Lee Hazlewood - Career

Career

Following discharge from the military, Hazlewood worked as a disc jockey in Arizona while honing his songwriting skills. His first hit as a producer and songwriter was "The Fool", recorded by rockabilly artist Sanford Clark in 1956. Hazlewood partnered with pioneering rock guitarist Duane Eddy, producing and cowriting an unprecedented string of hit instrumental records, including "Peter Gunn", "Boss Guitar", "40 Miles Of Bad Road", "Shazam!", "Rebel Rouser" and " Guitar Man".

Hazlewood is perhaps best known for having written and produced the 1966 Nancy Sinatra U.S./UK No. 1 hit, "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "Summer Wine". He also wrote "How Does That Grab Ya, Darlin'", "Friday's Child", "So Long, Babe, "Sugar Town" and many others for Sinatra. Among his most well-known vocal performances is "Some Velvet Morning", a 1967 duet with Nancy Sinatra. Hazlewood performed that song along with "Jackson" and "See the Little Children" on her 1967 television special Movin' With Nancy. He wrote the theme song "The Last of the Secret Agents", the theme song of the 1966 spy-spoof film of the same title. Nancy Sinatra, who had a role in the film, recorded the song for the soundtrack. For Frank Sinatra's 1967 detective movie, Tony Rome, Hazlewood also wrote the theme song which was performed by Nancy.

He also wrote "Houston", a 1965 US hit recorded by Dean Martin. Hazlewood also wrote "This Town", a song that was recorded by Frank Sinatra that appeared on his 1969 album Greatest Hits and is the basis for Paul Shaffer's "Small Town News" segment theme on the Late Show with David Letterman.

Hazlewood was also involved in the early years of the young record producer, Phil Spector's early career.

Though it did not receive much attention at the time, Hazlewood also worked with Gram Parsons and the International Submarine Band in the mid 1960s. Parsons' departure from the band and decision to become part of The Byrds created legal problems with Hazlewood.

In the 1970s Hazlewood moved to Stockholm, Sweden, where he wrote and produced the one-hour television show Cowboy in Sweden together with friend and Director Torbjörn Axelman, which also later emerged as an album.

Hazlewood was semi-retired from the music business during the 1970s and 1980s. However, his own output also achieved a cult status in the underground rock scene, with songs covered by artists such as Rowland S. Howard, Miles Kane, Vanilla Fudge, Lydia Lunch, Primal Scream, Entombed, Einstürzende Neubauten, Nick Cave, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Hooverphonic, Anita Lane, Megadeth, Beck, The Tubes, Thin White Rope and Slowdive.

In 2006, Hazlewood sang on Bela B.'s first solo album, Bingo, on the song "Lee Hazlewood und das erste Lied des Tages" ("Lee Hazlewood and the first song of the day"). He said that he loved producing and writing albums.