HIS BOOTS WILL KEEP ON WALKING
LEE HAZLEWOOD: 9 July 1929 – 4 August 2007
Kiss all the pretty ones goodbye Give everyone a penny that cry You can throw all my tranquil' pills away Let my blood pressure go on its way For my autumn's done come My autumn’s done come. Lee Hazlewood, My Autumn’s Done Come
LEE HAZLEWOOD has died peacefully at his home outside Las Vegas, USA, after a three year struggle with cancer. He celebrated his 78th birthday earlier this month surrounded by family and friends from around the world. He passed away on August 4th, 2007, in Henderson, Nevada, and is survived by his son Mark, his daughters Debbie and Samantha, and his devoted wife Jeane.
For over half a century, LEE HAZLEWOOD proved himself to be one of the most ingenious, inspired and impressively stubborn sons-of-a-bitch the music industry ever saw. His career – a word that HAZLEWOOD himself scorned – saw him take on almost every aspect of the music industry – a word that HAZLEWOOD himself was equally dismissive of – and come out on top every time. Most famous for his work with Nancy Sinatra – he wrote and produced many of her biggest hits, including These Boots Were Made For Walking, Sugartown and the unforgettable Some Velvet Morning – HAZLEWOOD in fact started his musical career as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona. It was here he first met Duane Eddy, with whom he began to flesh out and record some of his songs. In 1955 he set up Viv Records and in 1956 hit paydirt with Sanford Clark’s legendary The Fool, and the following year he gave up DJing to focus on production and writing. In the early 1960s he established the LHI label (which is best known for having released the debut album by Gram Parson’s first group, The International Submarine Band) and began releasing his own solo albums, including the extraordinary "Trouble Is A Lonesome Town".
In the mid sixties, in the face of The British Invasion (led by the likes of The Beatles), HAZLEWOOD retired to the shadows (where he was always most comfortable) only to be reluctantly dragged out to work with Nancy Sinatra. Their work together – including the iconic Boots – was an overnight success and saw her become a star in her own right worldwide, but she also insisted that HAZLEWOOD step out in front of the microphone himself, leading to the release of three "Nancy & Lee" albums.
In the early 1970s HAZLEWOOD moved to Sweden to ensure his son was not drafted by the US military. He recorded a series of solo albums there as well as collaborating with film director Torbjörn Axelman, but then ‘retired’ again, working only occasionally over the next two decades. Instead he began to follow an itinerant lifestyle which he pursued until very recently, living in Ireland, Germany, Spain and of course America. However it was the rediscovery of this work two decades later by a new generation of musicians – including the likes of Sonic Youth, whose drummer Steve Shelley tracked HAZLEWOOD down and reissued a number of his solo albums on his Smells Like Records imprint – that led to a resurgence of interest in his work as a performer. In the late 90s he returned to the studio to record the typically cryptically titled standards album "Farmisht, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! and Me", and in 1999 he returned to the stage at the invitation of Nick Cave who was curating that year’s Meltdown Festival in London. Following a sold out show at the Royal Festival Hall he sanctioned the release of two albums of unreleased material, most notably "For Every Solution There’s A Problem", toured Europe, and then returned to the studio to record his final album, "Cake Or Death", which was released to worldwide acclaim in 2006.
HAZLEWOOD’s music has always been a staple of movie soundtracks, but it has continued to become more and more fashionable, regularly turning up in films as diverse as The Dukes Of Hazzard – which saw Jessica Simpson perform These Boots Were Made For Walking for the title track – and the arthouse flick Morvern Callar – which used Some Velvet Morning to great effect.
The family have requested that those wishing to honour LEE HAZLEWOOD should make donations to the Salvation Army…
― stirmonster, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:50 (eighteen years ago)
awww. RIP.
― s1ocki, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:51 (eighteen years ago)
:(
RIP
― gr8080, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:52 (eighteen years ago)
and unbelievably i spelt his name wrong. sorry lee!
― stirmonster, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:54 (eighteen years ago)
:´(
― t**t, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:55 (eighteen years ago)
this was not unexpected, but sad all the same. great great records as performer & producer.
― bobby bedelia, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:57 (eighteen years ago)
"Some Velvet Morning" is one of the most gorgeous songs I've ever heard. RIP :(
― Tape Store, Sunday, 5 August 2007 19:59 (eighteen years ago)
I still hate that "Proud to be an American" song.
