Lee, the friend of Sweden, with another solo album, who knows what number it would be on this one (maybe the 21st). During this time he lived in Sweden and worked with, besides his music, quite a lot of TV programs, often with the director Torbjörn Axelsson. The record was released only in Sweden and Germany, and is therefore somewhat of a rarity from an international perspective. Because of his move to Sweden, Lee largely disappeared from the international music scene for a number of years, but in Sweden, I think he was given quite a lot of attention. Personally, however, I was too young in 1976 to have my own own experience and memories of this.
The album is not one of his better, but is neither one of his more boring ones. An average in his catalog. All songs except one, The Fool (first performed in 1955 by Sanford Clark), are covers. The selection leans quite a lot towards country & western, which isn't always to my taste. Unlike Lee's earlier, more psychedelic country & western, here often the dark, odd touch is missing which gave many of those songs a special quality. At the same time you'll find a few really good songs on the album. On the first side, That's How I Got To Memphis and In A Young Girl's Mind, create the highlights of this side, and in themselves worth a purchase. What raises these songs above the others is the beautiful female choir, a trick Lee has used quite often during his career, almost always with a fantastic result.
When you turn the record over, you start off with the classic Indian Summer (L'été Indien) in Lee's version. His dark voice, together with Björn J:son Lindh's flute, create a song dripping of the 70's. But all the way he goes in Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, as he makes it sound like we're in a 70's porn movie. Lee's voice is often deep, but it's rarely I've heard it this deep. It's hard to really take a song like this seriously, I couldn't help laughing a few times. The album's perhaps most bizarre song is the closing number, Brev Från Lillan, where Lee sings in Swedish. Again, it's hard to really take it seriously, although it might be an honest attempt to charm the Swedes. His Swedish is not easy to understand, though. It can be mentioned that on the A-side Lee also sings in Spanish, on the song An Old Lullaby, so the record is filled with language experiments. Another good song from side B is Crazy Mama, with some nice guitar soloing using the wahwah. Probably it's Janne Schaffer, a famous Swedish guitarist, who does it, although some others are also credited as guitarists on the album, so I'm not sure.
With its limited release, and a bunch of Swedish musicians participating, which is fun for me as a Swede, it's a pretty cool album to have in the shelf. Musically it's mixed, some highs, but also some lows.
Tracklist
Side A
1. Long Haired Country Boy 2:41
2. That's How I Got To Memphis 3:02
3. In A Young Girl's Mind 3:47
4. The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan 4:40
5. An Old Lullaby 3:39
6. The Fool 2:48
Side B
1. Indian Summer (L'eté Indien) 5:11
2. My Girl Bill 3:03
3. Crazy Mama 2:29
4. Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On 4:46
5. To Ramona 2:46
6. Brev Från Lillan 2:19
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