Nancy Sinatra Leaves Beverly Hills Behind for Desert Sand N' Sea

Nancy Sinatra had a very good year in 1966. It was 45 years ago that Frank Sinatra's eldest daughter went to Number One on the Pop Charts with the smash single, "These Boots Are Made For Walking."

The song instantly became an anthem of female empowerment and started the 'tough chick' persona in pop music. Madonna, Deborah Harry of Blondie, and Gwen Stefani have all claimed they were influenced by the song.

Many other hit singles followed "Boots" in 1966, including "Sugar Town," "You Only Live Twice" (the coolest James Bond theme) and "Something Stupid" another number one record, this time duetting with Dad Frank Sinatra on the only father-daughter duet to go to to the top of the pop charts. 

Nancy Sinatra went on to raise two daughters (Amanda and A.J. Lambert, now both grown and making art and music of their own) and do lots of great fundraising events for veterans like participating in the "Ride To The Wall" in Washington D.C. at the Vietnam Memorial.

Recently, Nancy Sinatra left her Beverly Hills hometown of the last 50 plus years and moved to the Santa Monica area, "to be closer to the water and have cleaner air to breathe" Nancy said recently on Twitter @NancySinatra.

"Besides they recently closed my favorite Hamburger Hamlet so what else is there?" Nancy bemoaned, referring to the restaurant just outside of Beverly Hills on Doheny Drive, where she was a regular along with Dean Martin's family and singer Morrissey, a close friend and devotee of Nancy's music.

"Morrissey has been such a dear friend to me and he's a brilliant songwriter" Nancy has said on her web site (NancySinatra.com) and the two collaborated on Nancy's 2002 acclaimed "Nancy Sinatra" CD, which Nancy also performed a song by Bono of U2 "One Shot Happy and Two Shots Sad," which the U2 frontman had written for Frank Sinatra.

"I love the desert and I've been coming here since I was a little girl," Nancy told me a few years back, when I visited her Dad's Rancho Mirage compound while working as Nancy's PR man in the 1990s and orchestrating her musical comeback that coincided with a Playboy pictorial in May of 1995. Nancy wrote the introduction to my book, "Hal Lifson's 1966! The Coolest Year In Pop Culture History," which you can see on my HalLifson.com website.

While remodeling her new digs, Nancy's been spending even more time at her desert home and loves to breathe in the clear desert air.

"When I see the windmills, I just feel all the tension leave my body and that desert aura takes over. It takes me a couple days to really settle in here, but then that desert magic takes over and I don't want to leave," Nancy said.

Back in 2002, Nancy performed in the desert at the Spa Resort and Casino to a packed house. "I love the desert community. The fans are so supportive of my dad's legacy here and his music. I have my fans here too. It's a really special place to me."

Nancy Sinatra's daughter, Amanda Erlinger had a showing of her artwork and it was a sellout event. Art gallery owner Jay Nailor of the M Modern Gallery in Palm Springs has been in discussion with Amanda about another show featuring her art in the near future.

"I'm so proud of both my kids," Nancy has beamed many times to me. "And I pay tribute to my dad each week on my radio show (on Sirius Satellite Radio) so I guess I have all my bases covered. Now, if I could just find the time to finish my latest album!' Nancy said.

Nancy has been working on a collection of jazz standards with some of the top musicians in Los Angeles including her daughter A.J. Lambert and longtime collaborator pianist Don Randi, who played on "These Boots Are Made For Walking" and has been a close friend since the 1960's.

"Music is my passion," Nancy says adding with a smile, "and it seems to be a family business at this point."