NANCY SINATRA Almost Didn’t Record the 1967 #JamesBond theme “You Only Live Twice”

did you know that Nancy Sinatra in record you only liveed twice for the James Bond soundtrack in the 1967 film double O7 played by Shan connory fakes his death to investigate a missing spacecraft in Japan uncovering a plot by Spectre to start World War II hence the title You Only Live Twice when you think James Bond think John Barry the British composer known as The Mastermind behind the soundscapes of the Blockbuster franchise pioneering something that is considered its own subg genre today having scored four previous Bond films at that point Barry's bold brassy style defined the series musical identity with his background as a jazz musician and a ranger Barry brought a sophisticated cinematic quality to the bond scores making him a key figure in the franchise's success if you're still here I'd appreciate if you checked out my song James Bond 100% of the proceeds are going to the Palestinian children fund the thing that fascinates me is how on Earth as a musician you about actually composing a school for film I mean just talk me through the process a little bit well it's something you either have an aptitude for or you don't I mean that's basically it's something that I've always wanted to do and it's really hopefully having a flare for musical drama so you read the script first and say yes this is something that interests me then one meets with the director and finds out if you're on the same beam you know hopefully making the same movie and that's essentially what happened in late 1966 when producers Albert AR broccoli and Harry Saltzman had Barry work with British singer Julie Rogers to record a demo for the title track having previously collaborated to co-write the lyrics to the James Bond theme Goldfinger John Barry reunited with Leslie Rus to write the theme for You Only Live Twice while this version shares the same title as the Nancy Sinatra version it's completely different in Melody and composition in the end the producers expressed that they wanted something with more mainstream appeal scrapping the track into entirety I would argue that it was a wise decision to scrap this version while I understand why the track had an East Asian influence which was intended to match the film's Japanese setting those elements come off as stereotypical particularly when you consider the film's racist depiction of Japanese culture later that year the producers reached out to Frank Sinatra hoping that he'd be able to sing the title track Frank declined but suggested that his daughter Nancy could do the job justice but that isn't to say that we can't apply a lens to Frank Sinatra as well Detroit the Hollywood Agogo ARA Franklin despite Frank Sinatra's suggestion John Barry had another singer in mind artha Franklin seeing as NY was quite literally coming off the heels of her hit single These Boots Were Made for Walkin I can see how the James Bond producers wanted to pick Nancy Sinatra but I can't help but wish that we could have heard a read the Franklin sing a James Bond title theme Nancy Sinatra recorded you only liveed twice on May 2nd 1967 with a 60 piece Orchestra at CTS studios in London despite being extremely nervous taking around 30 takes producer John Barry skillfully combined vocals from 25 of those takes creating the final version the song Sold well reaching number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and continues to have a life of its own outside of the film that it belongs to