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