Lee Hazlewood's Woodchucks - "Cruisin' For Surf Bunnies" (1964/2018)

The label Light In The Attic has among other things released a number of fine reissues of some of Lee Hazlewood's albums. When they dug around in LHI's archive (Lee Hazlewood Industries, a record label he started and managed for some creative years in the 60s and early 70s), they came across a tape bearing the name Woodchucks. It soon became apparent that it was a pseudonym for Lee himself and his legendary studio band The Wrecking Crew. The music was recorded in 1964, and was instrumental surf music. Left over studio time was probably used, as no official studio booking for the band was found in the archive. People who knew Lee at the time, and who have now heard the music for the first time, think it is too well done to be a demo, but lacks the overdubs you usually find on finished albums. So somewhat unclear what the purpose of the album was. Some think it was just a cheap attempt by Lee to get a piece of the surf music wave that was happening at the time, and make some easy money. Who knows.

Personally, I think it's a fantastic album. A lead guitar that plays a fairly simple melody, with a reverb usually maxed beyond all boundaries, and a rhythm section that keeps it rather simple. Probably music any newly hatched teenage band could play. Nevertheless, I immediately fell for it. The songs are soaked in an almost surreal mood, sometimes bordering to the bizarre, and you almost want to laugh. Sure, there might be better surf music out there, and certainly the sound is extremely similar throughout the album, but knowing Lee is behind the music gives it an extra dimension.

Suzi Jane Hokom had a surf band for a while, she also became a producer at LHI, and Lee's girlfriend. As I understand it, it's her and her band colleagues on the album's cover. All of the songs are previously unreleased in these original versions, but two of them were released by Woodchucks as singles, and a bunch of them have been released by other well-known surf bands and artists, including John Paul Jones, before Zeppelin. A really fun album, and just as fun was that it was $10 cheaper in my local record store than on Amazon, which is unusual. If you want to read more about LHI's history, Light In The Attic has also released the LHI box There's A Dream I've Been Saving, in which a nice book is included, filled with photos from the LHI time and texts / interviews with people who were part of it. Fun and and fascinating reading.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Movin'
2. Baja Pt. 1
3. Bangkok Cock Fight
4. Johnny October
5. The Nomads
6. The Man

Side B
1. Angry Generation
2. Baja Pt. 2
3. Quiet Village
4. Batman
5. Tower Sarong
6. Crickets Of Karachi

Lee Hazlewood - "20th Century Lee" (1976)

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

Lee Hazlewood - "13" (1972)

Somewhat an odd bird in Lee Hazlewood's catalog. The story behind the record is described in a two-sided, groovy, serie strip that comes with the album. The background is also described with more words in a text that is also found within the album. The story is as follows:

A man named Larry Marks worked as a producer at Hazlewood's record company (LHI) a few years before the release of the album. Larry liked Hazlewood's music, and had this project in which he chose his favorite songs with Lee, remade them in his favorite flavor - soul, funk & blues - and recorded it with himself singing. Top musicians from Los Angeles were brought in to the recording sessions. But the record company vanished, Lee moved to Sweden and the album was never released. In Sweden, maybe Lee didn't have a lot to do, so he started to go through what was hidden in the vault of his former label, and found this recording. So by re-recording the song with himself singing (and deleting Larry's song) he had an entire album with a minimal effort. I get a feeling one can discuss the morality in this. Anyway, the album was only released in Sweden and attracted not much attention.

Larry Marks

That background means that this sounds different from what Lee usually does. Of course, it's a lot more soul and funk, much more horns than usual. In addition, the music is recorded in a tone that is adapted to Larry's voice, not Lee's deep voice. It also means that this is a pretty fun and interesting album.

