Song:You Only Live Twice
Album:Best Of Bond...James Bond: 50th Anniversary Collection
Of course we all know that Nancy Sinatra is Frank Sinatra's daughter and she had some hits in the 60s like These Boots Are Made For Walking. But you may not know that she sang the theme for the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice. It turned out to be one of Nancy's final hits. I think it's fair to say that she was at the end of her mid-60s chart run. She was doing a lot of TV specials at the time. John Barry wrote You Only Live Twice with Leslie Bricusse. Of course Barry wrote most of the James Bond scores of the 60s. It was always a negotiation with producer Cubby Broccoli about who would get to sing the theme. The first singer to record You Only Live Twice was Julie Rogers. She had a big hit in England with The Wedding in 1964. But she was unknown in the US. Then they tried Lorraine Chandler who recorded a Shirley Bassey version. I guess Shirley wasn't available. Broccoli asked Frank Sinatra to sing the song. He suggested Nancy. Barry wanted Aretha Franklin. When Nancy was in the recording studio, she asked "Are you sure you don't want Shirley Bassey?" Obviously Nancy had no illusions about her singing ability. She says she was very nervous and they did 30 takes. The song plays over the opening and closing credits. It reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100. It did well in England at #3. Lee Hazelwood recorded his own version of the song with Nancy. Obviously you will want the film version. The soundtrack for You Only Live Twice is available on CD. But I like these James Bond comp CDs. This one is available as a budget CD. As I said, this record was near the end of Nancy's successful run on the charts. Here's Nancy Sinatra performing You Only Live Twice as it played over the opening credits of the film.
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