Thursday 9 July 2020

Lee Hazlewood born 9 July 1929


Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007), was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late fifties and singer Nancy Sinatra in the sixties.

Barton Lee Hazlewood was born in Mannford, Oklahoma; his father was a wildcat oil driller and dance promoter. In 1942 the family moved to Port Neches, Texas. After Huntsville high school, Hazlewood enrolled at Southern Methodist University in Dallas to study medicine, but was soon conscripted. Having married his high-school sweetheart, Naomi Shackleford, he served in Japan as armed services radio DJ and saw combat during the Korean war.

After he was demobilised in 1953, he and Naomi shifted to Los Angeles, where he studied broadcasting and landed a DJ job in the small town of Coolidge, Arizona. In 1955 he moved to KRUX radio in Phoenix, where he championed Elvis Presley. Certain he could do as well as the music he was playing, Hazlewood began writing songs and set up his own label, Viv. Then came The Fool. It was Hazlewood's innovative recording techniques that turned the single (when licensed by Dot Records) into a hit.

Failure to repeat that success found Hazlewood returning to Los Angeles, where he hooked up with entrepreneur Lester Sill. Hazlewood produced guitar tracks for teenager Duane Eddy, imaginatively employing reverb to create a potent sound, and he licensed these to Jamie Records. Eddy's second single, Rebel Rouser (1958), was a US and British hit, and the guitarist went on to enjoy a further 14 US and 25 British hits.


                              

The young Phil Spector was impressed by Hazlewood's sound, and spent time with him in his Phoenix studio studying how he used reverb and other effects to create hits. Spector's early productions appeared on the Trey label owned by Hazlewood and Sill.

Dismayed by the Beatles' success and the "British invasion" of the US charts, Hazlewood announced his retirement in 1964. Yet the following year Reprise Records managed to convince him to reconsider, with the prospect of producing Dino, Desi & Billy - three Hollywood 13-year olds. Having produced two hits for the trio and given Dean Martin (Dino's father) a hit with his composition Houston, Hazlewood was then asked to produce Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy. She had been recording for four years with no success; Hazlewood told her to sing in a lower register and they immediately scored a minor US hit with So Long, Babe.

Later that year Hazlewood wrote These Boots Are Made for Walking. The result established Nancy as one of pop's hottest mid-60s singers, with Hazlewood producing all her recordings and writing many of the hits. In 1967 Hazlewood produced Somethin' Stupid, a Nancy-Frank duet which topped the US and British charts. Hazlewood often shared duets with Nancy - Some Velvet Morning was one of the tracks on their 1968 album Nancy & Lee - and in 1971 they scored a British number two with Did You Ever? Hazlewood scored and acted in several films and also licensed his songs for film and TV soundtracks.

In 1967 Hazlewood signed The International Submarine Band to his LHI label. While their sole album Safe At Home was not a hit, their leader, Gram Parsons, would soon be championed as the pioneer of "country-rock". More recently, that title has been bestowed on Hazlewood, who released his first solo album, Trouble Is a Lonesome Town, in 1963, thus introducing a gothic mix of pop and country that has since proven very influential. Alongside his pop productions, Hazlewood released wilfully eccentric solo albums; all were commercial failures, and his 1973 album Poet, Fool Or Bum received a one-word review in the NME - "bum".

Having settled in Sweden in 1970, Hazlewood released, on average, two albums a year until retiring from the music industry in 1978. Resurfacing in 1993 with the duet album Gypsies and Indians (with Anna Hanski), he then relocated to the US, toured with Nancy Sinatra and was surprised to find himself a cult figure: his albums were reissued by Sonic Youth and Tindersticks, and he was championed by Jarvis Cocker. In 1999 he headlined at London's Royal Festival Hall, returning in 2002, when he was backed by a band of leading British experimental rock musicians. In 1999 he released Farmisht, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! and Me..., his first album of new material in 20 years.

Of his cult status, Hazlewood remarked, "Thank God for kids that love obscure things! I never thought anyone would pay attention to those records, and it's a good feeling. It makes me feel like I really did get to do what I wanted to do."

Diagnosed with cancer, Hazlewood gave away his gold and platinum discs to friends outside the music industry and worked on Cake Or Death, released to acclaim in December 2006. He died of renal cancer in Henderson, Nevada, on August 4, 2007.  (Edited mainly from Garth Cartwright @ The Guardian)

6 comments:

boppinbob said...

