First a straightforward use of the tune with love song lyrics. I did not know until I looked this up that it had first been recorded by Nancy Sinatra in 1962. In the UK Maureen Evans had a hit with it a year later.
This is another record on which Hal Blaine (see last week’s post) played drums, the song one of the fruits of Sinatra’s working relationship with Lee Hazlewood.
This video is something else. OK, I get the fact that the performers’ boots were being emphasised, but the skirts didn’t need to be so short for that did they?
After From Russia with Love we were treated to the big bashing of both Shirley Bassey and Tom Jones in Goldfinger and Thunderball respectively in subsequent Bond theme songs. By the time of You Only Live Twice things had been dialled down a bit. I must say I like the guitar counterpoint under the verses (mirroring the strings in the intro but extending the melody by a few notes.) Robbie Williams, of course, paid homage to this theme in his hit Millennium.
By the way. Is it heretical to be of the opinion that Nancy Sinatra was a better singer than her dad?
