Nancy Sinatra

Nancy Sandra Sinatra[4] (born June 8, 1940)[5] is an American singer and actress. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra (née Barbato), and is widely known for her 1965 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".

Nancy Sinatra
1960s publicity photo of Sinatra
Born
Nancy Sandra Sinatra

(1940-06-08) June 8, 1940
Jersey City, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation
  • Singer
  • actress
Spouse(s)
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1960; div. 1965)​
  • Hugh Lambert
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1970; died 1985)​
Children2
Parent(s)
RelativesTina Sinatra (sister)
Frank Sinatra Jr. (brother)
Musical career
Genres
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1961–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitewww.nancysinatra.com

Other defining recordings include "Sugar Town", the 1967 number one "Somethin' Stupid" (a duet with her father), the title song from the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, several collaborations with Lee Hazlewood, such as "Jackson", "Summer Wine" and her cover of Cher's "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)". Nancy Sinatra began her career as a singer and actress in November 1957 with an appearance on her father's ABC-TV variety series, but initially achieved success only in Europe and Japan. In early 1966 she had a transatlantic number-one hit with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". She appeared on TV in high boots, and with colorfully dressed go-go dancers, creating a popular and enduring image of the Swinging Sixties.[6][7] The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, who wrote and produced most of her hits and sang with her on several duets, including "Some Velvet Morning". In 1966 and 1967, Sinatra charted with 13 titles, all of which featured Billy Strange as arranger and conductor.

Sinatra also had a brief acting career in the mid-1960s, including a co-starring role with Elvis Presley in the movie Speedway, and with Peter Fonda in The Wild Angels. In Marriage on the Rocks, Frank and Nancy Sinatra played a fictional father and daughter.

Early life
Sinatra family portrait, 1949, with Nancy at far left

Sinatra was born on June 8, 1940 in Jersey City, New Jersey. She is the eldest of the three children whom Frank Sinatra fathered by his first wife, Nancy Barbato (1917–2018). Both of her parents were of Italian ancestry.[8] When she was a toddler, the family moved to Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey. They later moved again to Toluca Lake, California for her father's Hollywood career. There, she spent many years in piano, dance and dramatic performance lessons, and underwent months of voice lessons.[9]

Recording career

1960s

In the late 1950s, Sinatra began to study music, dancing and voice at UCLA, but she dropped out after one year.[10] She made her professional debut on her father's 1960 television special The Frank Sinatra Timex Show: Welcome Home Elvis, which celebrated the return of Elvis Presley from Europe following his discharge from military service.[11] Nancy was sent to the airport on behalf of her father to welcome Presley when his plane landed. On the special, Sinatra and her father danced and sang a duet, "You Make Me Feel So Young/Old." That same year, she began a five-year marriage to Tommy Sands.[12]

Sinatra was signed to her father's label, Reprise Records, in 1961. Her first single, "Cuff Links and a Tie Clip," went largely unnoticed. However, subsequent singles charted in Europe and Japan. Without a hit in the U.S. by 1965, she was on the verge of being dropped by the label. Her singing career received a boost with the help of songwriter/producer/arranger Lee Hazlewood, who had been making records for ten years, notably with Duane Eddy.[11] Hazlewood's collaboration with Sinatra began when Frank Sinatra asked Lee to help boost his daughter's career. When recording These Boots are Made for Walkin', Hazelwood is said to have suggested to Nancy, "You can’t sing like Nancy Nice Lady anymore. You have to sing for the truckers." She later described him as "part Henry Higgins and part Sigmund Freud."[13]

Nancy Sinatra after her makeover, in 1971

Hazelwood had Sinatra sing in a lower key[14] and crafted songs for her. Bolstered by an image overhaul—including bleached-blond hair, frosted lips, heavy eye makeup and Carnaby Street fashions—Sinatra made her mark on the American (and British) music scene in early 1966 with "These Boots Are Made for Walkin',"[15] its title inspired by a line from Robert Aldrich's 1963 western comedy 4 for Texas, starring her father and Dean Martin. One of her many hits written by Hazlewood, it received three Grammy Award nominations, including two for Sinatra and one for arranger Billy Strange. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.[16] Sinatra appeared on TV in high boots and with colorfully dressed go-go dancers in the manner of the Swinging Sixties era.[6][7]