― Pleasant Plains, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:03 (eighteen years ago)
;-)
― Pleasant Plains, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:04 (eighteen years ago)
total hero :(((((((((((
― zappi, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:08 (eighteen years ago)
Ive been trying to track down some of his solo stuff for a while. How is he seperate from Nancy?
― filthy dylan, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:09 (eighteen years ago)
'bye fella. :(
I'm glad the NYT ran that story a few months ago about his illness/attitude.
― Jon Lewis, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:18 (eighteen years ago)
rip lee.
and sorry for the dup thread.
― hstencil, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:25 (eighteen years ago)
Ive been trying to track down some of his solo stuff for a while. How is he seperate from Nancy?-- filthy dylan, Sunday, August 5, 2007 10:09 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
-- filthy dylan, Sunday, August 5, 2007 10:09 AM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Link
My Autumn's Done Come is so so so essential.
― gr8080, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:28 (eighteen years ago)
Bye bye Lee, thanks for everything.
― Billy Dods, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:46 (eighteen years ago)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CZ0eFy6bBY
― bobby bedelia, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:53 (eighteen years ago)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sd9Kvq_jx-U&mode=related&search=
― bobby bedelia, Sunday, 5 August 2007 20:58 (eighteen years ago)
oh so sad.
― CharlieNo4, Sunday, 5 August 2007 21:26 (eighteen years ago)
Damn - very clearly talented to his dying days - listening to Some Velvet Morning and shedding a tear - RIP ...
― BlackIronPrison, Sunday, 5 August 2007 21:43 (eighteen years ago)
I was just watching "Big Fish", which was a bit too much...RIP
― barnaby, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:37 (eighteen years ago)
i just listened to cowboy in sweden, not even knowing. what a great songwriter.
― oo, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:44 (eighteen years ago)
― kornrulez6969, Sunday, 5 August 2007 22:51 (eighteen years ago)
Yeah I'm putting on Cowboy in Sweden just now. Really sad to see you go, Lee.
― Clay, Sunday, 5 August 2007 23:07 (eighteen years ago)
So long, babe.
― If Timi Yuro would be still alive, most other singers could shut up, Sunday, 5 August 2007 23:24 (eighteen years ago)
R.I.P.
― Raw Patrick, Sunday, 5 August 2007 23:35 (eighteen years ago)
Aw, fuck... :-(
― Saxby D. Elder, Monday, 6 August 2007 00:31 (eighteen years ago)
ugh :( take care Lee! See you in the Rosacoke Street in the sky.
― gigabytepicnic, Monday, 6 August 2007 00:43 (eighteen years ago)
Sorry to see him go. Truly one of the good ones.
― Telephone thing, Monday, 6 August 2007 03:02 (eighteen years ago)
oh no! ;__;
just a month ago, we were talking about cowboy in sweden and "these boots are made for walkin'" at work.
― Eisbaer, Monday, 6 August 2007 03:15 (eighteen years ago)
Can the Mods correct the spelling in the thread title?
Here's the Sia Michel NY Times article (as reprinted in another paper)
http://www.smh.com.au/news/music/pop-svengali-hangs-up-his-boots/2007/01/31/1169919399551.html
and one of several threads on him
Lee Hazlewood -- Search and Destroy
― curmudgeon, Monday, 6 August 2007 03:30 (eighteen years ago)
yup, can i second the correcting the spelling in the title? firstly to save my blushes and secondly so that it can be found in future searches.
we had a big old lee tribute at our club tonight. i think i managed to cram in about 8 of his songs/
― stirmonster, Monday, 6 August 2007 03:41 (eighteen years ago)
rip lee
you will be missed.
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Monday, 6 August 2007 03:51 (eighteen years ago)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,2142293,00.html
― gershy, Monday, 6 August 2007 04:35 (eighteen years ago)
i'm in the process of licensing this for a compilation so hopefully it's not going to infringe on the ilm ysi (etc) rules if i make it available for a day or two. in tribute to lee, here's a song that sums up everything i loved about the man - his completely insane, uber hard to find cover of 'whole lotta shakin' goin on'. how low can a voice go?!
― stirmonster, Monday, 6 August 2007 05:01 (eighteen years ago)
and another one of my heroes leaves the planet. this sucks. :-(
― get bent, Monday, 6 August 2007 05:35 (eighteen years ago)
i did have him in the deadpool tho :\
― gershy, Monday, 6 August 2007 05:43 (eighteen years ago)
RIP, indeed. I will blast Cowboy in Sweden all night. so, so good.
― poortheatre, Monday, 6 August 2007 05:45 (eighteen years ago)
Taking Sides: Cake or Death.
RIP.
