These Boots Are Made for Walkin'
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| "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
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| Single by Nancy Sinatra | ||
| from the album Boots | ||
| Released | February 1966 | |
| Format | 7" single | |
| Genre | Pop | |
| Length | 2:42 | |
| Label | Reprise Records | |
| Writer(s) | Lee Hazlewood | |
| Producer(s) | Lee Hazlewood | |
| Chart positions | ||
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| Nancy Sinatra singles chronology | ||
| "So Long, Babe" (1965) |
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" (1966) |
"How Does That Grab You, Darlin'?" (1966) |
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See These Boots Are Made for Walkin' (Jessica Simpson song) for the Jessica Simpson song.
"These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" is a pop song composed by Lee Hazlewood and first recorded by Nancy Sinatra. It was released in February, 1966, and attained number one in the United States and United Kingdom Pop charts. Subsequently, many cover versions of the song have been released in a range of styles: pop, rock, country, dance, and industrial (see selected list below). Jessica Simpson hit the number fourteen in the United States in 2005 with her version.
The song is often incorrectly listed as "These Boots Were Made for Walkin'" and "These Boots Are Made for Walking."
[edit] Song information
Sinatra was encouraged by Hazlewood to sing the song as if she were a sixteen-year-old girl giving the brush-off to a forty-year-old man. Sinatra's recording of the song was made with the help of notable Los Angeles session musicians known as the Wrecking Crew. This session included Hal Blaine on drums, Tommy Tedesco and Billy Strange on guitars, Ollie Mitchell, Roy Caton and Lew McCreary on horns, Carol Kaye on electric bass, and Chuck Berghofer on double bass, providing the notable bass line.
Carol Kaye: "Arranger Billy Strange believed in using the two basses together. Producer Lee Hazlewood asked Chuck to put a sliding run on the front of the tune. Chuck complied by playing notes about three tones apart (4-6 frets apart), but Lee stopped the take. "No Chuck, make your sliding notes closer together", and that is what you hear."
The second single taken from her debut album, and follow-up to the minor hit "So Long, Babe," the song became an instant success. In late February 1966, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart, a move it replicated in similar charts across the world.
When the single was first released, some thought it had to do with the subway strike in New York. That same year, Sinatra recorded an early music video for the song. It was produced by Color-Sonics, and played on Scorpitones video jukeboxes. In 1986, for the song's twentieth anniversary, cable station VH1 played this music video.
The song was adopted by troops in Vietnam when they marched. Sinatra traveled there in the mid- to late-60s to perform for the U.S. soldiers. Since it was a song with which GIs in Vietnam in the mid-to-late 1960s would be familiar, it was used for Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket soundtrack, to add to the film's atmosphere. Sinatra also sang it on an episode of China Beach in the late-80s. In 2005, Paul Revere & the Raiders recorded a revamped version of the song using Sinatra's original vocal track. It appeared on the CD Ride to the Wall, Vol. 2, with proceeds going to help Vietnam veterans.
[edit] Chart performance
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1966 | Pop Singles Chart | 1 |
| 1966 | UK Singles Chart | 1 |
[edit] Selected list of recorded versions
- 1966 Nancy Sinatra, U.S. #1, UK #1
- 1966 Lee Hazlewood, the songwriter's own version
- 1966 Mrs. Miller, on the album Mrs. Miller's Greatest Hits
- 1966 Jane Morgan, on the album Fresh Flavor
- 1967 Loretta Lynn, a country version
- 1969 Symarip, a Reggae version on the album Skinhead Moonstomp
- 1974 The Residents, avant garde music group, on the album Meet the Residents
- 1977 Amanda Lear, on the album I Am A Photograph
- 1978 Nick Cave's first band The Boys Next Door, a new wave version
- 1982 Paula Yates on the B.E.F. album Music of Quality and Distinction Volume One
- 1985 Megadeth, on the album Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! — their version was produced more as a parody than as a cover. When the album started selling well, the writer of the song, Lee Hazlewood, began demanding that the song be omitted, due to its being a "perversion of the original". Dave Mustaine made the point that Hazlewood had been paid royalties for years before his complaint, but eventually omitted the song anyway. A censored version of the track can be found on the album's 'deluxe edition' released in 2002. (sample )
- 1989 Operation Ivy, a punk version, titled "One of These Days" from the album Energy
- 1989 Kon Kan, a dance music remix/remake
- 1989 Crispin Glover, on the album The Big Problem Does Not Equal the Solution. The Solution = Let It Be
- 1991 Anita Lane and Barry Adamson
- 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus, on the album Some Gave All
- 1993 LaToya Jackson, on the album From Nashville to You
- 1995 Boy George, on the album Rareties
- 1998 Geri Halliwell, formerly of the Spice Girls, for the Rugrats in Paris: The Movie soundtrack
- 1999 Amanda Lear, on the album Amanda '98 - Follow Me Back In My Arms (Bang! mix)
- 2000 Sarge, on the album Distant.
- 2001 French Affair, on the album Desire
- 2001 KMFDM, on the Boots EP
- 2002 The Fixx, on the album When Pigs Fly: Songs You Never Thought You'd Hear
- 2003 Star Academy 3, on the album Fait Sa Bamba
- 2004 Antonio Banderas as Puss in Boots, for a bonus feature on the Shrek 2 DVD.
- 2005 Lil Kim, the theme for the TV show Growing Up Gotti
- 2205 Little Birdy, on their single "Excited"
- 2005 Jessica Simpson, for The Dukes of Hazzard soundtrack, U.S. #14. See These Boots Are Made for Walkin' for more information.
- 2006 Fulham Flurries, on the album It's Only A Game: Hits & Misses From the Crazy World of British Football
- 2006 Miss Piggy, a parody called "These Bites Are Made For Poppin" sung for a Pizza Hut commercial.
- 2006 Yuna Ito, in Japan for a Daihatsu commercial. Released on a single.
| Preceded by: "Lightnin' Strikes" by Lou Christie |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single (Nancy Sinatra version) February 26, 1966 |
Succeeded by: "Ballad of the Green Berets" by SSgt Barry Sadler |
| Preceded by: "Michelle" by The Overlanders |
UK number one single (Nancy Sinatra version) February 17, 1966 |
Succeeded by: "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore" by The Walker Brothers |