A run of chart singles followed, including the two 1966 top 10 hits "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" (U.S. No. 7) and "Sugar Town" (U.S. No. 5). "Sugar Town" became Sinatra's second million-seller.[16] The ballad "Somethin' Stupid"—a duet with her father—hit No. 1 in the U.S. and the U.K. in April 1967 and spent nine weeks at the top of Billboard's easy listening chart.[17] The pair became the only father-daughter duo to top the Hot 100, but DJs dubbed the track "the incest song" because it was sung as if by two lovers.[18] The record earned a Grammy Award nomination for Record of the Year and remains the only father-daughter duet to hit No. 1 in the U.S.; it became Sinatra's third million-selling disc.[16]

Other singles showing Sinatra's forthright delivery include "Friday’s Child" (U.S. No. 36, 1966) and the 1967 hits "Love Eyes" (U.S. No. 15) and "Lightning’s Girl" (U.S. No. 24). She rounded out 1967 with the raunchy but low-charting "Tony Rome" (U.S. No. 83)—the title track from the detective film Tony Rome starring her father—while her first solo single in 1968 was the more wistful "100 Years" (U.S. No. 69). In 1968, she recorded "Highway Song", written by Kenny Young and produced by Mickie Most, for the European markets. The song reached the top 20 in the U.K. and other European countries.

Nancy Sinatra in 1967

Sinatra enjoyed a parallel recording career cutting duets with the husky-voiced, country-and-western-inspired Hazlewood, starting with "Summer Wine" (originally the B-side of "Sugar Town"). Their biggest hit was a cover of the country song "Jackson". The single peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1967, when Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash also made the song their own.

In December, Sinatra and Hazlewood released the single "Some Velvet Morning" (U.S. No. 26), accompanied by a promo clip. The song is regarded as one of pop's more unusual singles; critic Cathi Unsworth wrote, "The puzzle of its lyrics and otherworldly beauty of its sound [offer] seemingly endless interpretations."[19] The British broadsheet The Daily Telegraph placed "Some Velvet Morning" atop its 2003 list of the Top 50 Best Duets Ever ("Somethin' Stupid" ranked No. 27.)[20] The song appeared on the duo's 1968 album Nancy & Lee, about which National Public Radio commented in 2017, "... its sly, sultry movements both are a gem of traditional '60s pop and an inversion of traditional conceptions of romance."[21]

In 1967, Sinatra recorded the theme song for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice. In the liner notes of the CD reissue of her 1966 album Nancy In London, Sinatra states that she was "scared to death" of recording the song, and asked the songwriters: "Are you sure you don't want Shirley Bassey?" There are two versions of the Bond theme. The first is the lushly orchestrated track featured during the opening and closing credits of the film. The second—and more guitar-heavy—version appeared on the double A-sided single with "Jackson", though the Bond theme stalled at No. 44 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100.[22] "Jackson"/"You Only Live Twice" was more successful in the U.K., reaching No.11 on the singles chart during a 19-week chart run (in the Top 50) that saw the single become the 70th-best-selling single of 1967 in the U.K.[23]

In 1966 and 1967, Sinatra traveled to Vietnam to perform for the U.S. troops.[11] Many soldiers adopted her song "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" as their anthem, as shown in Pierre Schoendoerffer's documentary The Anderson Platoon (1967) and reprised in a scene in Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). Sinatra recorded several antiwar songs, including "My Buddy", which was featured on her album Sugar, "Home", co-written by Mac Davis and "It's Such a Lonely Time of Year", which appeared on the 1968 LP The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas. In 1988, Sinatra recreated her Vietnam concert appearances on an episode of the television show China Beach. Sinatra still performs for charitable causes supporting Vietnam veterans, including Rolling Thunder Inc.

Films and television
Sinatra in her television special Movin' with Nancy

In 1963, Sinatra played a secretary in the Burke's Law episode "Who killed Wade Walker." She starred in three beach party films: For Those Who Think Young (1964), Get Yourself a College Girl (1964) and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966), and she sang in the latter film. She was also scheduled for the role that went to Linda Evans in Beach Blanket Bingo, but withdrew because the character is kidnapped in the film, a parallel too close to actual events as her brother Frank Sinatra Jr. was kidnapped in December 1963.[24]

In 1965, Sinatra appeared as a guest with Woody Allen on the game show Password.