For “Fools, Rebel Rousers & Girls On Death Row - The Lee Hazlewood Story 1955-1962” go here:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/i1vMENQy

1. LEE HAZLEWOOD - FIVE MORE MILES TO FOLSOM (demo)
2. LEE HAZLEWOOD - IT'S AN ACTUALITY (demo)
3. JIMMY & DUANE WITH BUDDY LONG & THE WESTERN MELODY BOYS - I WANT SOME LOVIN' BABY
4. SANFORD CLARK WITH AL CASEY, GUITAR - THE FOOL
5. LEE HAZLEWOOD - I GUESS IT'S LOVE (demo)
6. LEE HAZLEWOOD - FORT WORTH (demo)
7. LEE HAZLEWOOD WITH AL CASEY - BUYING ON TIME (demo)
8. JIMMY JOHNSON WITH AL CASEY & THE ARIZONA HAYRIDERS - HOW ABOUT ME
9. LOY CLINGMAN - I'M LOW, LOW, LOW
10. AL CASEY - GUITAR MAN
11. DON COLE WITH AL CASEY, PIANO - SNAKE EYED MAMA
12. DUANE EDDY & HIS 'TWANGY' GUITAR - MOOVIN N' GROOVIN'
13. MARK ROBINSON WITH GUITAR, DUANE EDDY - PRETTY JANE
14. MARK ROBINSON WITH GUITAR, DUANE EDDY - WANT ME
15. THE BARKER BROTHERS (MONTY & FREDY) - HEY LITTLE MAMA
16. AL CASEY & CORKEY & THE BATS - GIVE'N UP
17. DUANE EDDY & HIS 'TWANGY' GUITAR - REBEL-'ROUSER
18. THE SHARPS - HAVE LOVE, WILL TRAVEL
19. 'FRANTIC' JOHNNY ROGERS - SASSY
20. BUDDY LONG - IT'S NOTHIN' TO ME
21. RAY SHARPE - LINDA LU
22. GREGG CONNORS - (Your Love) TEARS ME UP
23. DUANE EDDY & HIS ORCHESTRA, LEE HAZLEWOOD VOCAL - (Why Must I Die) THE GIRL ON DEATH ROW
24. DUANE EDDY & HIS ORCHESTRA, LEE HAZLEWOOD VOCAL - WORDS MEAN NOTHING
25. BARBARA DANE - I'M ON MY WAY
26. TONY CASTLE & THE RAIDERS - SALTY
27. DONNIE OWENS - STORMY (Came To Town)
28. LEE HAZLEWOOD - DELLA
29. LEE HAZLEWOOD - DON'T CRY (No More)
30. MARK ROBINSON - I'VE MADE ENOUGH MISTAKES
31. MARK ROBINSON - CAN'T LET HER SEE ME CRY
32. RAMONA KING - SOUL-MATE
33. THE HONDAS - SEND IT
34. THE SHACKLEFORDS - STRANGER IN YOUR TOWN
35. THE SHACKLEFORDS - BIG RIVER


The late Lee Hazlewood is one of the most iconic figures of R&R, Country and Pop. He had a huge reputation as a producer, songwriter and singer. This 35-track compilation presents a versatile selection of rarities that are presented alongside a handful of his early hits. Hazelwood's early productions are particularly collectable, notably his own recordings. Included herein are his five earliest known demo's, from 1955/56, which highlight his distinctive, resonant baritone. Also included are the sides he recorded billed as Mark Robinson and The Shacklefords, plus his near-legendary 'Girl On Death Row' Apart from Hazlewood himself, featured artists include Duane Eddy, Sanford Clark, Al Casey, Ray Sharpe, The Sharps, Barbara Dane and Ramona King.

This compilation is a mandatory purchase for all Lee Hazlewood collectors/completists. (Jasmine notes)

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For” Lee Hazlewood ‎– Love And Other Crimes” (comp 1997) go here:

https://pixeldrain.com/u/8geWKEt1

1 For One Moment 2:33
2 Bugles In The Afternoon 3:08
3 After Six 2:13
4 The Nights 3:17
5 Your Sweet Love 4:02
6 We All Make The Little Flowers Grow 1:51
7 Look At That Woman 2:12
8 She Comes Running 2:10
9 Forget Marie 1:59
10 Pour Man' 3:23
11 Love And Other Crimes 0:58
12 Them Girls 2:31
13 Friday's Child 2:39
14 Hutchinson Jail 2:34
15 By The Way 2:38
16 Four Kinds Of Lonely 2:34
17 Houston 2:36
18 Since You're Gone 2:38
19 A Real Live Fool 2:27
20 I'm Blue 2:05
21 The Fool 1:53
22 That Old Freight Train 3:07
23 Me And Charlie 2:35
24 I'm Gonna Fly 2:19
25 The Bed 2:38
26 Bye Baby 3:43
27 No Regrets 3:41

Jacdaw said...

Thanks Bobbinbob.

Paul Redbeard said...

Brilliant! Many thanks, Paul - smashing blog!!

Johnny Shavasana said...

Hi! Any chance for a re-up? Thanks either way!

boppinbob said...

Hello Johnny, here's the new links,

For” Lee Hazlewood ‎– Love And Other Crimes” (comp 1997) go here:

https://krakenfiles.com/view/3YTPBQ3Vgg/file.html

For “Fools, Rebel Rousers & Girls On Death Row - The Lee Hazlewood Story 1955-1962” go here:

https://krakenfiles.com/view/1E2uUMLU2B/file.html

DoKtor Alphonzo said...

ACE! Many thanks for sharing these