Customer Reviews

Hit Years

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

It's hard to believe this former sex-kitten turned sixty this year. For two years (1966-1968) Nancy Sinatra placed ten songs in the Top 40 and they're all here. This is a chronological collection beginning with her first Hot 100 single "So Long, Babe" (1965) to her last failed single "Hook and Ladder" (1970) written by Norman "Spirit in the Sky" Greenbaum. There are the solo hits like the million-sellers "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "Sugar Town." The duet with daddy Frank, "Somethin' Stupid," which also sold a million copies and topped the charts for four weeks. [And keep in mind this was 1967--the height of the psychedelic era!] Also included are her three hits with Lee Hazelwood, who also wrote all of her hits except "Somethin' Stupid."

It's easy to shrug off Nancy's success as little more than a result of her show biz connections, but it takes more than a famous father and a pretty face. She had a terrific voice, a great songwriter in Hazelwood, and some of the best session players of the day--Glen Campbell, James Burton, Hal Blaine, Jim Gordon, Larry Knechtel, Leon Russell. It was a winning combination, and these songs still brim with enthusiasm and excitement more than thirty years later. RECOMMENDED

This disc demonstrates Nancy Sinatra's facility with many types of music. "Boots," "How Does that Grab You" and "Jackson" are country-rock. For a softer, atmospheric sound there's "Some Velvet Morning," "Sugar Town" and "Summer Wine." Although the lyrics don't make much sense, somehow it doesn't matter. That's part of the charm. And "You Only Live Twice" is my favorite James Bond film theme, hands down. Nancy gets top notch assistance from Lee Hazelwood, Frank Sinatra, Billy Strange, and some famous session players, including Leon Russell, James Burton, Carol Kaye, Glen Campbell and Hal Blaine. My advice: buy this CD first. Then seek out original vinyl copies of her albums from the 60s. By the way, the notes say Nancy took several years off while her kids were growing up. Perhaps she'll find a new label and record again, now that interest in her vintage work is at a high point.

When my father was stationed in Japan in the late Sixties we joined him well before all of our belongings. With a new home and a new school in a new country, the only sense of place was Armed Forces radio. Every time "Some Velvet Morning" played I would feel better. To this day, listening to Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood sing that song takes me back to that time and how I felt. My father made tapes of all of Nancy's albums but they are long gone. Fortunately, "The Hit Years" makes them unnecessary. This is one of the better collections put together by the folks down at Rhino, who have been out there getting our more eclectic youthful memories transferred to CD for quite some time.

Basically all you need to know is that your favorite Nancy Sinatra song is on this album along with the rest of her hits and probably one or two songs that might be new to you but that you may well enjoy. "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," "The Last of the Secret Agents," "Sugar Town," and "You Only Live Twice," are included. In addition to "Some Velvet Morning" there are three other duets with Lee Hazelwood, "Summer Wine," "Jackson" and "Lady Bird." Of course, there is also "Somethin' Stupid," sung with daddy (in only two takes). The liner notes are above average, as you have come to expect with Rhino, and there is even the obligatory shot of Nancy in white go-go boots. I think these songs hold up a lot better than a lot of the other stuff I listened to back then in Japan, as does Nancy herself as we all found out a few years ago.

This album is so wonderful I can't say enough good things about it! Nancy has a beautiful, wistful voice that just draws you into the songs. The reason this is her ultimate CD rather than the new You Go-Go Girl one is that it includes her duets with Lee Hazlewood. These are so haunting (especially Some Velvet Morning) and beautiful that they add a whole new level to Nancy's music. Of course, her solo stuff is just as enjoyable. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' would be worth the price of the cd alone, but nearly every song on here is worth owning. The duet with Frank is so totally adorable. Nancy is the best . . . I'd love to hear some new recordings *hint hint*!

The list of songs speaks for itself. Sound quality is excellent, these could have been recorded yesterday. The CD insert states the following:

"All tracks on this Compact Disc were taken from first generation master tapes. Whenever stereo masters were unavailable, tracks were remixed to digital from multi-track sources. "Tony Rome" and "The last of The Secret Agents" remain in mono, as no multi-track tapes exits."

Either Rhino made a mistake or they found the stereo tapes for "Last Of The Secret Agents" as it is in true stereo on the current version of this CD, which leaves only Tony Roma in mono.

"HIT YEARS" is a wonderful cd.All of NANCY`S BIG hits are included and some of her other hits. These boots are made for walkin` is a ground- breaking record,and NANCY follows the same path with How does that grab you darlin`? and her duets with Lee Hazlewood are just wonderful! Her hits like "100 Years", "Good time girl" and "Drummer man" are beautiful and though and sensative at the same time. "Hook and Ladder" is a nice song. One of my favorites indeed. It ought to have been a hit for sure. I recommend everyone to buy this cd. If you don`t know Nancy well,this cd is the right one! Kristian Grimeland

Since you never hear her music on the radio anymore, except for "Boots", this is a great opportunity to again hear Nancy's hits, and her duets with Lee. I actually got tears in my eyes after hearing the magnificently beautiful "Some Velvet Morning" for the first time in 30 years.

