When Lee Hazlewood died in 2007 after a brave battle with cancer, music lost one of its true eccentrics. With a resonant baritone, a keen ear for a melody and a dry wit, Hazlewood was an unlikely recording star. His first long-term collaboration was with guitarist Duane Eddy, with whom he produced a string of hit instrumentals. His second such collaboration was a career-defining one with Nancy Sinatra, effectively launching her career with 1966’s “These Boots are Made for Walkin’” on the Reprise label. For that hallowed company, truly The House That Frank Built, Hazlewood would also produce hits for Dean Martin, Dino (Martin), Desi (Arnaz, Jr.) and Billy (Hinsche), and the Chairman of the Board himself. The Ace label’s acclaimed Songwriters and Producers series now turns its attention to Hazlewood’s remarkable, diverse career with the August 30 U.K. release of Califia: The Songs of Lee Hazlewood.

While a classic Nancy and Lee duet (“Lady Bird”) kicks off the collection, its 25 tracks (recorded between 1956 and 1970, the most fertile period of Hazlewood’s writing and producing) show that there was a lot more to Hazlewood than just those classic pop platters. His work took in country, rock, easy listening, pop, and just plain weirdness to create a body of work that has stood the test of time. As is Ace’s custom for these sets, the songs are a mixture of hits, misses and obscure cover versions, the common denominator being the presence of the collection’s subject. Hazlewood wrote every song heard, and produced all but four. (They’re not in this disc’s purview, but fans of offbeat covers are encouraged to check out Nancy and Lee’s readings of “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’” and “The Hungry Years,” among others!)  Hit the jump for more on Mr. Barton Lee Hazlewood along with the full track listing and discographical information!

The Oklahoma-born Hazlewood found success as a disk jockey in Phoenix, Arizona, and through his broadcasts met Duane Eddy. This fortuitous meeting would lead to Hazlewood’s shaping Eddy as perhaps America’s first true guitar hero. An early partner of Hazlewood’s on the Duane Eddy tracks, Lester Sill, would soon find another partner in Phil Spector; the Sill connection led Hazlewood to leave Phoenix for Los Angeles. It was just a matter of time before he teamed up with Reprise’s Jimmy Bowen to operate as a virtual house producer for the esteemed label. Ignoring a series of singles that hadn’t ignited much chart action for the Sinatra scion, Hazlewood toughened up Nancy, teaching her to “sing like a 16-year old who goes out with 45-year old truckers.” (There are other variations of that instruction, but the meaning's the same!) The formula worked. In the dynamic, sexy and talented young Sinatra, Lee had finally found his muse. He paired Nancy famously with her father on C. Carson Parks’ “Something Stupid,” and matched her sultry tones with his own distinct twang of a baritone on a series of duets that would influence a generation. Songs like the psychedelia-meets-country of “Some Velvet Morning” made fans of The Jesus and Mary Chain, Jarvis Cocker and Thurston Moore, to name a few. Nick Cave and Primal Scream were among those lining up to record Hazlewood compositions. Nancy Sinatra personally selected “Lady Bird,” with its typically evocative soundscape, for Ace’s compilation. (In a 2007 interview shortly before his death, Hazlewood declared their "Sand" his personal favorite of their many duets, and still took relish in the amount of double meanings he could insert into their pop songs, including the LSD-inspired "Sugar Town"!) Hazlewood interrupted his Reprise stint with a brief sojourn at MGM Records, and after a return to Reprise, moved to Sweden where he continued to intermittently record. Other duet partners included Ann-Margret and his girlfriend Suzi Jane Hokom. In 2004, he reunited for the (sadly unreleased in America) Nancy and Lee 3, and recorded his final album in 2006, Cake or Death, addressing his own mortality.

Thankfully many compilations of Hazlewood’s “winsome and unusual” (in the words of Stan Cornyn, Reprise liner note writer extraordinaire) songs exist. Rhino Handmade did a particularly wonderful job on Strung Out on Something New (RHM2 07754), a 2007 anthology collecting Hazlewood’s three solo albums for Reprise together with assorted odds and ends. Ace has previously collected the MGM years as 2002’s These Boots are Made for Walkin’: The Complete MGM Recordings (CD CHM2 860) and a long out-of-print Rhino title, Fairytales and Fantasies: The Best of Nancy and Lee (R2 70166), lives up to its subtitle.  Ace’s celebration of Lee’s finest work is due on August 30 in the U.K. and on September 7 in the U.S., and can be pre-ordered here. A companion volume containing instrumentals only is promised for a future date.

Califia: The Songs of Lee Hazlewood (Ace Records, 2010)

1. Lady Bird – Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood
2. Need All the Help I Can Get – Suzi Jane Hokom
3. Sweet Ride – Dusty Springfield
4. The Rebel Kind – Dino, Desi & Billy
5. The Fool – Sanford Clark with Al Casey
6. Have Love, Will Travel – The Sharps
7. Snake-Eyed Mama – Don Cole
8. The Girl on Death Row – Lee Hazlewood and Duane Eddy
9. The Dip – Hal Blaine and the Young Cougars
10. Houston – Sanford Clark
11. You Turned My Head Around – Ann-Margret
12. The City Never Sleeps at Night – The Shacklefords
13. Guitar on My Mind – Duane and Miriam Eddy
14. Califia (Stone Rider) – Lee Hazlewood and Suzie Jane Hokom
15. My Baby Plays That Same Old Song on His Guitar All Day Long – Duane Eddy
16. Twelve Feet High – The Hondas
17. I’m Afraid (You’ll Hurt Me) – The Darlenes
18. These Boots are Made for Walkin’ – Rose and the Heavenly Tones
19. What Are We Gonna Do in ’64? – The Wildcats
20. You Can’t Stay Here – The Barker Brothers
21. Not the Lovin’ Kind – Dino, Desi and Billy
22. Got the Teen-Age Blues – Al Casey
23. Don’t Look Now, But I’ve Got the Blues – B.B. King
24. Guitars, Guitars, Guitars – Al Casey with the K-C-Ettes
25. Das Ist Zauberei – Peggy March

Track 1 from Reprise single 0629, 1967
Track 2 from MGM single K13563, 1966
Track 3 from Sweet Ride: Original Soundtrack, 20th Century Fox LP S4198, 1968
Track 4 from Reprise single 0426, 1965
Track 5 from Dot single 15481, 1956
Track 6 from Jamie single 1108, 1958
Track 7 from RPM single 502, 1957
Track 8 from Jamie single 1158, 1960
Track 9 from RCA Victor LP SP-2834 Hal Blaine (The Drummer Man) and the Young Cougars, 1963
Track 10 from Warner Bros. single 5624, 1965
Track 11 from LHI single LHI-1, 1969
Track 12 from The Shacklefords Sing, Capitol LP 2450, 1965
Track 13 from Reprise single 0622, 1967
Track 14 from LHI single LHI-21, 1969
Track 15 from RCA single 1369, 1963
Track 16 from Eden single 4, 1962
Track 17 from Stacy single 965, 1963
Track 18 no discographical information available at present
Track 19 from Reprise single 253, 1964
Track 20 rec. c. 1958 Kent Records, first issued on Long Gone Daddies, Ace CD CHD-768, 2000
Track 21 from Reprise single 401, 1965
Track 22 from Highland single 1002, 1958
Track 23 from Kent single 307, 1958
Track 24 from Stacy single 964, 1963
Track 25 from Mein Lied fur Peggy, Decca LP SLK 16654-P, 1970