#1 This Week In 1966

This week in 1966, Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy scored her only solo #1 hit when These Boots Are Made For Walkin' spent one week at the top of Billboard's pop chart. Songwriter Lee Hazelwood told Sinatra to sing the song as if she were a 16 year-old giving the kiss-off to a 40 year-old man. The song's memorable bass line was played by jazz sessionist Chuck Berghofer, who played on numerous classic albums such as the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds and Charlie Parker's Bird. These Boots Are Made For Walkin' was adopted as a theme song by American troops in Vietnam, leading to its inclusion in several war movies such as Full Metal Jacket. Nancy Sinatra continue to record and perform. In 1995 at age 54 she appeared topless in Playboy. In 2006 she recorded Another Gay Sunshine Day, the theme from Another Gay Movie.

CATALOG: Nancy Sinatra's only other #1 pop hit was the duet with her father, 1967's Something Stupid. I think this is the only father-daughter #1 pop hit ever. Anybody? Among Nancy's total of ten Top 40 hits are Sugar Town (#5, 1966), the These Boots ripoff How Does That Grab You, Darlin? (#7, 1966), and her duet with Lee Hazelwood, Jackson (#14, 1967), which was the flip side of her theme from the James Bond film, You Only Live Twice. I love Shirley Bassey, but Nancy's Bond theme is my absolute favorite. As for Jackson, you're probably more familiar with Johnny Cash and June Carter's version, which won them a Grammy in 1968.

TRIVIA: These Boots Are Made For Walkin' has been covered by hundreds of artists, most successfully by Jessica Simpson for the soundtrack of The Dukes Of Hazzard (#14, 2005). Lee Hazelwood sued Megadeth for their version, calling it a "perversion of the original." Other notable covers were recorded by Loretta Lynn, the Supremes, 70's disco artist Amanda Lear, Spice Girl Geri Halliwell, Jewel, and Boy George.