NANCY-THE LESSER KNOWN SINATRA

 

Frank Sinatra was a legend even in his lifetime. It would be well nigh impossible for his daughter to reach those heights. To her credit, Nancy, his eldest child, did achieve a fair amount of fame with some unforgettable songs.

She came into the limelight in 1966 with the number, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” the disc of which sold more than a million copies, earned her two Grammy nominations and became popular for what enthusiasts called its iconic ‘Swinging ‘60s Look’.

Nancy’s best years were from 1966-68 when 10 of her songs were in the top 40 of US Billboard’s Hot 100. She acted in films such as “Speedway” with Elvis Presley and “Marriage On The Rocks” with Frank Sinatra in the roles of father and daughter. She was also sought after on TV.

In mid-‘70s, she slowed down on music and gave up acting to concentrate on looking after her family. There were some releases though including “Kinky Love” in 1976 which had controversial lines and was banned on radio till she revived it in 1998. A big recognition came in 2006 when she was honoured with a star on Hollywood’s Hall Of Fame.

Before I come to her outstanding numbers, those familiar with her would have heard other popular ones such as “How Does That Grab You Darlin’”, “Bang Bang” and “Sugar Town”. She also did many duets with her songwriter Lee Hazlewood including “Jackson”, “Did You Ever” and “Some Velvet Morning”. 

Now, to my ‘four fab’ which I consider as good as any by more famous and prolific singers. We start with her first hit I mentioned earlier, “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”, which topped both the US and British charts and in many other countries. Songwriter Hazlewood was inspired by a line that Frank Sinatra used in a movie and Frank suggested to Hazlewood to give the vocals to Nancy. The lyrics are about a girl who feels that her lover is taking her for granted and is fooling around with others. She warns him that ‘these boots are made for walkin’, and that’s just what they’ll do. One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you’. Towards the end of the song, that day has arrived and the girl asks the boots to start walkin’ accompanied by simulated sounds of boots stomping presumably all over her cheating lover! 

After considering many established artistes like Frank Sinatra and Shirley Bassey, the famed composer John Barry, on Frank’s suggestion, decided to give the theme song of the Bond film “You Only Live Twice” to Nancy. She sang it brilliantly guided by Barry and accompanied by his superb orchestra. Many critics rate it in the top three of Bond themes and that’s an achievement Nancy can justly be proud of. I personally consider it as perhaps second only to Louis Armstrong’s “We Have All The Time In The World” from “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” revived recently in “No Time To Die’. 

Nancy did a lot of duets with Hazlewood the most popular of which is “Summer Wine”. The two singers combine beautifully in the role of the girl eyeing the silver spurs of the man and tempting him to drink more and more of her ‘Summer Wine’ while he gets drunk and awakens hungover to find his spurs and money gone but still craving for more wine! A delightful song.

And finally, a Frank and Nancy duet , “Somethin’ Stupid” which was a major international hit including the top in US, UK, Australia, South Africa and many European countries. It invited some silly criticism of incest as a father and his daughter were singing a love song but the beautiful rendition made listeners dismiss any foul thought and just enjoy the music. The lyrics are touching with the singer trying to think of something clever to say but ends up ‘’And then I go and spoil it all by saying something stupid like ‘I Love You’” and repeating ‘I love you’ over and over again.

Not as high as her father, but Nancy was tall enough.