Description
The word ‘icon’ is overused, but, in the case of Nancy Sinatra, it’s perfectly acceptable. She scored her first hit in 1966, with the Lee Hazlewood-penned, girl-power-meets-kinky-domination anthem, ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’, which went to number one on both sides of the Atlantic. Thanks to its twangy, descending bass riff, it has arguably one of the greatest and most recognisable intros in pop.
This new, 23-track retrospective compilation album, proves she was so much more than just a pair of boots and a novelty song. Included are a selection of her solo recordings, as well as some of her legendary and seminal duets with moustachioed maverick and psychedelic cowboy Hazlewood, such as the dramatic and lushly orchestrated country pop of ‘Summer Wine’ and the magnificent and mysterious ‘Some Velvet Morning’. In 2013, UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph voted the latter the greatest duet of all time, calling it “one of the strangest, druggiest, most darkly sexual songs ever written.”
While it’s fair to say that most Sinatra devotees will already have the majority of songs, this collection is still a must-have, as it’s a comprehensive collection that’s very well packaged (and it comes with a great booklet, which has some previously unseen photos, authoritative liner notes written by author and music critic, Amanda Petrusich, and an insightful Q&A with Sinatra and archivist/reissue co-producer Hunter Lea.
