By Paul Freeman [2002 Interview]

When Nancy Sinatra released “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” in 1966, she walked right into the lasting role of pop icon.

She had already been recording for five years. But when “Boots” hit, with its feisty, strong, independent female stride, Sinatra became a sensation on radio and TV. Her other hits include “How Does That Grab You Darlin’,” “Sugar Town,” “Friday’s Child,” “Love Eyes,” “Lightning’s Girl” and “Some Velvet Morning,” a duet with Lee Hazelwood, who wrote and produced many of her popular tracks.

With her dad, Frank Sinatra, she hit the top of the charts with “Somethin’ Stupid.” She memorably sang “You Only Live Twice,” the title song from the James Bond film.

Nancy Sinatra acted in a number of movies. She appeared in the teen flicks “For Those Who Think Young,” “Get Yourself a College Girl,” “The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini” and “The Last of the Secret Agents.”

Her best remembered appearances came as Elvis Presley’s co-star in “Speedway” and opposite Peter Fonda in the Roger Corman cult classic “The Wild Angels.”

But it’s with her music that Sinatra made her enduring impact. We spoke with her upon the release of her impressive 2002 album, “California Girl.”

She returned with the terrific album “Nancy Sinatra” on Attack Records, featuring guest appearances by famous fans, including U2, Jarvis Cocker, Morrissey, Jon Spencer and Thurston Moore. In 2013, she released the digital-only covers album, “Shifting Gears.”

POP CULTURE CLASSICS:
I understand that 10 of the songs from “California Girl” were from a lost album?

NANCY SINATRA:
Never lost. Not really. Just hidden away. Because my contract ended at Reprise and I was in between labels. And the songs that had been recorded prior to the end of the contract had not reverted to me yet.

PCC:
When were they recorded?

SINATRA:
’69, ’70, ’71, somewhere in there. And then I switched over to RCA and my masters at Reprise, or what would become my masters, in terms of the “California” album, just stayed in storage until I guess seven years later, when Reprise had to turn everything over to me that had not come to me. And then I put everything into storage at that point, because I was busy having babies and raising a family. It’s a long, boring saga [laughs]. To cut to the chase, when the Disney California Adventure theme park opened, my daughter Amanda went there with her girlfriends and then came back saying, “Mom, you’ve got to do your ‘California’ songs there, because they play music in the park and they’re all about the state.” So my then manager, Hal Lifson, called the Disney record people and they liked the idea. So they put the album out. I, of course, had to go in and finish it, put the old songs, put some new ones, I think five new ones, and that’s what you hear. My sound man, Keith Barrows, who’s a great engineer, made it, well, most of it anyway, sound like a cohesive collection, which I thought was pretty good - 30 years apart - in terms of the vocals and all that and the differences in the recording. I think he did a really fine job.

PCC:
And Brian Wilson and Darlene Love were featured on the earlier tracks?

SINATRA:
No, Brian Wilson came in, the end of last year, I think last November or December, as we were finishing up the new tracks. And we put him on his song, “California Girls.”

PCC:
It must have been fun to have him participating.

SINATRA:
It was totally amazing. You have no idea. He put one voice on. He said, “Let’s double that.” And then, “Okay, let’s go to the next one.” And he put the next voice on and said, “Okay, let’s double that.” I think there are six of him on there and it was like singing with the Beach Boys. It was just a great, great feeling. He’s a lovely friend. He’s very dear. Today’s his birthday.

PCC:
And how was Darlene Love involved?

SINATRA:
Darlene was one of The Blossoms. The Blossoms are on one, maybe two of the songs, I’m not sure. I think they’re on “Hello L.A., Bye-Bye Birmingham.” We’re doing that in our shows now and the audiences really seem to like it.

PCC:
You’ve got a great band on your shows, including Clem Burke.

SINATRA:
He’s just the best rock drummer. He’s just amazing. But Blondie has a new CD coming out, so we’re losing Clem pretty soon.

“99 Miles,” which is my favorite on the album, audiences are going nuts for that song and something electric happens when the guitarist Derol Caraco solos on that. You can feel it in the air. They just go nuts. It’s really wonderful. He’s so good.