Actually, I like Lee better in his more "regular" version, with his own arrangements, but it's fun to break habits sometimes. It's a lot more uptempo here, and perhaps the closest one will get to a party album with Lee. Of course, I've bought a reissue, and with the LP comes a mp3 download as well. Here you'll find the original album, where Larry sings, and the outtakes for the album. Personally, I actually like the music better with Larry's song, maybe because the music is adapted to his voice, and that it actually is the musical style he loves. Perhaps it affects the performance in a positive way. It's really groovy stuff. The LP contains some extra tracks where Larry Marks sings, including some previously unreleased songs.

If you want a slightly different Lee Hazlewood album, with a lot of horns, a clear smell of the early 70's, this record might be something. Especially if you like soul. But one must have an open mind, it sounds different from what Lee usually does, even though his deep baritone nevertheless makes you feel at home. It sets its clear mark on the songs, as always. The photo on the cover is one of Lee's favorite photos, he though the dartboard looked like a halo, and the backrest like angel wings.


Tracklist

Page A
1. You Look Like A Lady 2:10
2. Tulsa Sunday 2:15
3. Ten Or Eleven Towns Ago 2:36
4. Toocie And The River 4:35
5. She Comes Running 2:26
6. Rosacoke Street 2:41

Page B
1. In Move Around 2:24
2. And I Loved You Then 3:30
3. Hej, Me I'm Riding 1:58
4. Cold Hard Times
5. Drums
6. The Start
7. Suzie

Lee Hazlewood - "This is Lee Hazlewood" (1967)

Another album by one of my favorite artists. This time without Nancy Sinatra, instead we hear Miss Suzi Jane Hokom on some of the songs, but mostly it's only Lee himself. I've never really understood Lee's releases. As usual, I already have all the songs on other albums by him, which is OK I guess, as this album is a compilation (I assume). There are some interesting things with This is Lee Hazlewood, we get to hear These Boots Are Made For Walkin' with Lee at the mic, and on Sand sings Miss Suzi Jane Hookom the parts that you're used to hear Nancy sing. Somewhat different versions than the classics, in other words.

This album has given me a little more headache than usual. Looking at Lee's official discography, this one is not included. However, it exists a very similar one, Lee Hazlewoodism - It's Cause And Cure, released the same year and where more than half of the songs are identical.

The back sides of the cover of both albums have the same content, although not the same layout, with a humorous text about the cause and cure. But on This is Lee Hazlewood, at least on my release, there is an error in the text. Instead of "The cure: Buy the damn album" it says "The cause: Buy the damn album". Things like that are always fun. You can see it on the right picture, at the bottom.

MGM has released both mentioned albums, but as I've understood the info on internet, This is Lee Hazlewood was only released in Norway and Germany. I can't swear I am absolutely right in this. On one site, someone claimed this was a unique Swedish release, and asked about 150 USD for it. So who knows.

Anyway, the music is really great. You seldom go wrong with Lee. A good selection of his earlier songs, where both black and tragic numbers are mixed with Lee's cool, dark humor. Tragic stories are told in a way you can't help smiling. The last song, My Baby Cried All Night Long. is a good example of this. The album can be recommended.


Tracklist

Side A
1. The Girls In Paris 2:31
2. Jose 4:32
3. Suzi Jane Is Back In Town 2:26
4. After Six 2:25
5. Dark In My Heart 2:03
6. The Nights 3:16
7. Home (I'm Home) 2:22

Side B
1. For One Moment 2:36
2. Sand 3:35
3. Move Around 3:04
4, These Boots Are Made For Walkin '3:09
5. So Long Babe 2:50
6. Bugles in the Afternoon 3:10
7. My Baby Cried All Night Long 3:13

Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra - "Nancy & Lee" (1968)

The duo's first album together, and what can you say? Of course it's good. Lee's deep voice combined with Nancy's more fragile voice, it can't become anything else than successful. They are in a sense each other's opposites, both in voice and appearance. But it works.

But if we study the album more carefully, not all is that great, to be honest. Lee on his own is generally a bit more interesting, more dark humor and more surprising compositions. Together with Nancy, it becomes a little too sugary sweet sometimes. Nancy & Lee has a number of those, such as You've Lost That Loving Feeling or Storybook Children. They are just too cheesy. The albums with both of them together, I think became more commercial products than Lee's solo production.

