The Princess Of Beat Music: Nancy Sinatra

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During its heyday the beat, this impalpable musical genre (and costume), positioned in between the unconscious protest and the commercial popularity, has seen many kings and princes. Much less were the queens and the princesses of the beat, the female singers who arrived at an undisputed worldwide fame. Perhaps only three have reached this status: Cher (in tandem with her ​​husband Sonny Bono, and later alone), Marianne Faithfull and, lastly, Nancy Sinatra. Of course, other names may come to mind (Sandie Shaw, Sylvie Vartan, Françoise Hardy) but are less authentically beat, and markedly more pop. Among the Italian singers Patty Pravo was definitely a beat icon, but starting from her worldwide hit La bambola (The doll) she was essentially a pop singer, while her rival Caterina Caselli (the first "Piper girl") remained for a longer time a pure beat singer, but she was essentially an Italian phenomenon.

The young daughter of the great singer and actor of Italian descent is, among the three, perhaps the most near to embody the carefree and aggressive sides of the beat, with his songs of immediate impact (starting with his unforgettable worldwide hit These Boots Are Made For Walkin') thanks to the valuable collaborator and "tutor" Lee Hazlewood, and with her ​​image sexy and sporty, typically Californian, echoing the "endless summer" of the surf and the Beach Boys.
In the images on the pictue sleeves of her singles she appeared frequently in bikini and mini skirt, and boots, obviously, sending so a clear message: this world belongs to young people. Unfortunately the music business has convinced her to register a duet with her famous father ("Something Stupid") that could slide her dangerously, in the heart of young people, towards a music "for adults only". But many years after the director Quentin Tarantino has remembered her for the soundtrack of his film Kill Bill, and her interpretation in  "low-key" of the classic between the classics of the beat: Bang Bang of her rival Cher. And Nancy performed and recorded also, in her golden years, the great success of Marianne Faithfull: As Tears Go By.

Another intersection involved the singer with psychedelic and progressive rock. For many (especially in Italy), the discovery and the falling in love with this new genre, at the dawn of the '70s, it happened with a  formidable piece of Vanilla Fudge, Some Velvet Morning, presented at a song festival in Venice, but very few among the spectators knew at that time that it was a cover of a single of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, even not so far, musically. It's obvious that the Vanilla Fudge group appreciated very much the nice Nancy.

Another thing in common of the three princesses of beat: resilience. Cher was back starting from the '80s as Hollywood diva (reaching up to win an Oscar) and as testimonial of the miracles of cosmetic surgery, Marianne Faithfull, rock singer-songwriter between very much appreciated starting from with the album Broken English of 1979 and her following, as well as Nancy, aside from its famous nude appearance in Playboy in 1995, has not lost his pace, and in 2004 she returned to the scene with a disc, which bears his name, where Bono (not Sonny, the one from U2) sings songs with her, as Joe Cocker, Morrissey, Calexico and other famous musicians definitely post-beat, with good results, although some critics have not failed to express ritual critics, inevitable in any comeback.

 

Images selection

 

In the picture sleeve of "The Last Of The Secret Agents?" Nancy quotes artfully the "Bond girls" (Claudine Auger, Ursula Andress, Luciana Paluzzi)

In the picture sleeve of "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" wearing the inevitable boots, a sweater, and stop ...

USA edition of "In Our Time", a typical beat piece.

The Italian edition of "In Our Time" and Sugar Town, with a definitely glamour image. The detail of the pants down is the maximum.

The German edition for Sugar Town (B side here of  Summer Wine, one of the best songs written by Lee Hazlewood), much more traditional.

The international edition of the worldwide success of Nancy. In the Italian edition the B side was "As Tears Go By" by Marianne Faithfull.

Promotional image taken from a TV show

The classic promotional image "Californian style

Another promotional image with the inevitable boots

 

Discography

 

The discs of the sixties of Nancy Sinatra were mainly 45 rpm singles and afterwards 33 rpm LPs. The combination of side A - B side often was varied in subsequent reprints and for different countries and markets. In the following are listed only the original 45 rpm released in the U.S. in the 60s (according to the UK very complete fan site, to which we refer for the complete discography).