PCC:
And Don Randi on keyboards, you’ve worked with him a long time.

SINATRA:
We’ve been together for 30-some years. And he’s a steady thread on all the songs on the album. With the exception of “Cuando Calienta El Sol,” which only has bass and guitar, Don’s on every track.

PCC:
And you’ve got GIlby Clark from Guns ’n’ Roses.

SINATRA:
He’s so good. He really rocks the house.

PCC:
How did you hook up with him?

SINATRA:
Gilby works the Baked Potato, Don’s club. And that’s how I met Slash and all those guys. Don is like a magnet. Musicians gravitate towards him. So I met Gilby through Don.

PCC:
I imagine you must be quite a magnet yourself.

SINATRA:
Oh, thank you [laughs]

PCC:
You must get a lot of reaction, particularly from women, expressing how much your hits have meant to them.

SINATRA:
Women are really the greatest fans, believe it or not. The guys are great. But when a woman says something to me like how I’ve influenced her life, something like that, it really means a lot to me.

PCC:
You had that thing going where men wanted you and women wanted to be you, that’s a rare combination. Were you conscious of that balance?

SINATRA:
Well, at the time that it all started, I wasn’t really that aware of it. I was too busy working. In retrospect, yes, of course, I see that clearly. It’s all very humbling and sweet.

PCC:
That image that ended up defining you, that wasn’t really how you started out. You were more of the ingenue. Was it a conscious thing to establish that new image? Did you see that it would strike a responsive chord?

SINATRA:
I had good guidance. And I was fortunate enough to be given the perfect kind of material. It wasn’t like it had not been recorded before, because the duets with Lee had been recorded with Lee and Suzi Jane Hokom, but didn’t go anywhere. It was the chemistry between Lee and me is I think what did it. It was like a Beauty and the Beast thing. Also, someone pointed this out to me, we sort of tapped into the 60s drug culture, even though I was not involved in that.

PCC:
How so?

SINATRA:
“Sugar Town.” And “Some Velvet Morning,” the first line - “when I’m straight” - we sort of were embraced by people who were doing that sort of thing then.

PCC:
You seemed to reflect a lot of elements of that era - the fashion, the Mary Quant, Carnaby Street look.

SINATRA:
I brought those into this country early, early on, because I had hit records in England and Italy and Japan and Australia and Germany way before anything happened here. So the image that was happening in Europe, of the sweet little bubblegum girl, changed radically when we did “So Long Babe.” The fact that I had been to Europe, doing those TV shows and stuff, and I had been to Carnaby Street and all, the timing - I have to chalk a lot of it up to the timing, because if I hadn’t gone to Europe, I wouldn’t have known about that look. It certainly wasn’t happening here.

So I came home a different-looking person, because I also went to New York and got the hair streaks and all that. They streaked my hair, a guy called Kenneth, who is still very famous in New York, the hairdresser. He put the highlights in my hair, thanks to a woman named Amy Greene, who did the first makeovers. There’s a bit of trivia for you. She did the first makeovers in Glamour magazine. And she made me over, in the sense of my dark hair, took me to Kenneth who made the whole look of the hair for me and then when I came home, I had a blonde streaks, boots and mini-skirts [laughs]. It was a whole new me. And it just happened to work out with the success of “So Long Babe.” And then by the time “Boots” rolled around the following year, the look was already getting quite popular with all kinds of girls, different sizes and shapes. It just caught on immediately.

PCC:
Did you have a sense right away that “Boots” would be with you forever?

SINATRA:
Yeah, I knew that song was very valuable. I knew the minute I heard it. When Lee sang it for me with just his guitar, I knew it. I swear to God, I knew it. It’s just, some songs, you know. You just know right away that it’s going to stay there. I told them to release the track without a vocal, because I thought the track was just fantastic. The quarter-tone bass line is a classic.

PCC:
Is it true that the song was originally intended to be sung by a male vocalist?

