Happy Birthday, Nancy Sinatra!

Today the gal with the boots celebrates her birthday. Nancy Sinatra was the first born of Frank's three kids and was very much Daddy's little girl. Though she may not have had the vocal range of her Dad, nor his singing career longevity, Nancy Sinatra was a hugely popular and iconic singer of the swingin' 60's. Interestingly, though she was ostensibly of the rock 'n' roll generation of that era, her singing style still owed a lot to the more traditional crooning style of her father and his contemporaries. She had a string of hits as both a solo artist as well as a number of great duets alongside Lee Hazlewood, the singer/record producer who also wrote most of her songs, including her famous, These Boots Are Made For Walkin'.

I really like Nancy Sinatra's singing style. Although her vocal range was somewhat limited, there was always a warmth and sincerity in her delivery. Nancy had a bit of a revival a few years ago when her rendition of Bang Bang (previously a hit for Cher) was picked up to be used in the opening titles of Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Volume One, setting the melancholy tone for the bride left for dead played by Uma Thurman. Here is Nancy singing Bang Bang when she guested on her Dad's 1966 TV special, Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music - Part II. I watched this appearance to draw the crazy frilled dress, though my sketch of her face was done from her own 1967 TV special, Movin' With Nancy, which is also available on DVD. The second YouTube clip is a segment from that special, featuring Nancy and Lee Hazlewood singing Jackson, a song made popular by Johnny Cash and June Carter.