This, however, is by far outweight by the album's groovier songs, like the psychedelic classic Some Velvet Morning. This song alone makes the record worth buying. I read in an interview with Lee that he was impressed by the band during the recording of this song since they were able to play it straight through.  Lee thought this would be difficult as the song jumps from the verses' 4/4 time signature to the chorus' 3/4. No problem for the musicians. According to me, one of the psychedelic era's greatest compositions.

Another one of my favorites is Sundown, Sundown, with its mighty horn and string arrangements. It sounds better the higher volume you have. So far, no neighbors have complained. Other groovy and well known songs from the album the 60s connoiseur will know: Summer Wine, Sand and Ladybird.

Absolutely an album to recommend even though some of the songs drip with sugar sweetness. One can not say the sound is timeless, you'll absolutely hear that it was recorded almost 50 years ago. But I think that's pretty nice.


Tracklist

Side A
1. You've Lost That Lovin 'Feelin' 3:23
2. Elusive Dreams 3:12
3. Greenwich Village Folk Song Salesman 2:35
4. Summer Wine 3:39
5. Storybook Children 3:10

Side B
1. Sundown, Sundown 2:35
2. Jackson 2:46
3. Some Velvet Morning 3:45
4. Sand 3:41
5. Lady Bird 3:00
6. I've Been Down So Long (It Looks Like Up To Me) 2:49

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood - "Did You Ever?" (1971)

Nancy and Lee did many great songs together, but some of what they did could also be a bit cheesy and too much of a jokey country & western. On this album they treat you with quite a lot of the later, but fortunately enough the album also contains a few really cool creations.

This was the duo's second, and last, album together. Lee lived by this time in Sweden and three years had passed since the pair's first album.

In general I like Lee's solo albums better as they don't have the same glossy surface. But on side A you fortunately get the epic duet Arkansas Coal (Suite) where the couple goes a little more outside the box and offers a tragic story with death and a drama in the mines, in which Nancy is the daughter and Lee the father. This track is a nice break of the general smiley athmosphere on the album, with a different sound and structure and airier soundscapes.

Side B opens with the equally tragic Down From Dover sung by Dolly Parton in the original version. I've noticed that many people seem to like Parton's version better, personally I'm so used to hearing Nancy and Lee sing it, so I like this version best. The true highlight of the B-side is the song Big Red Balloon. A really cool song which is humorous without getting too humurous. Perhaps the highlight of the whole album.

Maybe Lee's departure in his big red balloon from his nagging wife was a mirror image of the reality. This was anyway Nancy and Lee's last album together. The album's last song Got It Together Again is interesting and a bit funny. A large part of it is a conversation between the couple, which in any case sounds like a pretty spontaneous and unrehearsed dialogue, where Nancy amongst other things wishes they could do to another album together. We also get to know that Lee is 42 years old and has two childdren. The song ends with Lee asking if Nancy is done and if he can go back to Sweden now, before he finishes with a Swedish "Hej då!" ("Goodbye!"),

The album was released the year after in the US, then named "Lee and Nancy Again" and with a different song order.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Did You Ever?
2. Toe tippy
3. Back On The Road
4. Arkansas Coal (Suite)
5. Congratulations

Side B
1. Down From Dover
2. Train Friendship
3. Paris Summer
4. Big Red Balloon
5. Got It Together Again

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

Lee Hazlewood - "Movin' On" (1977)

Lee Hazlewood is always a safe bet when it comes to music. Dark, psychedelic, humorous, twisted country is never wrong. And Lee always delivers. Or does he?

