Light In The Attic’s Nancy Sinatra Collection ‘Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978’ Goes on Sale This Week

Whilst watching an episode of The Sopranos the other night on the airplane, I was reminded that Nancy Sinatra was considered royalty — even by the likes of the late-Phil Leotardo. A quick look through the record collection at home revealed that my only copies of Nancy & Lee and Boots were both both purchased from Sam the Record Man at some point in the 1970s and possibly by one of my parents.

For those looking to expand their Nancy Sinatra music library, a brand new collection goes on sale this week and there are a few surprises that will make collectors rather happy.

Light in the Attic (LITA) continues to celebrate the influential career of singer, actress, activist, and icon Nancy Sinatra with a captivating new collection Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978. Released digitally on September 29^th and due out this Friday (10/20) in 2-LP, CD, and 8-track formats, Keep Walkin’ explores the lesser-known gems from Sinatra’s rich catalog through 25 B-sides, rare singles, covers, demos, and previously unreleased recordings.

In celebration of the release, LITA is hosting a live streaming event on Nancy’s YouTube channel this Friday (10/20) beginning at 2:00 pm PT, which will feature Keep Walkin’ being played in its entirety and a chat between Nancy and the release’s GRAMMY-nominated co-producer Hunter Lea.

Remastered by GRAMMY-nominated engineer John Baldwin and pressed at Record Technology, Inc. (RTI), the 2-LP set of Keep Walkin’ is presented in an expanded gatefold jacket and accompanied by a 24-page booklet (also included in the CD edition as a 40-page booklet), featuring an array of photos from the artist’s personal collection, as well as a new in-depth Q&A with Sinatra, conducted by Hunter Lea. The booklet also contains a fascinating interview with keyboardist Don Randi (The Wrecking Crew), who recently spoke to Lea about his hit-filled career and his 50 years of work with Nancy. 

In addition to the classic black vinyl pressing, a selection of colorful variants can be found exclusively at NancySinatra.com, LightInTheAttic.net, independent record stores, and select online retailers, while limited-edition merchandise (including apparel, accessories, and more) is also available at Nancy’s Bootique at NancySinatra.com.

To coincide with the announcement of the collection (8/24), LITA released a digital single, the previously unreleased demo “Something Pretty”. Plus, on the day the digital edition of Keep Walkin’ was released (9/29), LITA debuted a new music video for the previously unreleased Nancy and Lee Hazlewood track, “I Just Can’t Help Believing”, recorded during their 1978 sessions for an unrealized album that have been in the vault until now. 

Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978 serves as a companion to the widely acclaimed 2021 career-spanning retrospective Start Walkin’ 1965-1976 and marks the latest release from LITA’s ongoing Nancy Sinatra Archival Series, a partnership with the legendary artist that launched in October 2020, honoring her musical legacy through lovingly curated reissues (including her 1966 debut Boots, 1968 classic Nancy & Lee, and 1972’s Nancy & Lee Again), limited-edition merch, and other special releases.

More on Keep Walkin’: Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978: 

In 1965, 25-year-old Nancy Sinatra scored her first No.1 hit with “These Boots are Made for Walkin’,” a bold anthem for female empowerment. Brazen, sassy, and utterly infectious, it was a reintroduction of sorts for the eldest daughter of Frank Sinatra, who had been struggling to find a spotlight of her own amid a changing musical landscape. Suddenly, audiences who had initially brushed off Sinatra as too demure or out-of-touch were paying attention. Written and produced by Oklahoma-born songsmith Lee Hazlewood (with swaggering instrumentals, courtesy of Billy Strange and The Wrecking Crew), the song launched the singer’s career, as well as one of music’s most unlikely, yet compelling, creative partnerships.

Over the next decade, Sinatra continued to notch multiple hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including “Sugar Town,” “How Does That Grab You, Darlin?,” and a haunting rendition of the Sonny Bono-penned “Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down).” The singer also paired up with Hazlewood for a series of popular duets (“Summer Wine,” “Jackson,” and “Some Velvet Morning”) and collaborative albums. In between best-selling LPs like Boots (1966), How Does That Grab You (1966), and Nancy & Lee (1968), Sinatra performed the theme song to the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice and collaborated with her father on the global chart-topper, “Somethin’ Stupid.”

