This just in, Smells Like Records has recently re-issued a series of vintage Lee Hazlewood albums including "Cowboy In Sweden," "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town" and "Requiem For An Almost Lady." Who is Lee Hazlewood? I'm glad that you asked. The mercurial Lee Hazlewood was born in Oklahoma in 1929 and has been in motion ever since. Hazlewood's musical career began in Arizona where he wrote his first hit song ("The Fool" by Sanford Clark) and discovered Duane Eddy. The creative force behind Eddy's infamous guitar twang, Hazlewood quickly established himself as an innovative producer with an incredible knack for success. Best known for his unusual work with Nancy Sinatra on songs like "These Boots Are Made For Walkin," Hazlewood's method blends countrified, symphonic lounge-pop with semi-lurid subject matter and a boozy nonchalance. A distinctively American singer-songwriter with quiet, understated grace, Hazlewood solo work exudes a compelling mystique all its own, His penchant for vocal duets with the opposite sex is strangely well documented.
In the past Hazlewood has worked with Waylon Jennings, Dean Martin, Gram Parsons and Frank Sinatra. While it's certain that producer Phil Spector and his crew studied at the feet of the master during the early sixties, Hazlewood's subsequent influence has been equally profound. Provocative artists like Nick Cave, Mike Johnson, Slowdive, Barry Adamson, Congo Norvell, Einstürzende Neubauten, Lydia Lunch, Luna's Dean Wareham, Giant Sand and even Megadeth have covered his songs. Hazlewood's classic-era pop moments have survived as cultural signifiers in motion pictures like Fargo, Natural Born Killers, Forrest Gump and Austin Powers. As long as we're on the subject, Hazlewood recorded a new album in 1997 called "Farmshit, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! and me ." This disc is a collection of old pop standards and is his first domestic release in more than twenty years.
by Mitch Myers
copyright 1999 New City Communications, Inc.