Well, barely. Looking at his career, Movin 'On is not Lee's best moment, but contains enough gems to justify a spin on the turntable. The album was recorded at the end of Lee's stay in Sweden, he would later move on to Germany and Spain. Contributing to the album is the famous Swedish guitarist Janne Schaffer, he says of Lee (quote stolen from Acerecords website):

"Lee was a good guy," says Janne Schaffer, one of the guitarists who appeared on the record. "I'd previously played on another session for him [possibly 1976's "20th Century Lee "] and admired him a lot because of his work with Duane Eddy. He was a very cool guy, very sophisticated. He didn't speak Swedish so everything was done in English but I don't recall him saying a lot. He had a special kind of charisma - let's say an authority - and that's my abiding memory of working with him."

The album contains, as usual, lots of songs that had appeared on previous records (to be exact, half of them). Of the album's twelve songs, Lee has written two, the rest are covers. Movin 'On has the dubious quality to include many fairly ordinary country songs, without that dark twist Lee usually has the ability to create. The opening song Mother Country Music might as well have been sung by Kris Kristofersson.

The album's highlight is the closing number on side A, the druggy Let's Burn Down The Cornfield, written by Randy Newman. It's For My Dad is also a nice song, a song that in my dream world my children are singing in my honor after my death.

There's a man who always stood right by me

Tall and proud and good when times were bad

Too much heart, is the only fault that I see

This song's not for you folks

It's for my dad

Almost too cheesy.

Another cool song is Kung Fu You, mainly thanks to its more humorous character. But the biggest reason for me to own Movin 'On is not primarily the music. It is the fact that the LP was only released in Sweden, making it fairly unique in Lee's discography, and probably more desirable on the international market. Personally, I found it in Gothenburg, but has also seen in now and then in the record shops here in Uppsala. This is an album with a lot of valleys but also a few peaks. On the sleeve it says "Whatever your listening pleasure, you'll find something on this album you like." And I guess that's the way it is, out of twelve songs with Lee Hazlewood, I would be damned if you didn't find one you like.

In summary, a barely OK album, and not the one I would recommend spontaneously when it comes to Lee Hazlewood. Personally, however, I can bear with the music's somewhat lacking quality. The vain joy of owning a Hazlewood album which is a bit of a rarity, internationally speaking, outweighs.


Tracklist

Side A
1. Mother Country Music 2:34
2. I've Got To Be Movin' 3:29
3. The Rising Star 4:06
4. Come On Home To Me 2:35
5. It's For My Dad 3:07
6. Let's Burn Down The Cornfield 2:39

Side B
1. Hello, Saturday Morning 3:16
2. Wait For Next Year 3:35
3. L.A. Lady 1:59
4. Paris Bells 2:40
5. Kung Fu You 2:30
6. It Was A Very Good Year 4:14

Lee Hazlewood – "Requim For An Almost Lady" (1971)

Another one of these cool and beautiful Hazlewood albums. This album is globally seen as something of a rarity as it was released only in Sweden and England, at the time. A reissue was made in the U.S. in 1999, but of course you want the original in your shelf. On discogs.com it says large letters regarding the Swedish press:

Notice: IT IS ILLEGAL TO SELL THIS ALBUM IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ITS TERRITORIES, THE UNITED KINGDOM, CANADA AND AUSTRALIA.

The reason for this, I have no idea, but it certainly enhances the mystery surrounding the album. And since I have the Swedish version, I feel a bit like a desperado. Living on the wild side!

As mentioned in previous posts Lee lived in Sweden at the time, which explains why it was released here (and the U.K.), obviously I can count myself lucky (living in Sweden). Many regard this as one of his best records and I’m somewhat inclined to agree. The sound is relatively simple, most songs consist of Lee's vocals, acoustic guitar and bass. No fat string arrangements, no sound effects and no choirs to fill things out. But make no mistake, you don’t miss that. Firstly, and most important, it's really good songs, almost all of them. Secondly, Lee's deep voice makes such a mark on each song that they become something extraordinary. Thirdly, the texts often have some sort of dark twist or semi surrealistic content that entertains and / or interests. The opening song I'm Glad I Never, I first experience as a beautiful love song until the brutal final line is sung, "I'm glad I never ... owned a gun. ". Suddenly the song became something else.

