Some Velvet Morning
| "Some Velvet Morning" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood | |
| from the album Movin' With Nancy | |
| A-side | Some Velvet Morning |
| B-side | Oh, Lonesome Me |
| Released | 1967 |
| Format | Vinyl |
| Recorded | 1967 |
| Genre | Psychedelic |
| Length | 3:39 |
| Label | Reprise |
| Writer(s) | Lee Hazlewood |
| Producer | Bob Gaudio |
"Some Velvet Morning" is a psychedelic pop song written by Lee Hazlewood and originally recorded by Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra in late 1967. It first appeared on Sinatra's album Movin' with Nancy, the soundtrack to her 1967 television special of the same name, which also featured a performance of the song.
Although "Some Velvet Morning" is one of the more famous duets Hazlewood and Sinatra recorded together, it is considered a departure from their usual fare, as it is decidedly less influenced by country & western music. The single peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in January 1968.[1]
In 2003, London's The Daily Telegraph called the song, "One of the strangest, druggiest, most darkly sexual songs ever written - ambitious, beautiful and unforgettable."[2] As with many psychedelic songs, its overall meaning is somewhat obscure. The lyrics consist of the male part describing a mysterious, powerful woman named Phaedra, who educated the speaker in the ways of love. The male part alternates with the female part, who identifies herself as Phaedra and speaks over ethereal, twinkling music about beautiful nature imagery and about the secrets held by an unknown collective "us."
The song has been covered many times, usually as a duet.
Contents |
Construction [edit]
The male part of the song is in 4/4 time signature whereas the female part is in 3/4.
Legacy [edit]
- In November 2003, music critics working for the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph placed the Sinatra/Hazlewood single at the No. 1 spot in their list of the "50 Best Duets Ever."[3]
- London indie rock group Some Velvet Morning take their name from this song, and according to their website, Nancy Sinatra herself "was flattered" by the move and cleared the use of the song's title for the band's name.[4]
Selective list of cover versions [edit]
- 1968 Gábor Szabó - guitar instrumental on Bacchanal
- 1969 Vanilla Fudge on Near the Beginning
- 1982 Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard, 12" single later issued on Honeymoon In Red
- 1986 Peter Zaremba's Love Delegation on Spread the Word
- 1988 Rami Fortis on Tales from the Box (performed with a Hebrew translation of the lyrics)
- 1990 Eedie and Eddie (Peter Langston) in Computing Systems (Volume 3, Number 2)
- 1993 Slowdive on Souvlaki
- 1994 Lost & Profound on Memory Thief
- 1995 Thin White Rope on Spoor
- 2001 My Dying Bride on Peaceville X & Meisterwerk 2
- 2002 Primal Scream and Kate Moss on Evil Heat. A different version was released as a single in 2003 and included on Primal Scream's compilation Dirty Hits
- 2002 The Webb Brothers Feat. Laura Katter on the Lee Hazlewood Tribute Album, Total Lee!
- 2002 Entombed on Sons Of Satan Praise The Lord
- 2004 Firewater on Songs We Should Have Written
- 2007 Lee Hazlewood & Phaedra Dawn Stewart (his granddaughter) on Cake or Death
- 2008 Polar & Loane on 68 Covers and a bonus track on French Songs (2009)
- 2008 Amanda Brown and Glenn Richards on RocKwiz, Saturday, December 13, 2008
- 2009 Anny Celsi and Nelson Bragg on Tangle-Free World
- 2010 Inga Liljestrom and Peter Fenton (Crow) on Sprawling Fawns and EP Thistle (Groovescooter Records)
References [edit]
- ^ DeRogatis, Jim (2003-12-01). Turn on your mind: four decades of great psychedelic rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 385. ISBN 978-0-634-05548-5.
- ^ "50 Best Duets Ever: Some Velvet Morning, 1968" The Telegraph, 8 November 2003
- ^ "50 Best Duets Ever" The Telegraph, 8 November 2003
- ^ [1] "The famous daughter of the even more legendary 20th century swinger gave them her nod of approval when she heard that they were named after her best-known collaboration with Lee Hazlewood ... After recording some demos, and with their band name cleared with Nancy Sinatra (“she was flattered”), they attracted the attention of Nona Hendryx..."
