I know there isn't space for everything on a single disc, but it's a shame Love Eyes, 100 Years and Drummer Man aren't on the compilation, especially with all being non album singles. It's great to see Nancy's catalogue being treated with this much respect and detail.
I really hope we get a non-LP collection with all these cuts on. That would be an essential release. Glad to see it all staggered as well. Makes this a little more comfortable!
I'd definitely be in for that. I have a lot of 60s Nancy 45s in superb condition but we didn't get picture sleeves in the UK. There's a lot of non album tracks on them. I won't have heard stereo mixes of most of those tracks. I think a lot of Nancy's best solo songs were non album.
Nancy recorded so much that those non-LP singles were so terrific, in addition to the ones you mentioned like Good Time Girl, Lightning's Girl, Last Of The Secret Agents, etc!
The City Never Sleeps At Night, a great multi million selling B-side, but not easy to get on CD. To be honest, I think there's some dross on some of her albums, but the singles were almost always good.
"The City Never Sleeps At Night" is yet another GREAT single, which was wasted as a b-side, in my opinion.
Ironically, that 45 was one of my very first as a child and I never knew back then, what was the A side versus the B side. "Love Eyes" has never been one of my favorites, no matter what the case
Definitely. Those tracks should have made it to the albums over some of the weaker cover versions or more slushy material. Generally, musically she needed Lee Hazlewood. It's rare for a US artist to have so many non album tracks on 45s.
AMEN to what you wrote, but I will add, that she also needed (other than Lee), Billy Strange arranging and Hal Blaine on those drums!
It's a favourite of my Wife and I, so it comes out pretty often. I agree further up though that using Lee's originals with Billy arranging was the perfect combo for the material she needed to sing, which was surprisingly not that common on the LPs. I wonder why they took such a 'British' approach to the singles?
For certain! Drummer Man is one of the few, possibly the only record he played as a session musician on that's he got a credit on the label for.
I remember Nancy singing that on her live from Vegas special and thinking "where did that awesome song come from"? I never found a single for it until much later!
Side bar post that doesn't feature Nancy, but I know that so many have never heard this and it's so great!
Here is the first remastered song released from the compilation "Start Walkin, 1965-1976" "Indian Summer" with Lee Hazlewood from 1976
I got lucky with the Nancy 45s. These Boots..., Some Velvet Morning and Lady Bird turned up in charity shops for about 50p, then I got a pile of about 10 from a record fair for £1 each. All are in their original Reprise sleeves in excellent condition. I'd never heard the majority of them before I got them. Only These Boots Are Made For Walking and the Nancy & Lee album. I now have all the 60s LPs too.
No slight on Nancy, but I think any interest in a re-release of Nancy & Lee would be driven as much, if not more, by what seems to be a renewal of interest in Lee Hazlewood's work. His "last of the cowboys" image has lent him a kind of legendary status. Having said that, I think songs like "Some Velvet Morning", "Summer Wine" and "Sand" were pure genius, and the two singers were a perfect foil for one another. He was the man-of-the-world, gruff and manly yet vulnerable, while she was sometimes the innocent little girl and sometimes the seductive temptress. I have never quite forgiven Tom Jones for holding "Summer Wine" out of the top position on our local top 40 chart.
True story from the mouth of Bob Lind: He was initially resentful of the fact that Nancy's "Boots" kept "Elusive Butterfly" from making No. 1 on the singles charts. However he later forgave her when she recorded his song "Long Time Woman", which he said was one of his favourite covers by anybody of any of his songs.
Lee's hand in the production of Nancy's recordings is immeasurable. However, that being said, Nancy's contributions cannot be taken for granted -- her vocals on their duets work as a perfect contrast to Lee. This is especially apparent when listening to some of the other duets Lee recorded over the years -- the other vocalists just do not have the same chemistry.
