Walkin'

These Boots Are Made For Walkin'; Nancy Sinatra

My “Music from the 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and 60’s” gig continues to haunt my iPod. For this job, to listen to and learn, I also downloaded “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’”, all-time greatest hit of Nancy Sinatra. Oddly enough, I don’t remember if we actually played it. I remember that I intended to avoid playing it if I could. In the back of my mind, I’ve always wondered what the point is in playing this tune if I don’t get to hear sassy Nancy’s pouty voice licking threats all over my ear of “walkin’” – and probably some stompin’, kickin’ and not a little scuffin’ –if’n I don’t behave. Oooo, baby, that’s-a-what I like!

Big Daddy-O Frank Sinatra’s record label, Reprise Records, released Ms. Nancy’s debut album called “Boots” in February of 1966. “These Boots…” hit number one on both US and UK pop charts. Lee Hazlewood wrote the song. At the recording session, Mr. Hazlewood encouraged Nancy to sing the song as if she were a sixteen-year-old girl giving the brush off to a forty-year-old man.

Upon initial release, some thought the song had to do with the subway strike in New York City. The troops in the Vietnam War quickly adopted the song for when they marched. Ms. Sinatra traveled there in the late 1960’s to perform for the US soldiers.

I would suppose Nancy and Frank performed this song together a number of times over the course of their careers. I happened to see them sing “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’” on a video tape of Mr. Sinatra’s 1966 television special “Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music – Part II”.

When I played with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on their “Pops Goes Vegas” concerts in March of 2008, the show included impersonators of Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and Liberace. The Liberace impersonator was spot on with both the piano playing and the persona.

To close the first half of the show, a medley of tunes brought each performer out to the front of the audience to sing just a little snippet of a song. When it was his turn, Liberace floateded out onto the stage, caped, wearing a bright red leather cowboy suit, absolutely littered with glittering stones, sporting some ridiculous red boots and accessorized by a gleaming, glistening, dazzling, twinkling, sparkling smile. What do you suppose he sang? Uh-huh. The surreality of a smiling, rhinestone-clad cowboy man completely and utterly disarming the penultimate pre-emptive bitchslap song in a matter of twenty-five seconds was a wonder to behold.

Credits: To Liberace, Mr. Showmanship and an all-around fantastic pianist. The generosity of your scholarship foundation has brought life to the dreams of young pianists all across the country. Bravo. And thank you.