Light in the Attic is continuing its expansive archival series dedicated to the music of maverick Lee Hazlewood with a new collection of previously unreleased demos on CD and LP.  400 Miles from L.A. 1955-56 takes listeners back to Hazlewood’s early days in Phoenix, Arizona, sharpening his skills as a songwriter, producer, and artist.  The set is due on September 13.

Lost for over 60 years, the 24 recordings on 400 Miles from L.A. date from the period in which Hazlewood shuttled back and forth from Phoenix (where he worked as a disk jockey) to Los Angeles in the hopes of selling a hit record.  Among the demos heard here are a clutch of songs that constitute an early draft of Hazlewood’s 1963 conceptual masterwork Trouble Is a Lonesome Town (reissued and expanded by LITA back in 2013) as well as never-before-released compositions and tracks later reworked by the artist such as “The Old Man and His Guitar.”  The package is adorned with a replica label for Viv Records, the label found by Hazlewood in Arizona.

The 2-LP set has been pressed at RTI and is housed in a Stoughton tip-on jacket.  Both the CD and LP packages have been mastered from the original Viv Records analog tapes, and contain new liner notes by Hazlewood historian Hunter Lea including an interview with Arizona music scholar John Dixon. The Light In The Attic Online Exclusive Bundle (available only at LightInTheAttic.net) has the LP pressed on colored vinyl plus a set Hazlewood collectibles created especially for this release: a travel journal, 18″x 24″ silkscreen print, a shot glass, and a groovy set of “Labels of Lee” drink coasters, all crafted in cooperation with the Hazlewood estate.

Amazon links aren’t yet available, but we will add as soon as they go live.  In the meantime, pre-orders are open directly from Light in the Attic, and you can peruse the track listing below!  400 Miles from L.A. 1955-56 is due on CD, vinyl, and digital platforms on September 13.

Lee Hazlewood, 400 Miles from L.A. 1955-56 (Light in the Attic, 2019) (Amazon Links TBD)

1. Cross Country Bus
2. The Woman I Love
3. Five Thousand and One
4. Lonesome Day
5. A Lady Called Blues
6. Five More Miles to Folsom
7. Fort Worth
8. The Old Man and His Guitar
9. Peculiar Guy
10. Long Black Train
11. I Guess It’s Love
12. It’s An Actuality
13. Buying On Time
14. The Country Bus Tune
15. Long Black Train
16. Run Boy Run
17. Big Joe Slade
18. Son of a Gun
19. Georgia Chain Gang
20. Look At That Woman
21. Peculiar Guy
22. The Railroad Song
23. Six Feet of Chain
24. Trouble Is A Lonesome Town