― Mark G, Monday, 6 August 2007 08:25 (eighteen years ago)
That's a nice obituary up top there. And "My Autumn's Done Come" was of course the first thing that came into my head when I heard the news this morning.
One of the greats.
RIP, Lee.
― Jeff W, Monday, 6 August 2007 09:26 (eighteen years ago)
I just listened to 'Cowboy In Sweden' last week. This album is in my all time Top 10.
― zeus, Monday, 6 August 2007 10:30 (eighteen years ago)
I'd almost forgotten I'd written this: http://pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39969-cake-or-death
― Stevie T, Monday, 6 August 2007 10:51 (eighteen years ago)
terribly sad. one of the greats.
― cw, Monday, 6 August 2007 11:17 (eighteen years ago)
i think i'll listen to requiem for an almost lady tonight, it's not his greatest but i dunno it seems to strike a good tone. i was asked to play sad records at some bar last week and completely underestimated how many rekkids i'd need, fortunately i had hey cowboy and nancy and lee so it wasn't a problem.
― cw, Monday, 6 August 2007 11:22 (eighteen years ago)
This news is teh suck
― Naive Teen Idol, Monday, 6 August 2007 11:30 (eighteen years ago)
rest in peace. Coast to Coast AM still uses "Some Velvet Morning" as a regular bumper.
― kingfish, Monday, 6 August 2007 14:23 (eighteen years ago)
― C. Grisso/McCain, Monday, 6 August 2007 16:28 (eighteen years ago)
Coolest person to ever ride in my just expired Honda Civic - I chaufferred him and Nancy Sinatra to a 1995 Boston record signing, ferrying them to and from Mama Kin. RIP.
― dad a, Monday, 6 August 2007 16:36 (eighteen years ago)
Nancy S. has an extended thread on the Sinatra family site about him, consisting of various photos and thoughts. Well worth looking through:
http://sinatrafamily.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31687
Hope this photo goes through:
http://sinatrafamily.com/forum/attachment.php?s=a8706dec035c38f32c3ecfdae924f6ff&attachmentid=42012&stc=1&d=1185832492
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 6 August 2007 16:44 (eighteen years ago)
Interview with him from last October via Richard Hawley, ex-Pulp:
RH: I toured with Nancy Sinatra and she said that a pop song has to be 'dumb' to succeed.LH: Dumb? Oh, that's my word I taught her. She used to bring me songs and I'd go: 'That's not dumb enough for us! We do dumb things for the people.' You know, we're Laurel and Hardy, we do that kind of stuff.RH: Would you still agree with that, then?LH: Oh sure, absolutely! Dumb doesn't mean without intelligence. It just means knowing where your limitations are and you don't have any when you're dumb. Dumb people don't have any limitations at all. So we just did anything we could and God knows how she sold as many records as she sold with me, teaching her with my bad guitar playing, because I barely can hold one. We started together - you're probably going to ask a question about this - out of absolute greed on my part. We were putting out a single every three months and getting a gold record for that, or whatever, and I got greed and thought: if we can get her with another singer I'll write some boy-girl stuff. That's simple enough. Boy. Girl. So I did and she auditioned a lot of people and I said: 'Well, I liked him, I liked him and I liked him.' But her problem was this: she'd put up with me for about two or three weeks, you know, teaching her the songs and she said: 'I don't hear them with anybody but you.' So I said: 'This is what we'll do, you be a nice girl and work hard and everything else and I'll put one in each album for you.' That's how we started together.
LH: Dumb? Oh, that's my word I taught her. She used to bring me songs and I'd go: 'That's not dumb enough for us! We do dumb things for the people.' You know, we're Laurel and Hardy, we do that kind of stuff.
RH: Would you still agree with that, then?