While these career landmarks are well-documented in the annals of pop culture history, much of Sinatra’s catalog remains sorely overlooked. As Keep Walkin’ co-producer Hunter Lea explains, “With the changing taste of the record-buying public in the late 1960s and the counterculture taking over, artists like Nancy Sinatra weren’t in the mainstream as they once were.” Despite that fact, “[Sinatra] kept working, recording, and performing at a voracious pace.” 

Lea continues, “This compilation is a celebration of some of the many glorious recordings that may have been overlooked, forgotten, or never even released at the time. The obscurity of some of these recordings doesn’t mask the genius, brilliance, and effort that went into them; on the contrary, it’s incredible to learn that some of the lost gems are just as rich as the national treasures.”

Among the highlights is the spritely opener “The City Never Sleeps at Night,” which served as the B-Side to “These Boots Were Made for Walkin’.” Overshadowed by the colossal success of its A-side, it’s no surprise that the cinematic tune never had its proper due. Yet, Lea reveals, Hazlewood initially intended to make it the focus single. Another long-lost B-side is “The Last of the Secret Agents?,” which was paired with the Top 10 hit “How Does That Grab You, Darlin’?.” The playful song, written by Hazlewood, served as the theme to the 1966 comedy of the same name, in which Sinatra co-starred alongside Marty Allen and Steve Rossi. 

Keep Walkin’ also features several choice A-sides that were never included on albums and were overlooked for one reason or another. Among them is 1966’s “In Our Time,” a rebellious anthem for ‘60s youth, which references drug culture and women’s liberation, among other topics. Speaking to the Hazlewood-penned track, Sinatra recalls, “That was a fun song. Lee was starting to do his ‘anti’ stuff. He was cynical and it showed in his writing at some point.” But, despite the themes of the song, Nancy laments that she was never embraced by the counterculture ‒ “[Drugs] knocked me out of the picture completely. I was so far removed from the hip people in those days. I think they probably made fun of my stuff.” Another stylistic departure for both artists is “Love Eyes,” a bluesy, soulful single from 1966. The song, Nancy shares, is “one of my favorites. I think what helped Lee’s writing at that point was the bigger sound…I really love it. I think it holds up to this day.” She adds that her dreamy vocal performance was inspired by early female R&B stars like Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. 

The collection also features several outstanding covers, including a previously unreleased rendition of the Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil classic “I Just Can’t Help Believing” ‒ a hit for both B.J. Thomas and Elvis Presley. This 1978 recording, reimagined as a duet, marked one of Sinatra’s brief reunions with Hazlewood, following his abrupt move to Sweden not long after 1972’s Nancy & Lee Again. Another choice track finds Nancy interpreting Neil Diamond’s “Glory Road.” Released as a single in 1971, it features one of the singer’s most cherished vocal performances. “After I worked on my voice and improved as a performer and as a singer, I embraced Neil Diamond. Anything I did by Neil Diamond, to me, is my best work.”

Nancy also looks back fondly on her moving rendition of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine,” released in 1973 as the B-side to “Sugar Me.” The recording (which features particularly lush orchestral arrangements by Billy Strange) reunited Nancy with another close collaborator, Jimmy Bowen, who produced the singer in the early ‘60s and later introduced her to Hazlewood. “I love Jimmy,” she declares. “The records we did early on…had a depth to them that I appreciated. He heard me and saw me in a different light; he saw me as a much more serious performer, which I appreciated.”

Listeners will also be delighted to hear a pair of previously-unreleased demos: “Something Pretty” (the 1968 country hit, made famous by Wynn Stewart) and the theme to the 1965 Richard Rogers/Stephen Sondheim musical Do I Hear a Waltz?, both of which were intended for a self-described “disco” record. Despite the two catchy takes featured on Keep Walkin’, Sinatra calls the shelved album “A disaster. I called it the disco fiasco!”

Where to buy: $19 for CD / $43 for Vinyl at Amazon