It might surprise long-time listeners to learn that the perennial favorite by Nancy Sinatra is, in fact, a country song.
I’ve always loved the song “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’,” but I never knew much about it other than it was so exciting to hear it come on the radio and see Nancy Sinatra singing it on the Ed Sullivan Show when I was a little kid — 9 years old and itching to imitate those groovy go-go dancers.
The 1966 hit was written by ramblin’ Oklahoma-born singer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, who is not credited nearly enough for his sometimes-eccentric contributions to country and “cowboy psychedelia.” He was going to record “These Boots” himself, but he let Nancy Sinatra talk him into giving it to her even though he didn’t think it was a girl’s song.
Hazlewood would do his own version with a shoutout to Sinatra and a quirky arrangement with horns and strings, and he would collaborate with her in the future on several albums: Nancy & Lee in 1968, Nancy & Lee Again in 1972, and Nancy/Lee 3 in 2004. A country standout collaboration by the two is “Summer Wine,” which Hazlewood wrote and originally performed with Suzi Jane Hokom, but it was his 1967 version with Sinatra that would become the beloved version.
Photo credit: Light in the Attic Records
Sinatra’s original is the retro classic; it went to No. 1 in the U.S. and U.K. and charted high all over the world. Recorded with famed Los Angeles session badasses the Wrecking Crew (that’s them on Glen Campbell’s “Wichita Lineman,” “Galveston,” “I’m Not Gonna Miss You,” and “Rhinestone Cowboy”), the song opens with that famous bass line — that’s Chuck Berghofer on the double bass descending by quarter notes and contributing one of the most famous intros in pop-rock history.
On the Sullivan show, Sinatra’s in all black with garishly colorful dancers all around her. But on the cover of the record, she’s decked out in those now-iconic red boots.
He can’t compete with the red boots, but check out the version by Hank Williams Jr. from his 1966 album Blues My Name, when he was still a teenager. And then there’s Kari Kimmel’s faithful contemporary rendition, which made it onto the soundtrack of an episode of Necessary Roughness and will make you want to find your tambourine.
Sinatra and Hazlewood recording together. Photo credit: Light in the Attic Records
But if you really want a memorable can’t-unsee-this experience, cue up the YouTube video of Jessica Simpson’s ridiculously sexed-up Daisy Duke version she concocted for the 2005 Dukes of Hazzard movie soundtrack and her 2006 studio album, A Public Affair. She’s wearing her signature short-short cut-offs (with concho belt), a cropped tee for maximum belly-showcasing, and a pair of stacked-heel red cowboy boots.
One YouTuber called the video “country porno,” and several said it ruined their favorite song. But one insightful commenter pointed this out: “Turns out … you’all missed the point. This is soooo full of American cowboy tropes that it’s absolutely hilarious! Intelligent irony and open laughter at the whole god-dang thing! Brilliant!! Sooo brilliant! Had me laughing from wo-ah to go-ah! ONYA Jess for full on participation and collaboration. Totally love this!!”
Photo credit: Reprise Records
Whatever you think about it, there are cool cameos by Willie Nelson, some borderline-lewd line-dancing, and Simpson shamelessly soaping up General Lee in a tiny neon-pink bikini that she comes close to twerking in. And it has occurred to at least one astute music critic that Jessica Simpson’s producers just might have inadvertently created the kind of modernized country sound in her cover that ended up making Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ’Em” seem so natural.
Speaking of Beyoncé, “These Boots” has proven its test-of-time bona fides with none other than Queen “Cowboy Carter” Bey, who sampled the song at the beginning of “Ya Ya,” to Nancy Sinatra’s great delight. Sinatra was so honored, she tweeted and shared about it for days.
As if to reinforce the classic song’s original country credentials and crossover appeal, 60 years later pop phenom Sabrina Carpenter invited country gal Kacey Musgraves on stage for a “Boots” duet at Outside Lands Music Festival 2024. That iconic bass walk-down starts around 2:10, and the girls start walking. Carpenter’s the only one in boots, but they both get their go-go on and the fans oblige with an enthusiastic sing-along.
And to think it was all originally inspired by a line from the 1963 western comedy 4 for Texas, with Dean Martin, Charles Bronson, Frank Sinatra, and Ursula Andress. It was Nancy’s father, Frank, who uttered the line “They tell me them boots ain’t built for walkin’.”
Header photo credit: Promotional video for "These Boots Are Made For Walkin.'"