 

Reprise R-20017 Cuff Links And A Tie Clip/Not Just Your Friend - 1961
Reprise R-20045 To Know Him Is To Love Him/Like I Do - 1962
Reprise R-20097 June, July And August/Think Of Me - 1962
Reprise R-20127 You Can Have Any Boy/Tonight You Belong To Me - 1962
Reprise R-20144 I See The Moon/Put Your Head On My Shoulder - 1963
Reprise R-20188 The Cruel War/One Way - 1963
Reprise R-0238 Thanks To You/Tammy - 1963
Reprise R-0263 Where Do The Lonely Go?/Just Think About The Good Times - 1964
Reprise R-0292 This Love Of Mine/There Goes The Bride - 1964
Reprise R-0335 True Love/Answer To Everything - 1965
Reprise R-0407 So Long, Babe/If He'd Love Me - 1965
Reprise R-0432 These Boots Are Made For Walkin'/The City Never Sleeps At Night - 1965
Reprise R-0461 How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?/The Last Of The Secret Agents - 1966
Reprise R-0491 Friday's Child/Hutchinson Jail - 1966
Reprise R-0514 In Our Time/Leave My Dog Alone - 1966
Reprise R-0527 Sugar Town/Summer Wine (B-side by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1966
Reprise R-0559 Love Eyes/Coastin' - 1967
Reprise R-0561 Somethin' Stupid/Give Her Love (A-side by Nancy and Frank Sinatra: B-side by Frank Sinatra) - 1967
Reprise R-0561 Somethin' Stupid/I Will Wait For You (A-side by Nancy and Frank Sinatra: B-side by Frank Sinatra) - 1967
Reprise R-0595 You Only Live Twice/Jackson (B-side by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1967
Reprise R-0620 Lightning's Girl/Until It's Time For You To Go - 1967
Reprise R-0620 Lightning's Girl/Until It's Time For You To Go (Picture sleeve) - 1967
Reprise R-0629 Lady Bird/Sand (Reprise 0629 by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1967
Reprise R-0636 Tony Rome/This Town - 1967
Reprise R-0651 Some Velvet Morning/Oh, Lonesome Me (Reprise 0651 by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1967
Reprise R-0670 100 Years/See The Little Children - 1968
Reprise R-0701 These Boots Are Made For Walkin'/Love Eyes - 1968
Reprise R-0721 Sugar Town/Summer Wine - 1968
Reprise R-0726 Jackson/Summer Wine (Reprise 0726 by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1968
Reprise R-0729 Lightning's Girl/Some Velvet Morning (B-side by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1968
Reprise R-0756 Happy/Nice 'N' Easy - 1968
Reprise R-0789 Good Time Girl/Old Devil Moon - 1968
Reprise R-0790 Whatever Happened To Christmas?/I Wouldn't Trade Christmas (Reprise 0790 by Frank Sinatra and Family) - 1968
Reprise R-0813 God Knows I Love You/Just Bein' Plain Old Me - 1969
Reprise R-0821 Here We Go Again/Memories - 1969
Reprise R-0851 Drummer Man/Home - 1969
Reprise R-0869 Highway Song/Are You Growing Tired Of My Love? - 1969

 

Italian Discography

 

Reprise R-02011 June, July And August / Pensa A Me / Think Of Me (A-side Pensa A Me - performed by Nancy in Italian) - 1962
Reprise R-02060 These Boots Are Made For Walkin' / The City Never Sleeps At Night - 1966
Reprise R-02064 How Does That Grab You, Darlin? / I Move Around - 1966 (another success of Nancy in Italy)
Reprise R-02084 You Only Live Twice / Jackson (B-side by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1967
Reprise R-02098 Summer Wine / Tony Rome (A-side by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1967
Reprise R-02102 Lady Bird / Some Velvet Morning (by Nancy and Lee Hazlewood) - 1968
Reprise R-02104 100 Years / 'Vero Amore' (True Love - performed by Nancy in Italian) - 1968
Reprise R-02075 Sugar Town / In Our Time
Reprise R-02113 Things / Up, Up and Away (A-side with Nancy e Dean Martin) - 1968
Reprise R-02127 Drummer Man / Home - 1969

 

Videoclips

 

It's possible to view some more images taken from the video clips realized to promote These Boots Are Made For Walkin' and Bang Bang. Other interesting videos that can be viewed normally also on YouTube are Jackson, Some Velvet Morning, Sugar Town.

 

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