Retro Reviews: Nancy Sinatra: Boots

     I decided to launch a new series to imagine myself as a critic at the end of the 60s and start of the 70s, and to rectify certain reviews from Rolling Stone magazine and Creem. This not meant to be contrarian, but to offer a more balanced perspective. This is a lesser-known album.

Nancy Sinatra – Boots (1966)

****

Producer: Lee Hazelwood

Musicians: Nancy Sinatra, Nick Bonney, Al Casey, Jerry Cole, Louis Morrell, Billy Strange, Tommy Tedesco, Carol Kaye, Don Randi, Hal Blane, Jim Gordon, Eddie Brackett, Frank Capp, Emil Richards, Plas Johnson, Richard Perissi, Don Bagley, Chuck Berghofer, Roy Caton, Lew McCreary, Ollie Mitchell

Songs: As Tears Go By, Day Tripper, I Move Around, It Ain’t Me Babe, These Boots Were Made For Walking, In My Room, Lies, So Long Babe, Flowers On The Wall, If He’d Love Me, Run For Your Life

Reviewed By Matthew Anthony Allair

    Frank’s Daughter, Nancy Sinatra has debuted as a singer, after several attempts that were never released. She manages to exude confidence, a sense of fun, and has managed to navigate in an area that has high expectations considering whom her father is. Two things have really helped launch this effort, musician and song writer Lee Hazelwood helmed the project as producer, and arranger and conductor Billy Strange has helped her to find a middle ground between finding a pop sound that isn’t abrasive and should appeal to fans of Frank’s work. I can’t really assess her range, she has examples of vibrato on a few tracks, her vocals are mostly plaintive and direct, but I suspect this is tactical on their part. She tackles covers of some big acts, such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan to good effect, as well as Lee Hazelwood originals.

    She opens with a jazz infused cover of “As Tears Go By” shifting away from the original acoustic presentation, settling into a bossa nova tempo. She manages to offer an interesting take on “Day Tripper”, a swinging rocker with a wink. These choices may have been to set the tone that she was contemporary figure, but with a dose of sensitivity and sass. Lee’s “I Move Around” has a good sense of popular dynamics, Her cover of Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe” has a pop jazz accent, and not bad. One of the Dylan songs that is of the biggest draws for other singers. The single “These Boots Are Made For Walking”, written by Lee, is a clever turn around that could empower women, with it’s clever descending bass, and it’s playful horn accents. The Dynamic “In My Room” with its Spanish narrative closes the first half. 

    “Lies” is a jaunty little number that opens the second half, the horns play up the attitude. The other single “So Long, Babe” was written by Hazelwood sounds a little Dylan flavored with its strings and 12 string guitar at moments, with a little freedom on the drums. I believe The Sattler brothers have already recorded “Flowers On The Wall” has some good guitar and horn trades, she does a good read on the number. The other string-based ballad “If He’d Love Me” demonstrates that Nancy can have some real range. I have had a problem with The Beatles “Run For Your Life” and as much as I understand the idiom of the blues tradition of betrayal and revenge tales, lyrically the Misogyny of the song feels odd at this time. Which is why it’s interesting how Nancy has turned the table for women – it cuts both ways as far as jealousy. It makes for a fine album closer.

    As far as how the album differs from her father’s sound, there’s a certain room tone to the drum and rhythm tracks, there’s a brashness to the grooves and the horns merely act as texture. They have managed a certain swagger to the material, Nancy sounds confident, and charismatic, and as much as she’s an outwardly attractive lady, she sounds self-aware and playful with her read as a vocalist, she forging ahead with a sensibility that is her own and I will be curious to see where this goes next. 

This is a fairly illustrious debut and Nancy and Hazelwood's chemistry is undeniable.