Lee Hazlewood - "Forty" (1969, 1974)

The album's title and the text on the sleeve's back , where Lee mentions that he has attained the age of 40, would lead one to believe that he made this album to celebrate his 40th birthday. At least I thought so, until I realized he was actually born in 1929. And the year for the album's release says 1974, at least on my copy. But then again, maybe he wrote the words "Somewhere between the day I was born and yesterday when i turned FORTY ..." the day after his 40th birthday party and let the words mature a few years.

Stop the presses! I just noted on discogs.com that the album was actually released in the U.S. in 1969, and then in Sweden in 1974. Mystery solved.

It's always fun with Lee Hazlewood albums, you never really know what you'll get. Country & Western, psychedelia, cheesy ballads, dark humor, his own songs, covers, sad songs, great songs ... Or a mix of it all and more. My copy of Forty is the Swedish release, the American one looks like this:

I've seen the Swedish version sold online for up to almost USD 100, I guess that one is a little more exotic than the U.S. one. Forty contains only cover songs and as usual some of them appear on other Hazlewood releases (several of them on Movin' On). I find it difficult to say which songs are exclusively available on Forty, but September Song I haven't seen elsewhere.

Forty is a good album whose peaks include the beautiful What's More I Do not Need Her, the drawling Let's Burn Down The Cornfield and the more up-tempo The Bed. There are also some valleys, like the boring and cheesy September Song and It Was A Very Good Year. There are lots of brass and fat string arrangements on Forty, and in his best moments Lee creates - with the help of his female backing vocals and deep baritone voice - the usual dark and kind of strange moods. It's hard to describe Lee's music, cowboy psychedelia is a common term, sometimes I think the music would fit well into a 70s softcore film directed by David Lynch. With Lee himself in the lead role.
 

If you find Forty in the record shelves, a purchase can be recommended. I think the album provides a fairly presentable image of Lee and his music

Tracklist

Side A

1. It Was A Very Good Year 4:14
2. What’s More I Don’t Need Her 3:33
3. The Night Before 3:22
4. The Bed 2:36
5. Paris Bells 2:40

Side B

1. Wait Till Next Year 3:35
2. September Song 4:57
3. Let’s Burn Down The Cornfield 2:39
4. Bye Babe 3:34
5. Mary 3:01