Boots [Extra tracks, Import]

Now that "Boots" has been reissued on CD I am surprised to learn that in the later Sixties when my father went to the base tape club and made copies of all of Nancy Sinatra's albums on a reel-to-reel tape for me that he recorded Side 2 first. Of all of her albums this was the one I most wanted to get on CD because I have always remembered that tape (and this album) starting off with "In My Room." That particular song was not collected on any of the Nancy Sinatra hits collections (both of which are excellent), so it was the one song in her repertoire that I most wanted to get a hold of; and here it is track 6 instead of track 1. Just another cherished illusion of childhood going down the drain.

When you look over the songs on this album it is clear that for her debut album Nancy Sinatra was trying to cover a wide range of Sixties rock 'n' roll. She starts with the Rolling Stones' "As Tears Go By" and "Day Tripper" by the Beatles," and even manages to cover Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe" and toss in a little country & western with "Flowers on the Wall." The first of that particular quartet is the best, but her reputation ended up being made by a couple of the original songs on the album, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "So Long Babe." The four bonus tracks are certainly a plus (worth another half star or so for the rating), but I did not need them to convince me I wanted this album to listen to "In My Room"....down at the end of the hallway...

Of all the 60's female vocalists, Nancy Sinatra was surely the grooviest. Her vocal talents were at best average and her range limited but her unlikely partnership with maverick producer/ singer/songwriter Lee Hazelwood resulted in some of the strangest pop of the late 60s and has acheived cult status and respect from contemporary songsmiths like Nick Cave and Morrissey.

On this her debut, released in 1966, there is nothing approaching the genius of 'These Boots Are Made For Walking' which appears twice in both stereo and mono. As with all her 60s albums, the material is dominated by covers with a few Hazelwood originals.

Oddly, the album opens with a cover of Marianne Faithful's 'As Tears Go By', it starts out like a real downer until Hazelwood bravely or foolishly turns it into a lilting Bossa Nova. Where possible, and who could blame him, Hazelwood capitalises on the hit 'These Boots...'. On (The Beatles)'Day Tripper' for instance Hazelwood cheekily throws in the descending bass line of These Boots and (The Beatles)'Run For Your Life' sounds like it was composed for a cage of Go-Go dancers. The Castaway's (Beatlesque) 'Lies' features some cool brass work but Nancy sounds like she's struggling. She's much better on Hazelwood's Dylanesque 'So Long, Babe' and better still is her cover of Joaquin Prieto's dramatic ballad ('El Amor') 'In My Room'. Aided by some wonderful mournful Spanish trumpet, Nancy's vocal is strong and utterly compelling and is one of the album's true standouts.

The bonus tracks, all Hazelwood originals, includes the truly wretched 'Leave My Dog Alone'; 'In Our Time' which sounds like it might have been influenced by Sonny & Cher's 'The Beat Goes On' but is no where near as good and dares to rhyme 'Louvre' with 'Groove.'

There are, it's true, copious amounts of Nancy compilations on the market - most of which are stronger than the individual albums but as is the case you have to buy several of them to get everything you want. The Sundazed re-issues are affordable, include the original album covers and all include bonus tracks, pics and liner notes by the girl herself.