I remember as a kid, back about 1970, I had an album called "Nancy's Greatest Hits". It was definitely my favorite album at the time. Back in 1986, when I was walking around in a record store (that just had a small section of CD's), I saw this pink CD cover and Nancy's picture (being the same picture that was on my vinyl album) of Nancy Sinatra: The Hit Years, my heart was just throbbing with excitement! When I saw the line-up of my favorite songs, plus about 9 other songs I didn't know, I was just blown away.

Of course, "Theses Boots Are Made for Walkin'", "How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?", "Somethin' Stupid", and "Sugar Town", had to be on a best of Nancy Sinatra collection, without a doubt. But, some of my personal favorite's that weren't exactly well known hits, are really what I got the most excited about.

My favorite songs are still "Friday's Child", "Lightning's Girl", "Summer Wine", and "Some Velvet Morning". These four songs alone would have me buying this CD even if it costed a hundred dollars or more!

Some of my later determined favorites (that weren't on the original album of "Nancy's Greatest Hits") are "So Long, Babe", "100 Years", "Good Time Girl", and "Hook and Ladder".

All the songs from my album of "Nancy's Greatest Hits" are on this Rhino collection except one. Nancy's duet with Dean Martin called "Things" is not here. The one song that IS on this CD that I would rather not have is "The Last of the Secret Agents". Nancy has some borderline cheesy songs, but that James Bond satire has crossed the line. It's kinda dumb. There were two recorded versions of "You Only Live Twice", the one on this CD is from the original movie soundtrack. My vinyl album version was a secondary version that was the actual 45 RPM version that played on the radio.

Well, I've had this CD now for 20 years. The very same CD and it still looks new and still sounds as fresh as ever. I've probably replaced the jewel box a few times, but the CD still doesn't even have a scratch.

It's funny how many of my favorite CD's are over 20 years old now. And since then, Rhino Records has contributed a lot to my CD collection.

OK, this is the first album I got of Nancy Sinatra, a full five years before Sundazed reissued her original studio albums. The songs are in chronological order of release, from "So Long, Babe" in October 1965 to "Hook And Ladder" in December 1970. All feature her sweet, girlish, and sultry

Here are some highlights from this collection.

From that lazy sing-song bass intro, "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'" is her breakthrough song. Nancy has clearly had it with the loser in this song: "You keep lying when you oughta be truthing", "you keep saming when you oughta be changing." And that one line where she shows how tough she can be: "You keep thinking that you'll never get burned. Ha!/I just found brand box of matches, yeah/and what he knows you ain't got time to learn"

The spoof of a James Bond-type secret agent, "The Last Of The Secret agents" is funny. This guy is so bad, "He came in third in a two-horse race." "He got his degree from Disneyland," "He's an underwhelming kind of sleuth/He thinks James Bond's some kind of suit." But Nancy still loves the guy.

The version of "Friday's Child" is the one taken from Movin' With Nancy, not the original from Nancy In London. It's a sad song about someone for whom life hasn't exactly been rosy. "Friday's child/Hard luck is her brother, Friday's child/her sister's misery, Friday's child/her daddy they call hard times." And in the end, "Friday's child/they'll forget to bury/Friday's child am I."

"Sugar Town" the title song from the Sugar album details her idea of paradise. Here's her formula to dealing with problems: "I got some troubles but they won't last/I'm gonna lay down right here in the grass/and pretty soon my troubles will pass/cause I'm in Su-Su-Su, Sugartown."

"Summer Wine" is one of four duets with Lee Hazlewood included here, the other three being "Jackson", "Lady Bird", and "Some Velvet Morning." "Strawberries, cherries, and an angels kissing spring/My summer wine is really made from all these things." Fine, I'll have a double, then. Lee sings the verses, she does the chorus. The orchestra sounds like a score from some western.

The dreamy orchestral ballad "You Only Live Twice" is the song from the James Bond movie, in which you live "one life for yourself, one for your dreams." In the end, one dream appears and love is it's name." but that love is mysterious stranger. Think of that stranger, and it goes away. That's the theme of the song.

There are two songs not on any album--"Lady Bird" and "Hook And Ladder" at least none other I've noticed. The first, a Lee Hazlewood duet, tells of a crisscrossed couple, the man on the ground, the woman flying high on her eagle, where she "kissed the sky and touched the moon/but he left me much too soon, his lady bird." At the end of the song, Nancy laughs when Lee says, "You're too much, you little bird." Her cover of Norman Greenbaum's "Hook And Ladder" is a light acoustic guitar and accordion affair. The folky rhythm reminds me a bit of Mungo Jerry's "In The Summertime."

The lengthy liner notes detail her recording career from single to single. So this disc is the required text for Nancy Sinatra 101.

Contains many of the favorites by Nancy, including her chart topping hits, and some that should have made it but didn't. The best of the best, and then some. Excellent for any true fan, or new fan, as she keeps on walkin'