SINATRA:
Lee sang it. He was singing it himself in local clubs and stuff around Texas and L.A. But it only had two verses. And when he played and sang it for me, I said, “Please, I’ve got to do that song! Do another verse and let’s record it.” It was critical, because what followed a very low chart record like “So Long Babe,” has to be important or you blow a very good chance. Because once you get their attention in radio, you have to really follow up with a great one-two punch and take advantage of that. And fortunately, “Boots” was that kind of song.

PCC:
And once you get that kind of massive popularity and attention suddenly, many artists aren’t ready to handle it. Did it make it easier for you, the fact that you had grown up in a show business atmosphere?

SINATRA:
I don’t think that really has much to do with it. Television was my means of communicating with my audience. Radio and television. So, for me, it was all the variety shows, as compared to going on one-nighters. Because, with one “Ed Sullivan Show,” you reach millions of people.

PCC:
You really were able to take advantage of the medium more than most artists of the day.

SINATRA:
I was very lucky. So to get back to your question - Was it difficult? No, it wasn’t. Because I got lucky.

PCC:
But it seems like it would also have a lot to do with being savvy, as well as lucky. Something like “Movin’ With Nancy,” [her 1967 TV special] you seemed to know where the music business was going.

SINATRA:
I don’t know that I thought that at the time. At the time, I just didn’t like the way of doing variety shows anymore. I thought they were all pretty static, having done so many of them. They were all formulaic and boring, kind of, and I just wanted to be different. And I loved documentary style. So that’s really how that came about. I just felt you could combine documentary style of film with music and make it work. I don’t think it was that original, well, it may have been original, but “The Monkees,” whoever produced that show had the same idea at about the same time, although I don’t think either one of us copied the other.

PCC:
What about the acting, was that something that you were equally interested in?

SINATRA:
No, I was intimidated by that. I hadn’t studied acting. I had studied classical piano for 12 years. I was prepared musically. I wasn’t prepared, in terms of the big screen. And I didn’t like what I saw. I might have improved, had I stayed in it, but I didn’t stay in it. And there you are. I was offered some films in Europe, one particular one, the script was beautiful, but I just had to make a choice about babies and stuff.

PCC:
How difficult was that for you to step away and concentrate on family for long periods?

SINATRA:
I did it for just a few years. I was able to take my kids with me, when I traveled, until school. They were born very close together, just 22 months apart. And so they were toddlers at the same time. And I was still not staying home all that much, but basically focusing on them more than anybody else… or anything else. And then my husband died in 1985. They were nine and 11 then. That’s when I made the big decision about being a full-time mom. And I’m glad I did.

You asked if it was difficult. Yeah, it was, in the sense that I knew I was giving something up. And I knew there would be a price to pay. And I just didn’t realize it would be so high a price, until I tried to get back into it. But when you take off that kind of time, people forget.

PCC:
Did it help at all having seen your dad’s career, with all the ebb and flow, yet still maintaining a lasting presence?

SINATRA:
Well, my dad was a real phenomenon. I don’t equate anything, really, with his, at any time, because his career wasn’t anything like mine. So completely different.

I guess I have the drive now. I feel as driven about it now as he did all of his life. That I would say. But for me, it may be too late now. I don’t know. Women… senior citizen women… or middle-aged women have a tough time trying to just get played on the radio.

PCC:
Did the Playboy magazine appearance help in that regard?

SINATRA:
It got people’s attention. And it made it possible for me to put out a new album in ’95, because it helped pay for that, pay for all the pressing cost and the booklet cost and all that - the printing.

PCC:
Your daughters, are they involved in music?

SINATRA:
Both of them sing. My one daughter has decided to sing professionally. A.J. Lambert. She has a band called Rocket and they have a CD out now called “Seven Miles High.” She sang with me on stage in New York.

PCC:
Do you try give her advice? Or try to avoid giving her advice?

