News

Light in the Attic is continuing its long-running Lee Hazlewood Archive Series.  On November 3, the label will release newly remastered and expanded CD and LP editions of three classics from the maverick singer-songwriter/producer: Forty (1969), Requiem for an Almost Lady (1971), and the Ann-Margret collaboration The Cowboy and the Lady (1969).

To mark his 40th birthday, Hazlewood recorded a different kind of album, appropriately entitled Forty.  It was recorded in England with producer Shel Talmy (The Kinks, The Who) and focused on Hazlewood as singer, rather than producer or songwriter.  Talmy assembled the cream of the U.K.’s session crop to IBC Studios, including arranger David Whitaker and pianist Nicky Hopkins, to work their magic on an eclectic selection of tunes including “It Was a Very Good Year,” Randy Newman’s “Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield,” Kurt Weill’s timeless “September Song,” and Talmy’s own, written-to-order “Bye, Babe.”  LITA’s reissue of this lavishly orchestrated, swinging ’60s classic adds two bonus tracks to present the complete Forty recordings: an outtake of Ron Miller’s Motown favorite “For Once in My Life,” and the backing track to the unfinished “Send Out Love.”  Hunter Lea’s new liner notes feature an interview with Talmy.

From the same year of 1969 comes an expanded edition of Hazlewood’s full-length collaboration with Ann-Margret, The Cowboy and the Lady.  Recorded far away from London in Nashville, Hazlewood and the luminous lady played with the famed “Nashville Cats,” including Charlie McCoy, who also provided arrangements with Lee.  LITA’s reissue of this cult country classic adds the other non-LP sides recorded by Lee and Ann-Margret including the trippy “It’s A Nice World To Visit (But Not To Live In)” and “You Turned My Head Around”), pop-flavored “Sleep in the Grass” and “Chico,” and the backing track to “He Rode Away.”  Lydia Hyslop provides an essay, while Hunter Lea’s notes include new interviews with The Lady, Ann-Margret, as well as Hazlewood’s girlfriend and frequent LHI collaborator, Suzi Jane Hokom.

Finally, LITA has the 1971 LP Requiem for an Almost Lady.  Among Hazlewood’s darkest albums, Requiem reflects on a doomed relationship.  The final release on LHI Records, Requiem eschewed the brass, strings, and orchestral hallmarks of the artist’s past work to present his storytelling at its most raw and stripped-down.  The “inspired by real life” tracks here include “Little Miss Sunshine (Little Miss Rain),” “Stoned Lost Child,” and “I’d Rather Be Your Enemy.”  This edition adds two bonus tracks: the outtake “I Just Learned to Run” and a demo of “Little Bird.”

The albums will be released in a variety of formats, including CD, digital, and both colored and standard black vinyl LPs.  Additionally, the label has a special offer to those who purchase all three colored LPs.  The 3xLP Bundle + Tape includes: color wax copies of The Cowboy & The Lady (LITA 160), Forty (LITA 161), and Requiem For An Almost Lady (LITA 162) plus nearly 60 minutes of unheard Lee on cassette! The cassette is a complete recording from 1969, featuring an A-side recorded in London and a B-side recorded in Nashville. This cassette is limited to 500 copies and only available to those that purchase ALL three limited colors of LITA 160, 161, 162 as part of the bundle.  You can pre-order the bundle here directly from Light in the Attic by clicking on any of the individual titles, while Amazon links for the three titles can be found below.  Look for another bout of Lee Hazlewoodism on November 3!

Lee Hazlewood, Forty (LHI LP S-12009, 1969 – reissued Light in the Attic LITA 161, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. It Was a Very Good Year
2. What’s More I Don’t Need Her
3. The Night Before
4. The Bed
5. Paris Bells
6. Wait ‘Til Next Year
7. September Song
8. Let’s Burn Down the Cornfield
9. Bye, Babe
10. Mary
11. For Once In My Life (Outtake)
12. Send Out Love (Backing Track)

Lee Hazlewood and Ann-Margret, The Cowboy and The Lady (LHI LP S-12007, 1969 – reissued Light in the Attic LITA 160, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. Am I That Easy to Forget
2. Only Mama That’ll Walk the Line
3. Greyhound Bus Depot
4. Walk On Out of My Mind
5. Hangin’ On
6. Victims of the Night
7. Break My Mind
8. You Can’t Imagine
9. Sweet Thing
10. No Regrets
11. Dark End of the Street
12. You Turned My Head Around (LHI single 1, 1969)
13. It’s a Nice World to Visit (But Not to Live In) (LHI single 1, 1969)
14. Sleep in the Grass (LHI single 2, 1969)
15. Chico (LHI single 2, 1969)
16. Sam
17. He Rode Away (Backing Track)

Lee Hazlewood, Requiem for an Almost Lady (LHI/Viking Sweden VIF 5000, 1971 – reissued Light in the Attic LITA 162, 2017) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

1. I’m Glad I Never…
2. If It’s Monday Morning
3. L.A. Lady
4. Won’t You Tell Your Dreams
5. I’ll Live Yesterdays
6. Little Miss Sunshine (Little Miss Rain)
7. Stoned Lost Child
8. Come On Home to Me
9. Must Have Been Something I Loved
10. I’d Rather Be Your Enemy
11. I Just Learned to Run
12. Little Bird (Demo)