Country, My Way

by Greg AdamsNancy Sinatra trades her go-go boots for cowboy boots on Country, My Way, a pop-country platter featuring Sinatra's interpretations of country hits. "Jackson," a cover of the Johnny Cash and June Carter hit that she performs as a duet with producer Lee Hazlewood, was released as a single and made the pop Top 20. Every pop vocalist from Ed Ames to Margaret Whiting cut an album of country songs, but Hazlewood had an ear for country music and brought in real Nashville session players for authenticity. Hazlewood's style was half country to begin with, so the album isn't much of a stretch for Sinatra. Many of the songs come from the pop end of the country field: Skeeter Davis' "End of the World" nearly topped the pop chart, and it seems as though practically everyone recorded Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" in the '60s. Hazlewood contributed only one song, "By the Way (I Still Love You)," but his presence is felt strongly throughout. The Sundazed reissue adds three country-flavored cuts from Reprise singles as bonus tracks.