Nancy Sinatra and singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood on The Hollywood Palace in 1968

In 1966, she appeared as herself in The Oscar, The Wild Angels and The Last of the Secret Agents, in which she sang the title song.

In 1968, Sinatra appeared in the Elvis Presley musical comedy Speedway, her final film.

Sinatra appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The Kraft Music Hall hosted by Sandler & Young, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, The Virginian and a 1967 Christmas-themed episode of The Dean Martin Show that featured the Sinatra and Martin families. She also appeared in her father's 1966 special A Man and His Music – Part II.[25]

In 1967, NBC aired Sinatra's own special, Movin' With Nancy. It featured Lee Hazlewood, her father and his Rat Pack pals Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., her brother Frank Sinatra Jr. and West Side Story dancer David Winters, who choreographed the show. Jack Haley Jr. directed and produced the special, for which he received an Emmy Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Music or Variety. During the special, Sinatra shared a kiss with Davis Jr, about which she has stated, "The kiss [was] one of the first interracial kisses seen on television and it caused some controversy then, and now. [But] contrary to some inaccurate online reports, the kiss was unplanned and spontaneous."[26] Winters was nominated for an Emmy in the Special Classification of Individual Achievements category for his choreography but lost to co-winners The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and The Jackie Gleason Show.[27] The special's success may have been a motivating factor for the development of the Emmy award for Outstanding Choreography, which was introduced the following year.[28] Movin' With Nancy was sponsored by RC Cola.[29]

1970s and 1980s

Sinatra remained with Reprise until 1970. In 1971, she signed with RCA Records, resulting in three albums: Nancy & Lee – Again (1971), Woman (1972) and a compilation of some of her Reprise recordings called This Is Nancy Sinatra (1973). In 1973, she released the non-LP single "Sugar Me" b/w "Ain't No Sunshine." "Sugar Me" was written by Lynsey De Paul and Barry Blue and, with other covers of works by early-'70s popular songwriters, resurfaced on the 1998 album How Does It Feel?.[30][31]

In the autumn of 1971, Sinatra and Hazlewood's duet "Did You Ever?" reached No. 2 in the U.K.[32] In 1972, they performed for a Swedish documentary, Nancy & Lee In Las Vegas, which chronicled their Las Vegas concerts at the Riviera Hotel and featured solo numbers and duets from concerts, behind-the-scenes footage and scenes of Sinatra's mother and her husband, Hugh Lambert.[33] The film did not appear until 1975.

By 1975, Sinatra was releasing singles on the Private Stock Records label, which are the most sought-after by collectors. Among the singles were "Kinky Love", "Annabell of Mobile", "It's for My Dad" and "Indian Summer" (with Hazlewood). "Kinky Love" was banned by some radio stations for its suggestive lyrics. It appeared on Sheet Music: A Collection of Her Favorite Love Songs in 1998, and Pale Saints covered the song in 1991.[34]

By the mid-1970s, Sinatra had slowed her musical activity and ceased acting to concentrate on her family. She returned to the studio in 1981 to record a country album with Mel Tillis called Mel & Nancy. Two of their songs made the Billboard country chart: "Texas Cowboy Night" (No. 23) and "Play Me or Trade Me" (No. 43).[35]

In 1985, Sinatra wrote the book Frank Sinatra, My Father.[36]

1990s–present

At 54, Sinatra posed for Playboy in the May 1995 issue and made appearances on TV shows to promote her album One More Time. The magazine appearance caused some controversy. On the talk-show circuit, she said that her father was proud of the photos. Sinatra told Jay Leno on a 1995 Tonight Show that her daughters gave their approval, but her mother said that she should ask her father before committing to the project. Sinatra claims that when she told her father what Playboy would be paying her, he said, "Double it."[37]

Taking her father's advice to own her masters, Sinatra owns or holds an interest in most of her material, including videos.[26]

In August 2002, Sinatra appeared live at the Edinburgh International Festival. The sold-out, one-off concert was filmed by the BBC and later aired on BBC Four.

