Sugar Town by Nancy Sinatra

I had listened to Nancy a bit before, but this album made me fall head over heels. I found it in a record store in Mystic (Mystic Disc). It was only $11.99. Who knew that twelve bucks would completely change my life. I put it on while I made dinner, and I couldn’t not dance. The perfect jazz of the opening song, “Sweet Georgia Brown,” had me twisting in my socks and pajamas, spatula in hand.

Warning: this album is a gateway drug into the wonderful world of Nancy Sinatra.

The sheer versatility of the songs in this album is outstanding. Take “What’ll I Do” and “Sugar Town,” for example. The former is a slow, beautifully emotional piece that is heartbreak wrapped in a bow. It’s relatable even if you’ve never fallen in love, somehow. And Nancy sings it best. The latter is a song that could cheer me up during an inescapable funk. It’s sunshine and pep and it’s impossible not to smile while listening to it.

Playing it in the car is great, but it hits different on the record player. I can’t explain it.

Now I am deeply cast under Nancy’s spell. I went back to the same record store and searched the whole place for another Nancy record. I found one in her father’s section (to my dismay), called “Country, My Way.” While checking out, I bonded with the shop’s owner about my love for her, as well as her producer, Lee Hazelwood. He gave me a discount just for my enthusiasm.

In Sugar Town, she brings a feminine, refined sound to the soulful jazz I heard while living in New Orleans, and puts her own spin on it. This is what she does; she creates her own genres. Try listening to some of each of her albums. Her “country” album brought me back to some of the folk songs I would sing at my jewish sleep away camp (not kidding). It’s like Nancy reached into parts of my past and presented them to me in a very approachable, sex-to-my-ears kind of way.

Sugar Town as an album created “Nancy nights,” where my friend and I wear our matching pjs and drink whiskey. I have those nights alone too, where I’ll play the album and see how it inspires me. Maybe I’ll write, paint, cook, or simply prance around and think.

This album cultivated a garden in my brain that has blossomed into my whole aesthetic. It’s a very pink, very divinely feminine feeling. It’s western (I mean, the boots were indeed made for walkin’), but classy. Like an elegant cowgirl. I am not sure if it makes any sense, but this album gives me a kind of independence. I resonate with it deeply, and I realized that I was always this person, and she just brought those parts of me to the surface.

In fact, it inspired the name and the vibe of this entire blog.

Simply said, this record empowered me. Because of it, I live my life with more color, and share myself with the world. Sincere thanks to you, Nancy.

XOXO, Sof