SINATRA:
I try to avoid giving her advice… but sometimes I have to speak out. I try not to be a nag. And she’s also an excellent songwriter, which is something I never really tried. I tried it once - I wrote two songs in my bubblegum days. And I never wrote another one. I should have, because I think the writing is another way to express all the feelings. I just somehow ran out of time for all this stuff. It’s hard to keep up. But she’s very good. My other daughter, Amanda, is a wonderful artist and photographer

PCC:
Now when you’re performing, is it primarily a nostalgia crowd? Do you get a lot of young people, as well? I would think that you would.

SINATRA:
We get tons of young people. And that’s where the comments come in that I was talking about before, that when they come from the young women, they’re very, very meaningful to me, because it’s on more than one level. It’s not just being flattered, which is always nice, it’s good for the ego, but it’s important to know that somewhere down the line, this current generation’s grandchildren or great-granchildren, they’re still going to hear those records and there’s still going to be an influence there about being strong and not taking any… any… I want to say shit, but… taking any nonsense from anybody, standing up for your rights. And that’s real important to me. And I think that’s handed down from mother to daughter.

PCC:
And you must have opened the doors for lots of female rockers who came through with that sort of strong identification later.

SINATRA:
Well, I think it gave them an identity. And it gave them courage. I’ve been told that by several people. So yeah, it’s probably true.

PCC:
And in terms of your timeless appeal, I’m sure the Bond connection must help. There are so many fanatical 007 fans. And then there are the loyal Elvis fans.

SINATRA:
The Bond fans, many of them say that that’s the best theme that’s ever been written for a James Bond film. I tend to agree with that. I like that one and “Nobody Does It Better.” John Barry is brilliant. Leslie Bricusse is brilliant. How could you have a bad song with those two involved? You know? The fans, when they hear the intro to “You Only Live Twice,” start going crazy, because they know the music so well. I don’t have to sing a note. I sing those few opening notes and they know exactly what it is.

The Elvis fans, well, we try to do an Elvis song in the show, when we can. And this is the little irony you might kind of enjoy - I have always wanted to do “A Little Less Conversation.” We’ve had have it in our book, that we travel with, for several years. When it came to rehearsing for this show, three or four months ago, when we were first looking at what we were going to do, we pulled out “A Little Less Conversation,” so it’s in the show.

And suddenly, unbeknownst to me, it’s number one in England, Elvis’ record is number one again. I wrote to Billy Strange the other night, email. I said, “Do you think Elvis is talking to us or what?” [Laughs] You know Billy and Mac Davis wrote that song, when they were publishing for me. And “In The Ghetto” came during that time, all those great songs that Elvis did of Mac’s. And Billy said, “I think Elvis has been talking to us for a long time, watching over us.” So I just think it’s so funny, that of all the Elvis songs to pick - we also carry “Little Sister” around with us - but we picked “Little Less Conversation.” So now when we sing that, it has a whole different reaction from the audience.

PCC:
So at this point, you mention that the drive is really there now. What role does the performing play in your life?

SINATRA:
It’s very important, because I learn what the fans like. I learn what the audience wants, when I do the songs live. For example, from the “California” album, “99 Miles” is so powerful on stage that, if I’m able to pull out a single from the collection, I know now that the single would be “99 Miles.” If I could ever afford to do a video, I would do a video of “99 Miles.” That’s the kind of information that you get and process when you’re working live.

PCC:
What else are you working on now?

SINATRA:
There’s a book in the offing. It’s really a fashion picture book. That’s a big project. I don’t know when we’re going to get around to getting it done. There’s another album in the works. We’ve done a couple of songs for that. I’m going to work with Lee again… next year, I hope. We’re going to go into a studio, Lee and I, in July.

PCC:
With him producing? Or doing duets?

SINATRA:
Both. And he has some ideas. I have some ideas. And we’re going to cook that around. That’s workwise. Also my daughter A.J. is getting married, September 28th, down in Palm Springs, so we have a wedding in our future. That takes a lot of planning. And she lives in Hoboken, so the logistics are being worked out.

PCC:
So it sounds like there’s all kinds of excitement in your life at this point.

SINATRA:
Well, I’m very blessed. Yeah, there’s a lot going on all the time. And that’s important.

For news on Nancy Sinatra, visit www.nancysinatra.com.