In 2004, she collaborated with former Los Angeles neighbor Morrissey to record a version of his song "Let Me Kiss You", which was featured on her album Nancy Sinatra. The single—released the same day as Morrissey's version—charted at No. 46 in the U.K., providing Sinatra with her first hit in more than 30 years. The follow-up single, "Burnin' Down the Spark," failed to chart. The album featured Calexico, Sonic Youth, U2, Pulp's Jarvis Cocker, Steven Van Zandt, Jon Spencer and Pete Yorn, all of whom have cited Sinatra as an influence. Each artist crafted a song for Sinatra to sing on the album.[38]

Two years later, EMI released The Essential Nancy Sinatra—a U.K.-only greatest-hits compilation featuring the previously unreleased track "Machine Gun Kelly." The album was Sinatra's first to make the U.K. charts (No. 73) since 1971's Did You Ever? reached No. 31.[39]

Sinatra recorded "Another Gay Sunshine Day" for Another Gay Movie in 2006.[40]

Sinatra received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on May 11, 2006. In 2002, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs, California, Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.[41]

Sinatra appeared, as herself, on one of the final episodes ("Chasing It") of the HBO mob drama The Sopranos. Her brother Frank Jr. had previously appeared in the 2000 episode "The Happy Wanderer."

In 2007, Sinatra and Anoushka Shankar recorded a public-service announcement for Deejay Ra's Hip-Hop Literacy campaign, encouraging reading of music and film-related books and screenplays.[42]

In September 2009, Sinatra's digital-only album Cherry Smiles: The Rare Singles was released, featuring previously unreleased tracks and songs only available as singles.[43][44]

Sinatra hosts a weekly show called Nancy for Frank on the Sirius Satellite Radio channel Siriusly Sinatra, on which she shares insights about her late father.

In 2011, Sinatra provided vocals for the Black Devil Disco Club song "To Ardent" and the Lempo and Japwow single "Jack in Boots."

In August 2013, Sinatra joined alt-rock band Wilco on "Bang Bang" and "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" during a support set for the Bob Dylan-headlined Americanarama tour.

In December 2013, she released the digital-only album Shifting Gears, featuring 15 previously unreleased tracks, including a rendition of Neil Diamond's "Holly Holy." The orchestra tracks were recorded in the 1970s while Sinatra was touring with a 40-piece orchestra, and her vocal tracks were recorded within 10 years of the release of the collection.[45]

In May 2017, Sinatra's 1967 hit duet with Lee Hazlewood, "Summer Wine", was featured in retail apparel giant H&M's "The Summer Shop 2017" ad campaign.[46]

In October 2020, Sinatra and Light in the Attic Records announced plans to release the Nancy Sinatra Archival Series. The first release is to be a Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive 7" vinyl single featuring two Sinatra/Hazlewood duets, "Some Velvet Morning" and "Tired of Waiting for You." A new 23-track compilation, Start Walkin' 1965–1976, will follow in February 2021.[11] The first single, a remastered reissue of Nancy & Lee's 1976 Private Stock single "(L'été Indien) Indian Summer" was released as a digital exclusive on October 21, 2020. Some of Sinatra's past albums will be issued on CD for the first time, including her first record with Hazlewood, 1968's Nancy & Lee, and its follow-up, 1972's Nancy & Lee Again.[47]

Sinatra's online shop, Nancy's Bootique, launched on October 21, 2020, featuring CDs, vinyl, exclusive merchandise and signed items.

Family

Marriages:

Children (with Lambert):

  • Angela Jennifer "AJ" Lambert Paparozzi (whose godparents are James Darren and his second wife Evy Norlund)
  • Amanda Catherine Lambert Erlinger

Both women were left US$1 million from their grandfather Frank Sinatra's will, in a trust fund started in 1983.[49]

