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Nancy Sinatra
Nancy & Lee
LITA 198
- LP available on Standard Black Wax plus Special Limited Color Editions (Sundown, Sundown Metallic Gold & Clear Wax; Psychedelic Sands Orange/Red Wax)
- First ever official reissue of Nancy & Lee’s classic 1968 duet album
- Definitive reissue with Nancy’s involvement
- Includes the bonus tracks “Tired Of Waiting for You” and “Love Is Strange” from the album sessions
- Newly remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin
- Vinyl pressed at RTI
- Q&A with Nancy & GRAMMY®-nominated reissue co-producer Hunter Lea
- Never-before-seen photos from Nancy Sinatra’s personal archive
- Beautifully packaged and expanded gatefold LP featuring a 20-page booklet
- CD housed in a digipak and featuring a 28-page booklet
- Cassette and 8-track also available
Description
Light in the Attic is thrilled to announce the first official reissue of Nancy & Lee, the highly-influential 1968 duet album from Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. This definitive edition of Nancy & Lee features newly-remastered audio by the GRAMMY®-nominated engineer John Baldwin and includes an array of exclusive content, including a new interview with Nancy, never-before-seen photos, and two bonus tracks from the album sessions: an ethereal cover of The Kinks’ “Tired of Waiting for You” and an uptempo version of “Love Is Strange” (first made famous by Mickey & Sylvia in 1956). This release marks the official debut on vinyl for both tracks.
Nancy & Lee can be found in a variety of formats, including vinyl, cassette tape, CD, 8-track, and digital. The vinyl LP, pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (RTI), is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and features the iconic, original cover photo by Ron Joy. Inside, a 20-page booklet offers an array of photos from the legendary singer, actress, and activist’s personal collection as well as an in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by the reissue’s GRAMMY®-nominated co-producer, Hunter Lea (also available in the CD package). In addition to the classic black vinyl pressing, a selection of colorful variants can be found exclusively at NancySinatra.com, LightInTheAttic.net, independent record stores, and select online retailers.
In celebration of the release, Nancy Sinatra and fellow musician and longtime friend Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew) visited Record Technology, Inc. (RTI) in Camarillo, CA to take a tour of the plant and get a sneak peek at the Bootique-exclusive pressing of Nancy and Lee. A short video piece documenting the day, including new interviews with Sinatra, Randi, and RTI plant manager Rick Hashimoto is available here.
MORE ABOUT NANCY & LEE
When Nancy–the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra–first met Lee Hazlewood in 1965, she was a demure, 25-year-old divorcée who was struggling to find her place as an artist amid the changing musical landscape. At the urging of her label, she was introduced to the Oklahoma-born songwriter, Lee Hazlewood, who had found success working with guitarist Duane Eddy. While Sinatra and Hazlewood hailed from vastly different worlds, they were about to embark on a partnership that would change the course of their lives. Just months after meeting, Sinatra scored her first No.1 hit with “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” Written and produced by Hazlewood, the song became Sinatra’s signature tune–transforming her into a confident and commanding feminist icon.
Initially, Hazlewood maintained a behind-the-scenes role with Sinatra, enlisting arranger and composer Billy Strange as well as other members of The Wrecking Crew (the famed Los Angeles session musicians) for the singer’s best-selling 1966 debut LP, Boots. But when they returned to the studio later that year for Sinatra’s sophomore effort, How Does That Grab You?, Hazlewood joined the singer for a duet of his song, “Sand.” Over the next year as Sinatra’s star rose, the artists continued to collaborate in the vocal booth finding success with “Summer Wine,” “Lady Bird,” and the cinematic “Some Velvet Morning” (all penned by Hazlewood). In 1967, just months after Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash scored a country hit with “Jackson,” Sinatra and Hazlewood released a pop version of the offbeat song, landing in the Top Ten across Europe and peaking at No.14 in the US.
Recalling her duets with Hazlewood, Sinatra laughs, “We used to call it beauty and the beast! Voices with no blend.” Indeed, no one could have predicted that these two contrasting voices (and personalities) would work together quite so well. Praising the duo’s “sonic alchemy,” Hunter Lea writes, “Rarely in music has there been such an unlikely collaboration: Nancy, the sassy and sweet songstress contrasted by Lee, the gruff, psychedelic cowboy. A harmonic partnership that defies conventional logic yet yields so much beauty.”
