Lee Hazlewood

Born to Gabe Hazlewood, an oilman, and his wife Eva Lee, he has one sister, Sara (born in 1935).

This singer, songwriter and producer who wrote millionsellers for Nancy Sinatra 'These boots are made for walkin' and for Dean Martin 'Houston' and 'Shades', and for Frank sinatra 'This town' was the son of an oilman. Drafted during the Korean war, he became a country DJ in¨Phoenix in 1953. He began experimenting with session guitarist Al Casey by putting echo on country songs. His first succes was the song 'The fool' written and produced by him, under the name of his first wife 'Naomi Ford' (in fact her name was Naomi Shackleford). This composition was recorded by Sanford Clark and had the backing by Al Casey.

Has two children with his first wife Naomi, Debbie (born in 1954) and Mark (born in 1955).

In 1955 he moved to KRUX radio in Phoenix, where he championed Elvis Presley.

It became a top 10 hit in the USA in 1956. His electronic gimmickry influenced an other well-known producer : Phil Spector.

In 1957 Lee Hazlewood co-founded Jamie Records in Philadelphia with Lester Sill and Dick Clark, using Clark's TV-show to sell the hits of guitarplayer Duane Eddy.

Hazlewood produced guitar tracks for teenager Duane Eddy, imaginatively employing reverb to create a potent sound, and he licensed these to Jamie Records. Eddy's second single, Rebel Rouser (1958), was a US and British hit, and the guitarist went on to enjoy a further 14 US and 25 British hits.

He produced several singles on Dean Martin's daughter, Deana Martin, including her country hit, "Girl of the Month Club," while Deana was still a teenager. Other tunes on that project were "When He Remembers Me," "Baby I See You" and "The Bottom of My Mind," all recorded during the 1960s.

In 1961 and 1962, after founding with Lester Sill the Gregmark Company, he had hits with the Paris Sisters - a trio from San Francisco-. He threatened to quit the business when the United States were swamped by 'British Invasion'.

Dismayed by the Beatles' success and the "British invasion" of the US charts, Hazlewood announced his retirement in 1964. Yet the following year Reprise Records managed to convince him to reconsider, with the prospect of producing Dino, Desi & Billy - three Hollywood 13-year olds.

Instead, at request of Jimmy Bowen, he produced hits by film-star offspring Dino, Desi and Billy on the Frank Sinatra-label 'Reprise' in 1965.

He reached the top in 1966 with his composition 'These boots are made for walkin', a number 1 hit for Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy Sinatra. He made with her several hits as 'Jackson', 'Summerwine' or 'Lady Bird'. In the seventies he moved to Sweden where he made several records and worked for television together with the Swedish director Torbjörn Axelmann. The two made also a show for the Swedish television and won 'The Golden Rose of Montreux' (an award for the best televisionprogram).

Early in 1967 Lee Hazlewood produced the number 1 hit song for Frank & Nancy Sinatra "Somethin' Stupid". Jimmy Bowen was listed as co-producer but wasn't there at the time. Lee just gave him credit as per a previous agreement with Jimmy.

Since 1968, he has lived in California, London, Paris, Stockholm, Hamburg, Helsinki, Ireland, Spain, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Texas and Florida, but finally settled down in Florida with his wife Jeanne.

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.

Alongside his pop productions, Hazlewood released willfully eccentric solo albums; all were commercial failures, and his 1973 album Poet, Fool Or Bum received a one-word review in the NME - "bum".

In 1993, the famous British pop group Tindersticks issued a 45 rpm 7'' single 'A marriage made in heaven' based on Hazlewood's composition 'Sand'. It was considered as a tribute to Lee Hazlewood whose portrait has been placed on the cover of that single.

Also in 1993 - after an interval of 13 years - Lee hazlewood could be heard on the Finnsh album 'Gypsies and Indians'together with the Finnish female singer Anna Hanski.

In 1995 he did a tour with Nancy Sinatra in the States, canada and Scandinavia.

In 1999 he issued - for the first time in 20 years- a new solo album titled 'Farmisht, flatulence, origami, ARF!!! and me. . . '. It was a new collaboration with Al Casey.

In 2005, Hazlewood was diagnosed with terminal renal cancer, and he undertook an extensive round of interviews and promotional activities in support of his last album, Cake or Death.

Sang the song "Lee Hazlewood und das erste Lied des Tages" (Lee Hazlewood and the first song of the day) for 'Bela B.''s first solo album (2006).

Musician and producer Charles Normal and a group of musician friends, including Black Francis of the Pixies, Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse, Larry Norman, Pete Yorn and members of Art Brut and the Dandy Warhols, released their own version of Trouble Is a Lonesome Town in July 2013, named after the first solo album of Lee in 1963.