Lee Hazlewood

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Lee Hazlewood
Birth name Barton Lee Hazlewood[1]
Born July 9 1929(1929-07-09)

Image:Flag of Oklahoma.svg Mannford, Oklahoma

Origin Port Neches, Texas
Died August 4 2007
(aged 78)

Image:Flag of Nevada.svg Henderson, Nevada

Genre(s) Country
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer
Years active 1958 - 2006
Associated
acts
Duane Eddy and Nancy Sinatra.
Notable instrument(s)
Guitar

Lee Hazlewood (9 July 1929 – 4 August 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.[2]

Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added an ominous resonance to his music. Hazlewood's collaborations with Nancy Sinatra as well as his solo output in the late 1960s and early 1970s have been praised as an essential contribution to a sound often described as "Cowboy Psychedelia" or "Saccharine Underground".[3]

Contents

[edit] Career

The son of an oil man, Hazlewood was born in Mannford, Oklahoma[1] and spent most of youth living between Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Louisiana. Hazlewood spent his teenage years in Port Neches, Texas where he was exposed to a rich Gulf Coast music tradition. Hazlewood studied for a medical degree at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.[1] He served with the United States Army during the Korean War.[1]

Following discharge from the military, Hazlewood worked as a disc jockey while honing his songwriting skills. His first hit as a producer and songwriter was "The Fool", recorded by rockabilly artist Sanford Clark in 1956. Hazlewood partnered with pioneering rock guitarist Duane Eddy.[1], producing and cowriting an unprecedented string of hit instrumental records, including "Peter Gunn", "Boss Guitar", "40 Miles Of Bad Road", "Shazam!", "Rebel Rouser" and "[Dance With The] Guitar Man".

Hazlewood is perhaps best known for having written and produced the 1966 Nancy Sinatra US/UK #1 hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'". He also wrote "How Does That Grab Ya, Darlin'" and "Sugar Town" for Nancy.[2] He also wrote "Houston", a 1965 US hit recorded by Dean Martin.

In the 1970s Hazlewood moved to Stockholm, Sweden where he wrote and produced the one hour television show Cowboy in Sweden, which also later emerged as an album.[4]

Hazlewood was semi-retired from the music business during the 1970s and '80s. However, his own output also achieved a cult status in the underground rock scene, with songs covered by artists such as Lydia Lunch, Primal Scream, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, Hooverphonic, Anita Lane, Megadeth, Beck, and Boyd Rice.

In 2006, Hazlewood sang on Bela B.'s first solo album, Bingo, on the song "Lee Hazlewood und das erste Lied des Tages" ("Lee Hazlewood and the first song of the day").

In 2005 he was diagnosed with terminal renal cancer,[1] yet undertook an extensive round of interviews and promotional activities in support of his latest album, Cake or Death.

His last recording was for the vocals of Icelandic quartet Amiina's next single[5].

Hazlewood died of renal cancer[6] Henderson, Nevada on 4 August 2007, survived by his wife Jeane, son Mark and daughters Debbie and Samantha.

[edit] Discography

[edit] 1960s-1970s

  • 1963 — Trouble Is a Lonesome Town
  • 1964 — N.S.V.I.P.
  • 1965 — Friday's Child
  • 1966 — The Very Special World Of Lee Hazlewood
  • 1967 — Lee Hazlewoodism Its Cause and Cure
  • 1968 — Nancy and Lee — a collaboration with Nancy Sinatra
  • 1968 — Something Special
  • 1968 — Love and Other Crimes
  • 1969 — The Cowboy and the Lady — a collaboration with Ann Margret.
  • 1969 — Forty
  • 1970 — Cowboy in Sweden — recorded in Sweden for a TV special, video clip features a Saab Sonett III

  • 1971 — Requiem for an Almost Lady
  • 1972 — Nancy and Lee Again — a collaboration with Nancy Sinatra
  • 1972 — 13
  • 1973 — I'll Be Your Baby Tonight Written by BOB DYLAN 1967
  • 1973 — Poet, Fool or Bum
  • 1974 — The Stockholm Kid Live At Berns
  • 1975 — A House Safe For Tigers
  • 1976 — 20th Century Lee
  • 1977 — Movin' On
  • 1977 — Back On The Street Again

[edit] 1990s-2000s

  • 1993 — Gypsies & Indians — a collaboration with Anna Hanski
  • 1999 — Farmisht, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! & Me...
  • 2002 — For Every Solution There's a Problem
  • 2002 — For Every Question There's an Answer — interview CD
  • 2002 — Bootleg Dreams & Counterfeit Demos
  • 2003 — Lycanthrope Tour/Europe 2002
  • 2004 — Nancy & Lee 3 — a collaboration with Nancy Sinatra
  • 2006 — Lee Hazlewood & das erste Lied des Tages ("Lee Hazlewood & the first song of the day") with Bela B.
  • 2006 — Cake or Death

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Obituary: Lee Hazlewood. BBC (6 August, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  2. ^ a b Singer songwriter Hazlewood dies. BBC (August 6, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  3. ^ Michel, Sia (February 1, 2007). Pop svengali hangs up his boots. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  4. ^ Leigh, Spencer (August 6, 2007). Lee Hazlewood Obituary. The Independent. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  5. ^ Lee Hazlewood With Amiina: "Hilli (At The Top Of The World)". Pitchfork Media (October 18, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
  6. ^ Cartwright, Garth (August 6, 2007). Lee Hazlewood Obituary. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.

[edit] External links

de:Lee Hazlewood es:Lee Hazlewood fr:Lee Hazlewood it:Lee Hazlewood he:לי הייזלווד nl:Lee Hazlewood no:Lee Hazlewood pl:Lee Hazlewood ru:Хезлвуд, Бартон Ли simple:Lee Hazlewood fi:Lee Hazlewood sv:Lee Hazlewood

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