Before long, it seemed only natural for the artists to release an entire album together. In addition to compiling their recent duets (many of which appeared on Sinatra’s solo LPs), the duo recorded several new covers and Hazlewood originals. Billy Strange and The Wrecking Crew provided lush orchestral arrangements as the two artists performed a range of material including folk, pop, and country songs with a twist of psychedelia.
Throughout the album, a palpable chemistry can be heard between Sinatra and Hazlewood–from the frisky banter on “Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman” to the tongue-in-cheek delivery of “I’ve Been Down So Long (It Looks Up To Me).” But the artists also reveal their softer sides–particularly in the romantic balladry of “Sand.” Their languid rendition of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling,” meanwhile, is downright erotic despite the lyrics. But, as Sinatra asserts, her decades-long relationship with Hazlewood was always platonic. “We had sort of a love/hate relationship,” she explains. “Maybe it was a sexual tension because we never had any kind of affair. I don’t know exactly what it was, but it worked.”
That je ne sais quoi certainly did work. Upon its release in the spring of 1968, Nancy & Lee became a critical and commercial hit on both sides of the Atlantic, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard 200 and No. 17 in the UK. By 1970, the album was certified Gold by the RIAA. Over the decades, however, the appeal of Nancy & Lee has only grown, while the album has amassed an enduring cult status that few titles achieve. Multiple generations of artists including Sonic Youth, Lana Del Rey, and the Jesus & Mary Chain have cited Nancy & Lee as an influence.
In recent years, Nancy & Lee has also inspired a groundswell of recognition from such outlets as Rolling Stone, which ranked the pair at No. 9 on their 20 Greatest Duos of All Time list. Pitchfork included Nancy & Lee in their “Best Albums of the 1960s” roundup, hailing the record as “a document of a flawless collaboration.” The UK’s Far Out Magazine declared Nancy & Lee to be “a masterpiece that still ripples in the sonic waves today.” NPR, meanwhile, noted that “Sinatra and Hazlewood masterfully marry sunshiny orchestral elements with lyrics that dig at something darker about the human condition.” They went on to praise Sinatra’s work on Nancy & Lee as “some of the best that she’s ever recorded… it proved that she would hardly allow herself to be pigeonholed into one-hit-wonder territory. Here, she made it clear that she was capable of so much more.”
Today, Sinatra reflects fondly on her time with Hazlewood. “The most fun was when there were two mics in the studio, and Lee was on one and I was on one,” she recalls. When asked about the lasting appeal of Nancy & Lee, the artist credits much of its success to her partner. “Lee has a following that continues to this day. He’s beloved; people love him all over the world.”
Sinatra’s legacy, meanwhile, continues to grow, as new generations discover her impressive catalog (which boasts nearly 20 studio albums–her duets with Hazlewood among them–and dozens of charting singles, including the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice). In 2020, Sinatra was recognized by her peers when “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” was inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame. That same year, Sinatra partnered with Light in the Attic Records for Nancy Sinatra: Start Walkin’ 1965-1976, a definitive survey of her most prolific period. At the end of 2021, LITA reissued Sinatra’s classic debut, Boots, while the label will continue to celebrate Sinatra with a variety of special releases, exclusive merch, and more.
Artist Bio
Equal parts strong, sultry, and savvy, Nancy Sinatra has long been ahead of her time – both in her choices as an artist and as a businesswoman. Unapologetically, she established her own path early on and paved the way for decades of female artists to come, all while firmly maintaining control over her career, her image, and her music.
As the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra, Nancy was born into the spotlight. At 19, she made her professional debut in front of millions of Americans, appearing alongside her father and Elvis Presley on the television special Welcome Home Elvis. Not long after, she released a series of singles. But those demure recordings didn’t reflect the real Nancy Sinatra – that Nancy would be re-introduced to the world just a few years later, thanks to an unlikely musical partnership with songwriter and producer Lee Hazlewood. When the two artists had their initial meeting in 1964, Sinatra was newly-divorced and struggling to score a hit record amid the changing musical landscape. At the urging of her label, she met with Hazlewood – a 36-year-old songsmith from Oklahoma who had found success writing for guitarist Duane Eddy. Hazlewood auditioned material for Sinatra, including a song called “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” which he originally intended to record himself.