As is customary with Lee the music leans a bit toward Country & Western, but on Requim... it’s just as much singer songwriter like Leonard Cohen, for example. Many of the songs are very delicate and beautiful creations, while there’s always some sort of druggy psychedelic touch that elevates them a couple of levels. But had Kenny Rogers sang them, I'm sure it had sounded just like classic Country & Western music. All songs are introduced by a few spoken lines by Lee.

I highly recommended this album to humanity, just the piece of art the cover is justifies a purchase. I've seen it sold for around 100 USD in my hometown Uppsala, so it felt like a bargain when I found it in good condition for under 30 USD in Gothenburg. Thank you, Gothenburg, we love you.

　
Tracklist

Side A
1. I'm Glad I Never... – 1:04
2. If It's Monday Morning – 3:54
3. L.A. Lady - 2:20
4. Won't You Tell Your Dreams - 3:52
5. I'll Live Yesterdays - 2:50

Side B
1. Little Miss Sunshine (Little Miss Rain) - 2:33
2. Stone Lost Child - 2:02
3. Come on Home to Me - 2:58
4. Must Have Been Something I Loved - 1:40
5. I'd Rather Be Your Enemy - 2:12

Lee Hazlewood - "A Cowboy In Sweden" (1970)

I have a fascination for Lee Hazlewood. His deep baritone voice, the slightly twisted half psychedelic country & western music, and his humorous undertone makes me always feel comfortable in his company. This is a record I’ve been looking for, for some time and finally found at a store for used records on the run-down street Andra Långgatan in Gothenburg, of all places. Thanks to a price under a hundred Swedish kronor (around 14 USD) it felt like a good day.
(You can certainly find this LP online, but I have a policy to buy (almost) all my vinyls in physical stores. It's fun to go and rummage in the record shelves and it's easier to check the condition of albums. Moreover, some of the joy of the hunt is lost if you take the easy way out through the internet).

Lee Hazlewood was born in 1929 and died in 2007. For a number of years in the 70's he lived in Sweden. One reason for this choice was that he had become good friends with TV-producer / screenwriter Torbjörn Axelman (who nowdays spends his time in a psychiatric ward thanks to a shooting incident at his home in Brucebo, Sweden. You can’t go around shooting people and police officers without consequences, apparently). Torbjörn’s work included the TV show A Cowboy In Sweden to which today's album was the soundtrack. Lee also starred in the TV show. On the record two female singers are also involved, Nina Lizell and Suzi Jane Hokom, contributing with a fine contrast to Lee’s drawling, deep voice.

Thanks to that Lee lived here in Sweden there are a few albums that are only released here, as I understand it. According to discogs.com this album was only released in Sweden and the U.S in 1970. A reissue was released in the U.S in 1999. The album has a gatefold sleeve, and on the inside you can read:

'Here's some of the music from "A Cowboy In Sweden."

I hope you like the show and the album. It's a part

of my life I'll always remember. I love you, Sweden,

and all you wonderful people. Lee Hazlewood'

Seems to have been a nice man, our Lee.



Lee and Torbjörn

Most of the songs are really good, especially the B-side is filled with beautiful creations. Here and there fat string arrangements present themselves, vibrating electronic organs and soaring flutes also come to visit, while many songs are fairly simple in their sound - acoustic guitar, bass and drums. But thanks to Lee's touch of humor, sadness, irony and psychedelia, it's always interesting. Who can resist such a cocktail? The album and its sound really smells the 70s which in today's text is a compliment.
The album ends with Nina and Lee's collaboration on the song Vem Kan Segla (Who Can Sail). Nina sings it in Swedish and Lee translates. Apparently this was a minor hit, but personally, I’m fed up with this song, I’d heard too many times already in my childhood. How many times did we have to sing it in school? And already then I didn’t like the song - sad, slow and boring.
Cockaburra sits in the old gum tree, eating all the gum drops he can see... Now, that was a song!