Discography
Main article: Nancy Sinatra discography

Filmography

Feature films

References
  1. "Nancy Sinatra". SputnikMusic. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  2. Rosen, Judy (September 26, 2004). "Nancy Sinatra, Rock Goddess". The New York Times. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  3. Sullivan, Jim (June 8, 1995). "NANCY SINATRA: WALKIN' AGAIN". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  4. McKay, Mary-Jayne (February 25, 2005). "Nancy Sinatra Walking Back To Fame". CBS News. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  5. Stutz, Colin (March 16, 2016). "Frank Sinatra Jr. Dies at 72". Billboard. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  6. Karen Lynn Smith (2010). Popular Dance: From Ballroom to Hip-Hop. Infobase Publishing. p. 100. ISBN 9781438134765.
  7. Spencer Leigh (September 25, 2015). Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life. McNidder and Grace Limited. p. 372. ISBN 9780857160881.
  8. Fox, Margalit (July 14, 2018). "Nancy Barbato Sinatra, 101, an Idol's First Wife and Lasting Confidante, Dies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
  9. "Nancy Sinatra". Biography. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
  10. "Nancy Sinatra: 'It still hurts to hear his voice'". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  11. Barlow, Eve. "Nancy Sinatra: 'I'll never forgive Trump voters. I hope the anger doesn't kill me". The Guardian. Retrieved January 29, 2021.
  12. Sinatra: Behind the Legend
  13. Elemental and enigmatic — the mystery of Some Velvet Morning
  14. "Nancy Sinatra: 'It still hurts to hear his voice'". Telegraph. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
  15. Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 44 – Revolt of the Fat Angel: Some samples of the Los Angeles sound. [Part 4]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries.
  16. Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 212–213 & 229–230. ISBN 978-0-214-20512-5.
  18. Rewinding the Charts: In 1967, Frank & Nancy Sinatra Shared a No. 1
  19. Unsworth, Cathi (January 31, 2017). "Elemental and enigmatic — the mystery of Some Velvet Morning". Financial Times. Retrieved October 13, 2020.
  20. "Duet". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  21. Shocking Omissions: Nancy Sinatra And Lee Hazlewood's Charismatic 'Nancy & Lee'
  22. 007 on Hot 100: See James Bond Songs From Lowest to Highest Charting
  23. "Pop Music Charts – Every Week Of The Sixties". Sixties City. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  24. p.231 McGee, Mark Thomas Faster and Furiouser: The Revised and Fattened Fable of American International Pictures McFarland, 1996
  25. "Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music Part II – With Special Guest Nancy Sinatra". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  26. Kugel, Allison (April 28, 2011). "Nancy Sinatra: The Promise She Made Her Father, Praising Mia Farrow & Embracing Social Media". PR.com. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  27. "Primetime Emmy Awards". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  28. Awards for David Winters at IMDb
  29. ""Movin' With Nancy" (Sinatra)". David Krell. March 4, 2013. Retrieved March 14, 2016.
  30. "How Does It Feel - Nancy Sinatra - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  31. "Nancy Sinatra - How Does It Feel?". Discogs. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  32. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 503. ISBN 978-1-904994-10-7.
  33. "Nancy & Lee In Las Vegas". IMDb.com. Retrieved September 4, 2011.
  34. "Pale Saints – Kinky Love (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. June 24, 1991. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  35. "Nancy Sinatra". Billboard. Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  36. Rees, Jasper (July 8, 2015). "Sinatras on Sinatra: 'He was a lonely soul'". The Arts Desk. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  37. Riedel, Michael (April 11, 1995). "Nancy Sinatra poses in boots only to kick off a comeback". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  38. Rosen, Jody (September 28, 2004). "Nancy Sinatra's indie-rock comeback". The New York Times. Retrieved March 17, 2017.
  39. Peter Viney's Nancy Sinatra blog: https://peterviney.wordpress.com/peter-viney-music-rock-the-band-record-cover/nancy-sinatra/
  40. "Another Gay Movie (2006) : Soundtracks". IMDb.com. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  41. "Palm Springs Walk of Stars by date dedicated" (PDF). Palmspringswalkofstars.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 13, 2012. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  42. "Maestros' daughters to promote books on their fathers" (PDF). The Indian Express. October 5, 2007. Retrieved January 27, 2020.
  43. "Cherry Smiles | The Official Site of Nancy Sinatra". nancysinatra.com. Retrieved September 29, 2017.
  44. "Nancy Sinatra - Cherry Smiles - The Rare Singles". Discogs. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  45. "Song stream: Nancy Sinatra's 'Holly Holy'". usatoday.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  46. "H&M The Summer Shop 2017". youtube.com. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  47. "Nancy Joins Light In The Attic". SinatraFamily.com. Retrieved November 1, 2020.
  48. "Dancer Hugh Lambert, 55, Husband of Nancy Sinatra". Chicago Tribune. United Press International. August 22, 1985.
  49. "Sinatra's Will Leaves $3.5 Million to Widow". Los Angeles Times. April 11, 2010. Retrieved August 19, 2015.
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