Sinatra, however, saw the song in a different light. Nancy “understood that a man brazenly chastising his partner for her misbehavior and threatening retribution… was too ugly and portentous for pop radio. When a woman performed the track – and Sinatra sang it with a kind of playful, admonishing growl – it became an empowerment anthem, promising dignity and control in the face of betrayal. There’s something nearly flirtatious in her delivery: you’re trouble, but I’m trouble, too. Somehow, she made ‘Boots’ radical.” With Hazlewood as producer, Sinatra went into the studio with Billy Strange and other members of the legendary Wrecking Crew to record the song – along with a handful of pop covers and originals – for her debut album, Boots. Gone was the prim brunette singer, and in her place was a confident, fashion-forward new star with a commanding contralto voice and eye-catching platinum hair. Released in 1966, Boots was a Top 5 album, thanks to its brazen title track. Sinatra scored a No.1 hit on both sides of the Atlantic with “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” which earned three GRAMMY® nominations and sold over a million copies of the single. As a testament to its enduring, multi-generational appeal, “Boots” has inspired countless covers throughout the decades, including those by Loretta Lynn, Kacey Musgraves, Billy Ray Cyrus, and Jessica Simpson.
While “Boots” became Sinatra’s signature song, she and Hazlewood were just at the beginning of their creative journey. Soon, they returned to the studio, notching two more Top Ten hits with “Sugar Town” and “How Does That Grab You, Darlin?”, and recorded their first of many duets, titled “Sand,” for Sinatra’s sophomore effort How Does That Grab You? (1966), which also featured a cover of the Sonny Bono-penned tune “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)” ─ a breakthrough hit for Cher earlier that year. Accompanied only by Billy Strange on guitar, Sinatra’s sparse rendition stood in stark contrast to Cher’s orchestrated arrangement. Decades later, the haunting recording gained a new legion of fans when it appeared in the opening credits of Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film, Kill Bill Volume 1. As Sinatra’s star continued to rise, she was tapped to perform the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. A rare honor, Sinatra traveled to London for the session, where she worked with film composer John Barry. Not long after, she recorded a stripped-down, single version of the song with Hazlewood.
Each time Sinatra recorded a new album, the tracklist inevitably contained a duet or two with Hazlewood, including “Summer Wine” (Nancy in London) as well as “Jackson,” and “Oh Lonesome Me” (Country, My Way). It was a natural evolution, then, for Sinatra and Hazlewood to release entire albums together. The first was 1968’s Nancy & Lee, which blended country, rock, psychedelia, and pop on tracks like “Some Velvet Morning” and “Lady Bird.” They followed with 1972’s Nancy & Lee Again, which boasted such highlights as “Paris Summer” and “Arkansas Coal.” Over the years, these offbeat duet albums have become lauded cult classics. Pitchfork included Nancy & Lee on their “Best Albums of the 1960s” roundup, while NPR proclaimed that “[Nancy’s] work on Nancy & Lee not only is some of the best that she's ever recorded, but it proved that she would hardly allow herself to be pigeonholed… She made it clear that she was capable of so much more.” Though Hazlewood’s relocation to Sweden at the turn of the 70s would halt the progress of further collaborations, the duo reunited sporadically over the years, including in 1976 for a dreamy cover of “(L’été Indien) Indian Summer.”
In the mid-70s, Sinatra made the conscious decision to step back from the industry and focus on her family. Although she would return to the studio in the 90s, the artist had already amassed an impressive catalog in less than a decade – including seven solo albums and her two collaborations with Hazlewood. Sinatra’s legacy, however, continued to grow, as new generations discovered her music. Over the years, she has been cited as an influence by countless artists, including Sonic Youth, Morrissey, Calexico, U2, and Lana Del Rey. Most recently, Sinatra’s contributions to the industry were further recognized by her peers, when “Boots” was inducted into the GRAMMY® Hall of Fame. The honor, bestowed in January of 2020, recognizes “musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance.” Today, Sinatra continues to be a passionate voice for a variety of progressive causes – most notably her support of veterans. A self-proclaimed feminist, Sinatra’s advocacy also extends to her fellow female artists.