LH: Oh sure, absolutely! Dumb doesn't mean without intelligence. It just means knowing where your limitations are and you don't have any when you're dumb. Dumb people don't have any limitations at all. So we just did anything we could and God knows how she sold as many records as she sold with me, teaching her with my bad guitar playing, because I barely can hold one. We started together - you're probably going to ask a question about this - out of absolute greed on my part. We were putting out a single every three months and getting a gold record for that, or whatever, and I got greed and thought: if we can get her with another singer I'll write some boy-girl stuff. That's simple enough. Boy. Girl. So I did and she auditioned a lot of people and I said: 'Well, I liked him, I liked him and I liked him.' But her problem was this: she'd put up with me for about two or three weeks, you know, teaching her the songs and she said: 'I don't hear them with anybody but you.' So I said: 'This is what we'll do, you be a nice girl and work hard and everything else and I'll put one in each album for you.' That's how we started together.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 6 August 2007 16:51 (eighteen years ago)
And I love this bit:
RH: A huge number of artists have covered your songs. Do you remember any as doing a really good job?LH: Nah, there's just so many covers.RH: It's difficult to remember.LH: Yeah, I'm getting old. I heard that, who was that lady? In Florida, my son came to me and said: 'Dada, you gotta get down to the club and see this girl do "Boots".' And I said: 'I've seen girls do "Boots" before.' And he said: 'Well, you haven't seen one do it with her breasts.' And I says: 'What are you talking about?' And he said: 'Well, she plays the piano with her breasts.' So I said: 'OK, we'll do that this weekend.' But whoever this girl was, she'd checked out. But one of her big numbers was she'd pound the piano with her breasts and sing 'Boots', which I thought was unique and about 15 seconds away from the circus.RH: Yeah, or prison.LH: I always liked circuses, so I would have enjoyed that.
LH: Nah, there's just so many covers.
RH: It's difficult to remember.
LH: Yeah, I'm getting old. I heard that, who was that lady? In Florida, my son came to me and said: 'Dada, you gotta get down to the club and see this girl do "Boots".' And I said: 'I've seen girls do "Boots" before.' And he said: 'Well, you haven't seen one do it with her breasts.' And I says: 'What are you talking about?' And he said: 'Well, she plays the piano with her breasts.' So I said: 'OK, we'll do that this weekend.' But whoever this girl was, she'd checked out. But one of her big numbers was she'd pound the piano with her breasts and sing 'Boots', which I thought was unique and about 15 seconds away from the circus.
RH: Yeah, or prison.
LH: I always liked circuses, so I would have enjoyed that.
― Ned Raggett, Monday, 6 August 2007 16:53 (eighteen years ago)
"A poet - no a fool - i hope not a bum - nooooooooooooo, i'm only me". R.I.P.
― Zeno, Monday, 6 August 2007 17:35 (eighteen years ago)
"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'.[citation needed]" (from "wikipedia")
i liked those 2 style descriptions..
― Zeno, Monday, 6 August 2007 17:54 (eighteen years ago)
We all make the little flowers grow
― zaxxon25, Monday, 6 August 2007 18:00 (eighteen years ago)
more cowboy psychedelia, please
― poortheatre, Monday, 6 August 2007 21:16 (eighteen years ago)
Notorious Byrd Bros.? At least in parts?
― Jon Lewis, Monday, 6 August 2007 21:18 (eighteen years ago)
RIP, great guy.
― Michael F Gill, Monday, 6 August 2007 21:41 (eighteen years ago)
It looks like there's no NY Times obit. Very disappointing. RIP.
― Bill in Chicago, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 02:09 (eighteen years ago)
great link ned.
― s1ocki, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 02:17 (eighteen years ago)
One of the greats. Awful news..
― baaderonixx, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 07:54 (eighteen years ago)
RIP Bart
― Tom D., Tuesday, 7 August 2007 08:28 (eighteen years ago)
"more cowboy psychedelia, please"
reverand horton heat? some birthday party maybe?
― Zeno, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 13:44 (eighteen years ago)
i'm having an all-lee day
― get bent, Tuesday, 7 August 2007 16:57 (eighteen years ago)
he was the man. I think I'm gonna try to do the all-Lee thing on Saturday, great idea.
and I will stock up on Chivas for the occasion :)
I'm so glad he completed 'Cake Or Death', that's great. a great way to say goodbye, and still such a playful vibe on the whole thing. even 'Baghdad Knights'. what a guy.
― Stormy Davis, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 05:16 (eighteen years ago)
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/07/arts/07hazlewood.600.jpg
Took them a while: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/07/obituaries/07hazlewood.html
― Bill in Chicago, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 17:07 (eighteen years ago)
His three MGM albums are being reissued on Water. Hell of a time to find out about it :(
― Telephone thing, Wednesday, 8 August 2007 22:02 (eighteen years ago)
2001 interview with lee hazlewood, by my roommate. enjoy.
― hstencil, Thursday, 9 August 2007 19:14 (eighteen years ago)
Only just caught up with those pics on Nanci Sinatra's website that Ned posted upthread, lovely photos. I was listening to the last track on Nancy and Lee Again just now, they obviously got along so well...
"Are we done? Can I go back to Sweden now?
― Ned Trifle II, Tuesday, 14 August 2007 12:31 (eighteen years ago)