The
Nancy Sinatra
collection
Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos & Rarities 1965-1978
serves as the flip side of the
Start Walkin' 1965-1976
release that gathered up her hits and iconic songs in one pretty package. This time, it's a look at a batch of equally fun and frolicsome tracks from the singer, only instead of the songs that made her famous, it's B-sides, lost tracks, interesting covers, and a couple of unreleased songs. It's a fine mix of quasi-novelty songs like "The Last of the Secret Agents" that are perfectly suited to
Sinatra
's deadpan delivery, big dramatic ballads, and groovy folk-rock numbers, along with some surprising covers. It's fun to hear her tackle songs that seemed way out of her range and do something interesting with them. She manages to convey some of the bitter pain of "Ain't No Sunshine" by underselling it, romps through
the Move
's "Flowers in the Rain" so perfectly that it's hard not to wish one could turn back the hands of time and set her up with an album's worth of this kind of bouncy British psych to sing, and does
Neil Diamond
proud on a slick version of his "Glory Road." Also included is "I Just Can't Help Believing," a fine 1978 duet with
Lee Hazlewood
, the super-weird seduction ballad "Kinky Love," and the 1973 single "Sugar Me," which is also awfully weird. One of the best things about this collection is that it helps illustrate just how unique
's vocal style was and how her collaborators let their gentle freak flags fly when working with her. By all means, pick up a collection of
hits first, and once these are fully absorbed, take a walk over to the weird side and check out this collection for a glimpse of just how far out the mainstream could get during the '60s and '70s. ~ Tim Sendra