many decades of incredible music, the one-of-a-kind soul legend himself, Stevie Wonder.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer
Week 5: Bob Dylan
Week 6: Led Zeppelin
Week 7: 2Pac/Makaveli
Week 8: Billy Joel
Week 9: Electric Light Orchestra
Week 10: Elvis Presley
Week 11: Dr. Buzzard’s Original Savannah Band
Week 12: The Jimi Hendrix Experience
Week 13: Nirvana
Week 14: The Doors
Week 15: The Rolling Stones
Week 16: Gnarls Barkley
Week 17: Gábor Szabó
Week 18: Galaxie 500
Week 19: Simon & Garfunkel
Week 20: Gorillaz
Week 21: Ennio Morricone
Week 22: The Moody Blues
Week 23: Koji Kondo
Week 24: Rob Zombie/White Zombie
Week 25: Paul McCartney/Wings
Week 26: George Harrison
Week 27: Phil Spector
Week 28: John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band
Week 29: Public Enemy
Week 30: The Love Language
Week 31: Barry White
Week 32: Frank Sinatra
Week 33: David Bowie
Week 34: Queen
Week 35: The Offspring
Week 36: Louis Prima
Week 37: The Notorious B.I.G.
View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)