Sugar Town

"Sugar Town" is a song written by songwriter-producer Lee Hazlewood and first recorded by American singer Nancy Sinatra in 1966. As a single released under the Reprise label, it peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in December 1966, while reaching number one on the Easy Listening chart in January 1967.[1] It became a gold record. The song was included on Nancy Sinatra's LP, Sugar, also released in 1966, and was featured in her 1967 TV special Movin' with Nancy, released on home video in 2000.[2]

For the film named after this song, see Sugar Town (film).
"Sugar Town"
Single by Nancy Sinatra
from the album Sugar
B-side"Summer Wine"
ReleasedOctober 1966
GenrePop
Length2:20
LabelReprise
Songwriter(s)Lee Hazlewood
Producer(s)Lee Hazlewood
Nancy Sinatra singles chronology
"In Our Time"
(1966)		 "Sugar Town"
(1966)		 "Somethin' Stupid"
(1967)

Background

The song is an allusion to sugar cubes laced with Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), though – like other songs Hazlewood wrote – "Sugar Town" was deliberately enigmatic: directed to a young audience, yet outwardly tame enough to receive radio play. Hazlewood denied that he had ever used LSD, or regularly partaken in drugs in general. He explained:

You had to make the lyric dingy enough where the kids knew what you were talking about—and they did. Double entendre. But not much more if you wanted to get it played on the radio. We used to have lotsa of trouble with lyrics, but I think it’s fun to keep it hidden a little bit.[3]

The B-side to "Sugar Town" was "Summer Wine", a popular duet also written by, and featuring, Hazlewood.[4]

Personnel

According to the AFM contract sheet, the following musicians played on the track.[5]

Cover versions

Hong Kong artist Nancy Sit covered the song, released as a single by Crane Brand Records in 1967.

Swedish band Shitkid covered the song on the 2017 album Fish.

In 2022, Mariano Garcia released an adaptation of this song as a single with the name "Tucumán". The lyrics allude to the province of Tucumán, Argentina, where the music video was shot.[6]

In the 2009 romantic comedy film 500 Days of Summer, Zooey Deschanel performs the song.

In 2017, for the season 3 opener "Mabel", of the television series Better Call Saul, the original song plays in its entirety over the opening scene.

In the 2020 mystery comedy film The Kid Detective, the original song plays over the opening scenes, and again over the closing credits.

See also

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 224.
  2. Nancy Sinatra (2000). Movin' with Nancy (Song listing). Chatsworth, CA: Image Intertainment.
  3. Bessman, Jim (February 3, 2007). "He's The Real Deal". Billboard. p. 32.
  4. "Nancy Sinatra – Summer Wine". Discogs. 1966. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  5. "Sugar Town AFM Contract" (PDF). The Wrecking Crew. American Federation of Musicians. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
  6. tucumano, el. "Tucumán, un viaje al corazón y las entrañas de nuestra identidad". www.eltucumano.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-08.
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