Nancy Sinatra - Movin' With Nancy (1967) plus Bonus Tracks

(U.S 1961 - Present)
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Nancy Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, is one of the most fluid superstars of the last fifty years. As a singer, movie starlet, multimedia trendsetter, proto-feminist muse, and fashionista, Sinatra has maintained an undeniable presence in contemporary culture. Through a series of mythic collaborations with Lee Hazlewood, Mel Tillis, Elvis Presley, Bobby Darin, Morrissey, and her famous father, she popularized the form of the male-female duet in American rock and roll. Her susurrating vocal style, sourced and echoed a hundred times over by the likes of Kim Gordon, Britta Phillips, and Lana Del Rey, divined the best elements of European chansons, jazz-blues, and confectionery standards with a loping, almost sardonic drawl that belies her New Jersey birthright. Heard in baroque masterpieces like “How Does that Grab You, Darlin’?” and “Summer Wine,” this vocal persona (whose apocryphal description as a “fourteen-year-old who screws truck drivers” is attributed to Hazlewood) caused the producer to refer to her by the affectionate moniker “Nasty.” Her bleached bouffant and leather boots introduced a particularly Californian “go-go” aesthetic from Europe, immortalized in the Movin’ with Nancy TV specials and her omnipresent classic “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.”
Nancy Sinatra’s career mirrors that of countless female artists who have come before and after her; namely, the fact that its prescience and influence have often been diminished (by both men and other women) because of her gender, and that its great successes are sometimes yoked unfairly to the men who surrounded her.

 Although it certainly can’t hurt when your father owns the record company, Nancy Sinatra wouldn’t have sold millions of records in the 1960s if she wasn’t putting out great pop music. In fact, had Sinatra not met songwriter/producer Lee Hazlewood, she might’ve been dropped, even by Reprise. Nepotism only goes so far (just ask her brother) and Sinatra’s early attempts at the pop charts went nowhere. Hazlewood had her sing in a lower key and tailored her material for a straight-talkin’ sassy “hip” image that was closely associated with go-go boots, eyeliner and miniskirts. Together they had a long string of chart-topping hit records, most sung by Nancy, but still some were duets they recorded together.

1967’s NBC TV special 'Movin’ With Nancy' was produced at the height of Sinatra’s career and featured guest appearances from her father, his pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., as well as an onscreen appearance by Hazlewood. Written by Tom Mankiewicz (who’d go on to the James Bond films and the Superman franchise of the 70s) and directed by Jack Haley Jr. (son of the “Tin Man” actor, one-time husband to Liza Minnelli and future producer of That’s Entertainment!), as far as variety specials went, Movin’ With Nancy was considered quite “different” for its time. For one thing, it’s not shot in a studio, but mostly outdoors, on various locations like a travelogue. The set pieces simply drift from one to the next and each is like a music video. Haley won an Emmy for his directing.

The show was sponsored in its entirety by the Royal Crown Cola company (“It’s the mad, mad, mad, mad cola!” as you will be reminded over and over and over again) and their commercials are in the video below, so we get to see Movin’ With Nancy exactly the way it aired on December 11, 1967. Of special note is the premiere of that classic oddball psych number “Some Velvet Morning,” which made about as much sense then as it does today. If that doesn’t send a special thrill up your leg, I don’t know what would. Also, at the very end of her bit with Sammy? That innocent peck on the cheek was apparently the very first (non-scripted) interracial kiss on network television. This proved to be controversial, but was done spontaneously as Davis was actually saying goodbye to Sinatra in that shot and leaving the set for another job. There wasn’t a second take [extract from dangerousminds]

Album Review
To anyone who likes the Lee Hazlewood stuff, this is another highly recommendable Nancy Sinatra album to put in your collection. Six of these songs are his… and the other six are the vast array of show tunes and weird covers for anyone who prefers those. So, in some ways, this is the all-encompassing Nancy Sinatra album!

Of course, the best song on this album is "Some Velvet Morning"… It was the best thing about Nancy & Lee as well! Grr… why must those record company bastards make us buy the same songs twice!! If you thought that was bad, here's another instance of "Jackson" making it the third time it popped up in unchanged form in her discography. They should have just written new songs. Man. Another one, "Friday's Child," appeared in Nancy in London, but this was an actual re-recording, and a massive improvement. Instead of the sloppy, and somewhat cheese ball original, this one has dark, brilliantly orchestrated strings and a really awesome electric guitar noodling throughout. So that's cool.
The two-minute "I Gotta Get Out of This Town" opens the album, and it's quite a spirited piece with Sinatra giving her great bad-girl vocal performance and punchy albeit typical '60s arrangements. It's nothing more than a fun song to hear. "See the Children" is a great Hazlewood ballad with a fine melody and wonderful sort of contemplative arrangements. It's nothing that'll move you to pieces, but it's endearing. "This Town" is also a fine composition of his, but I think the instrumentation should have been different… I do like the atmosphere, but it seemed much more reserved and smoother, and it would have been more effective if it was brassier.

The covers aren't quite as splendid as those Hazlewood originals, overall, but there are a number of minor gems in here. "Who Will Buy" is a rock 'n' roll interpretation of the song from the hit play Oliver!. It's a beautiful song, and the arrangements are done well… So the idea worked great. "What I'd Say" is a really bizarre cover of the Ray Charles song … so bizarre that I can't decide if I like or hate its sloppiness. That sax solo at the beginning is so hyper that it tries to beat out the general pace of the song! Making it weirder is that there is nothing about Nancy Sinatra's voice that would make one thing that it would suit the material …….. and it really doesn't. Give it credit for being fun, but in the end, I'm never going to want to listen to it again. Frank Sinatra comes in and sings "Younger Than Springtime" all by himself. …Er… whose album is this? And there's an OK though uninspired duet with Dean Martin, "Things." …Well, it doesn't annoy me at least.  [review by Don Ignacio]
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OK, so this is a trip down memory lane, for those of you who grew up in the 60's. Lots of fun even for those who weren't even around in the 60's and again, it was the 'cover' that caught my attention with this one. Like Cilla Black, Nancy Sinatra did some great record covers and probably sold the vinyl based on this alone.
This post consists of MP3s (320kps) ripped from my A+ vinyl and includes full album artwork and label scans. Also included are some bonus tracks, taken from singles that my parents bought back in the 60's which I remember playing as a young boy and probably attribute to my obsession with music throughout my life!  Firstly, Nancy's first big hit "These Boots Were Made For Walkin' " and it's flip side "The City Never Sleeps At Night" and her later hit single "Lightning's Girl" with it's B-Side "Until It's Time For You To Go". 
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Track Listing
01. I gotta get out of this town

02. Who will buy
03. Wait till you see him
04. Younger than springtime (frank sinatra)
05. Things (with Dean Martin)
06. Some velvet morning (with Lee Hazlewood)
07. See the little children
08. Up, up and away
09. Friday's child
10. Jackson (with Lee Hazlewood)
11. This town
12. What'd I say

Bonus Tracks

13. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' (A-Side Single)

14. The City Never Sleeps At Night (B-Side Single)

15. Lightning's Girl (A-Side Single)

16. Until It's Time For You To Go (B-Side Single)

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Nancy Sinatra (112Mb)  New Link 26/12/2023

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