Nancy Sinatra Became Famous Because Of This Song

Jun 24, 2019 by apost team

There is one song that took Nancy Sinatra out of her father Frank’s spotlight and rocketed her into her own. It was a seminal 1960’s pop classic with a distinct bass hook that spent some time at the top of the charts.

The song turns 52 this year and Nancy just turned 79. To celebrate her birthday, it’s time for a deep dive into the history of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”

The song was written by Lee Hazlewood, a music producer and writer whose songs were covered by singers from Elvis to Courtney Love. The Telegraph writes that Lee was brought on to Nancy’s song after working with her father Frank. He was also the one responsible for her go-go look of mini-skirts, raccoon eye makeup, and of course the signature boots.

The song was actually going to be recorded by Hazlewood himself, according to Stereogum but Nancy liked the bassline and convinced him to give her the song. She said, “I told him that coming from a guy it was harsh and abusive, but was perfect for a little girl to sing.” She was right and the song went straight to the Billboard Top 100’s top position when it was released in February 1966.

apost.com

The best form of flattery is imitation and that’s maybe why the song was recorded by other artists so many times. The Financial Times reports that Lil’ Kim, ex-Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, and Jessica Simpson had all covered the song.

These strong, independent female artists were probably looking for that female-empowerment that only this song’s lyrics could match. Lyrics like “You keep playing where you shouldn't be playing/And you keep thinking that you'll never get burnt/I just found me a brand new box of matches/And what he knows you ain't had time to learn.”

Nancy and Lee worked on another one of Nancy’s hits “Bang Bang,” which was made famous again by the 2003 movie “Kill Bill.” This was a re-imagining of the Cher hit, but this time slowed down and with Billy Strange’s guitar which he told Lost and Sound had a tremolo effect.

Nancy also gained fame with her songs “Somethin’ Stupid” and the theme song for the James Bond movie “You Only Live Twice.” But nothing took her to megastardom status like “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”

Watch Nancy perform the song in the video below:

Are you a Nancy Sinatra fan? Or do you prefer the crooner music that her dad sang? Let us know what you think in the comments.