And That’s Just What They’ll Do: Nancy Sinatra’s “Boots” Returns from Light in the Attic
Earlier this year, Light in the Attic launched its Nancy Sinatra Archival Series celebrating the musical legacy of the vocalist behind such classics as “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’,” “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?,” “You Only Live Twice,” and the duet “Somethin’ Stupid” with her famous father. On September 17, the series will continue with a CD, vinyl, digital, and 8-track (!) reissue of Nancy’s debut album, 1966’s Boots, originally issued on the Reprise label.
Boots was, of course, titled after the Lee Hazlewood-penned and produced title track which topped the Pop chart on both sides of the Atlantic, sold over one million copies, and earned Sinatra Grammy nominations for Best Vocal Performance – Female and Best Contemporary Solo Vocal Performance – Male or Female. Produced by Lee Hazlewood and arranged by Billy Strange for the musicians collectively known in retrospect as The Wrecking Crew, the Boots LP features Sinatra’s gutsy yet sensual renditions of Hazlewood tunes (“So Long Babe,” “I Move Around”) and contemporary covers (The Beatles’ “Day Tripper” and “Run for Your Life,” The Rolling Stones’ “As Tears Go By,” Bob Dylan’s “It Ain’t Me Babe”) alike. The album reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 12 on the U.K. Albums Chart.
Sundazed’s 1995 CD reissue added the non-LP single “In Our Time” b/w “Leave My Dog Alone” as well as the mono single version of “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’.” While those bonus cuts are not included here, Light in the Attic’s reissue adds two bonuses including the “Boots” B-side “The City Never Sleeps at Night” (also written and produced by Hazlewood) and the previously unreleased outtake “For Some.” The latter, a ballad written by Bennie Benjamin and Sol Marcus, is currently streaming. John Baldwin has remastered Boots from the original stereo master tapes.
The vinyl versions have been pressed at RTI and are housed in a gatefold package with a 20-page booklet containing a new interview with Nancy by Hunter Lea as well as numerous photos. Exclusive color vinyl variants are available at NancySinatra.com, LightInTheAttic.net, Vinyl Me Please, Collector’s Choice, Rough Trade, and U.K. independent retailers. The CD version arrives in a digipak with a 28-page booklet. Perhaps the most surprising format is a limited edition eight-track tape replicating the original eight-track release.
All formats of Boots are due from Light in the Attic on September 17. You’ll find the track listing and pre-order links below.
Nancy Sinatra, Boots (Reprise LP RS 6202, 1966 – reissued Light in the Attic, 2021)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Standard Black LP: NancySinatra.com / Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Links TBD
Eight-Track Cassette: NancySinatra.com
Bootique-Exclusive Red LP: NancySinatra.com
Side A
- As Tears Go By
- Day Tripper
- I Move Around
- It Ain’t Me Babe
- These Boots Are Made For Walkin’
- In My Room
- Lies
Side B
- So Long, Babe
- Flowers On The Wall
- If He’d Love Me
- Run For Your Life
- The City Never Sleeps At Night (Reprise single 0432, 1965) (*)
- For Some (previously unreleased) (*)
(*) denotes bonus tracks
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12 thoughts on “And That’s Just What They’ll Do: Nancy Sinatra’s “Boots” Returns from Light in the Attic”
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That eight-track edition is such a wacky marketing ploy that, against my better judgement, I might just be tempted! I know: there’s a sucker born every minute . . .
hahaha, where are they even finding available stock of the special lubricated tape needed for 8-tracks? Should be interesting.
I wonder just how many will actually be manufactured. 🙂
damn…I threw away my 8 track recorder/player when I moved to cassettes!
This is another fantastic release, with a preview of more to come.
Great reissue of course and I hate to be that guy but : I can’t stand when they meddle with the tracklist to give space for bonus tracks. They did it all over the recent Gainsbourg box set and it kills a bit the “replicate reissue” for me.
I agree. Not because I’m a fan of Nancy Sinatra or of this album. It’s just that the original album was designed to end side A a certain way and to open side B another distinct way.
An album lives and dies on its sequencing and flow. To mess around with the original intention is blasphemous. It shouldn’t be accepted by fans, irrespective of who/what it is.
Anyone who has even made a mixtape knows better than this. :/
I knew I kept my two old 8-track players for a reason…I wonder if they still work?
Two gripes. First, they should have included the Sundazed bonus tracks on the CD reissue. Second, they should NOT have included bonus tracks on the LP reissue. Including a bonus 45 would have made sense, but mucking up the original LP track listing makese no sense to me. Yes, I understand that some people might view my complains as inconsisent. But there it is.
So looking forward to this and future NS reissues from LITA. I have the Sundazed CDs and I just purchased her CD catalog in Mini LP CD format from Japan. But I will be buying these too!
I predict the first two Lee & Nancy albums will be next. As you may know, the first one has never been released on CD in its original running order, only as a Rhino compilation with bonus tracks.
As far as I am concerned, the more bonus tracks, the better!!
Can’t have too much Nancy Sinatra!!
More please!!
I have the Sundazed CD of this album. I always hated that on a Stereo album certain instruments and vocals where more predominant in one speaker than the other. I was hoping it would be different with LITA but it sounds exactly like Sundazed except maybe a little harsher sounding.