Those who previously have heard Lee Hazlewood will recognize the mood. He delivers as always. For those who have never heard him this album is probably as good a starting point as anyone else of his albums. Lee is well known for his collaboration with Nancy Sinatra, but one should certainly not be satisfied with what they did together. Lee had a solo career that was at least as interesting. Should I describe his music it always ends with me reusing a term I have seen others use - psychedelic country & western music. So those who have never heard him will get a perfect understanding of what it is about.


Tracklist

Side A
1 Pray Them Bars Away 3:42
2 Leather & Lace 3:01
3 Forget Marie 2:00
4 Cold Hard Times 2:20
5 The Night Before 3:15
6 Hey Cowboy 3:16

Side B
1 No Train To Stockholm 2:16
2 For A Day Like Today 4:05
3 Easy And Me 2:50
4 What's More I Don’t Need Her 3:28
5 Vem Kan Segla 2:15

Lee Hazlewood - "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town" (1963)

Lee Hazlewood is a cool guy who in periods has been one of my favorite artists. I'm not a big fan of Country & Western, but Lee's version of this music is really enjoyable. It has often been described as Cowboy Psychedelia or psychedelic Country & Western, a description that often fits pretty good with what he created. His music is often quite beautiful with a dark sense of humor that makes the listening a remarkable experience.

Best known to the world is probably Lee's classic song These Boots Are Made For Walking, which he wrote and produced for Nancy Sinatra. The two made a lot of beautiful music together and the lover of psychedelic music problably knows the great song Some Velvet Morning, one of the best songs coming out from the 60s.

Trouble Is A Lonesome Town was Lee's first solo album. During the 50s he had started to write and produce music for other artists, including a lot of work with Duane Eddy. The music on Trouble... is relatively simple. Besides his deep baryton voices the listener rarely gets to hear more that a couple of acoustic guitars and a bass. Here and there a harmonica pops up. The songs begin with Lee telling a story about some character in the town of Trouble, an imaginary town loosely based on Lee's own birthplace. His narrative is quitely accompanied by a guitar playing some blues chords. Thereafter, the song starts in which we get an in-depth description of the events surrounding the described character.

Already the opening song Long Black Train the listener gets an example on (in my opnion) Lee's funny humor, in his description of the drama concerning his wild friend Jim:

And so I cut my friend

Twelve men covicted him

Ninety nine years is what he got

I'll bet it seems like a hundred to Jim

And so continues the record with Lee's narrative and the following, somewhat twisted, country & western songs. It's a good album and an impressive solo debut. But later in the 60s and the 70s I think Lee made even more interesting music where the twisted psychedelic touch were even more visible. Especially a lot what he did with Nancy Sinatra is really enjoyable. Overall Trouble... is relatively "normal" album where Lee still shows what to expect in the future. Other highlights from the album is We All Make The Flowers Grow and Look At That Woman, the latter again with a text which makes me smile.
 

Look at that woman standin' there

Look at that woman ain't he fair

Look at that woman seems so nice

Lord I wish that woman was anybody else that mine

Anybody else but mine

She can't cook and she can't love

and she ain't worth a dime

And Lord I wish that woman was anybody else but mine

Now, isnt' that humor?

In the 70s Lee lived quite a long time in Sweden where he did some work together with Torbjörn Axelman. The copy of Trouble... in my possession is a swedish cover, a reissue from 1971.

In summary, I recommend this album, it's a good way of gettinig to know Lee. But I also recommend the reader to explore his other work, if this has not already been done. There's a lot to discover, often music with a dark, but humorous, twist.

Tracklist

Side A
1. Long Black Train 2:23
2. Ugly Brown 3:24
3. Son Of A Gun 2:53
4. We All Make The Flowers Grow 1:50
5. Run Boy Run 2:19

Side B
1. Six Feet Of Chain 1:40
2. The Railroad 1:38
3. Look At That Woman 2:33
4. Peculiar Guy 2:17
5. Trouble Is A Lonesome Town 3:46