Sinatra, Nancy - These Boots
By: Dominick A. Miserandino
After calling Ol' Blue Eyes 'Dad,' Nancy Sinatra needed to establish herself as her own artist separate from her legendary family, which she did with the
NS) Miserandino huh, that's a cool name.
DM) When it comes to the music industry, you've been one of the first female singers to start the "girl power" movement with songs like, "These Boots Are Made For Walking" and the such...
NS) I have a little note on that for you. The first "power women" were black. I think when it comes to me, you need to add the word, "White" in there. The black girls were doing it for a lot of years before I even picked up on it. They're the ones that deserve the credit. Ruth Brown, Laverne Baker, Darlene Love... these were powerhouse women and it's nice to be credited as an influence. I meet a lot of young artists and not so young artists who have mentioned me as an influence. You don't' realize as you live your life that you might actually be influencing somebody else's life.
DM) Did you get any flack at the time? It certainly wasn't traditional for a woman to sing songs like, "These Boots Are Made for Walking", and talking about breaking up with a man.
NS) I did, a little bit, but it was from the people who criticized Hillary Clinton who said she didn't want to stay home and bake cookies. It was the same kind of mentality. I don't criticize those women and I don't think they should criticize me. I guess as celebrities we're targets. and for silly reasons.
DM) Do you think timing was important when it came to your career? That is, if you launched in another time in history it might or might not have been as successful.
NS) Timing was important, very, very important. I remember when I toured, the press in Germany said that the song had to do with the Vietnam War. In Paris they said that it was because of the Subway Strike. Somebody always had a reason for the success of the song. The real success of the song, is two fold. One is the quartertone bass line in the beginning of it, and two, the actual song itself. When it comes to the lyrics, it's a simple song. I have received so much email from parents who say, "My daughter's singing her song in her program. Can you send us a copy of the lyrics?" or "My daughter wants a pair of go-go boots, where can I buy them?"
We have some compilation CDs that we make in the house. One is called, "Kids Stuff." It's got a really good collection of the songs that kids would love. The title of which would floor you like, "People won't you leave my dog alone. The songs were pretty absurd.
DM) You recorded them at home?
NS) No, we recorded them years ago and over the years and even including just last year, but I made the compilations here at home. Since I don't have a label to put these things out, I just make them here and send them out to friend. And if I ever get a label I wouldn't happily give them this entire catalog. I've got a huge body of work that people don't know much about.
DM) I would think that with your built in fan base, the record companies would still be expressing interest.
NS) It's hard to get the big labels with the big promotion money. Cher was the most recent one around my age who could make it work. Rod Stewart is another one, but in a sense, he sold out with the, "Great American Songbook." I've tried not to sell because in my case, the minute I do songs like that, I'd be criticized and up for grabs for copying my father. So I have to be very, very careful, more so then other rockers. I could easily, because nobody knows the songs as well as I, doing the rock and roll business. Phil Specter and I know them. That's about it. I don't know anybody else in the rock and roll record business who would know the verses to these old standards like we do. I'm not ready to go in that direction yet, because I'm still trying to do it this way. I guess it's like swimming upstream. I keep running into Brittney's and Christina's so I can't get anywhere. It's hard to even get the jobs in the small clubs.
DM) Is it then a curse or a blessing to follow in your father's name? That is, you have the name behind you but you do very different music.
NS) They tend to go the other way. They say, "The only good thing I ever did was to be born to Frank Sinatra.. and on one record, ‘Boots'". Those are the two things they all give me credit for, but reluctantly.
DM) Why is it they've given only a surface level reaction of your career?
NS) They don't care Dom, they don't listen. Why should they? I'm only Frank's kid. It's worse for my brother. Although he's coming into his own now, he's doing his father's music. That is wonderful for him, because somebody has to carry that on. But I've tried to keep the flame out there on the internet. We all do our part, but it's not my job to carry that popular big band sound forward, that's my brother's. It makes him happy, it makes me happy for him. As for me, my fans expect a certain type of music from me and it makes me happy to give it to them.
DM) Do you prefer new material when you go on tour?
NS) If I did all of the hits, I wouldn't' have time to do anything else. There were 22 chart records, and that would be a very long show as it is. I have to integrate new stuff or I don't grow musically, and I won't improve. I have to give a little variety. It just would be boring otherwise. Some of the hit songs are never a bore to me. Besides, we play them with a fresh feel now. If you're going to bring music to the people, which is really what we do when we go on the road, we certainly don't do it for the money. There's no money in it at all. We try to promote ourselves as an act. People constantly write, when are you coming back. A lot of people tried getting into The Bottom Line, so now they have another chance at BB Kings. I played one before and it was such a blast. The people were so great. People are so worried now... so we bring them a little present. It's not expensive to get in. I had a writing teacher who said, that... you have to be in it for the joy of the doing of the thing.
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