Postscript: Farewell to Lee Hazlewood

In 1966 Lee Hazlewood -- who died at 78 of kidney cancer at his Las Vegas home this Saturday -- instructed a teenage Nancy Sinatra to sing his composition "These Boots Are Made For Walking" like a "sixteen-year-old girl who fucks truck drivers." The result was the most successful work of Hazlewood's career, but was hardly alone among the man's many accomplishments. Hazlewood started his career in the early 1950s as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona. Shortly afterwards he became interested in producing records and hooked up with guitar legend Duane Eddy, with whom he crafted the 1958 hit "Rebel Rouser." In the mid-1960s he began producing Nancy Sinatra records, including her number-one hit "Somethin' Stupid." His commercial career waned in the 1970s, but by the 1990s he had become a cult hero. In recent years his songs have been covered by Primal Scream, Megadeath and Nick Cave. Recently, Sonic Youth reissued many of his early albums. In 2003 Hazlewood teamed up again with Nancy Sinatra again for the album Nancy & Lee 3, which they supported with a tour. His final album, Cake or Death, was released last December.

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Song Stories

“Help Me”

Joni Mitchell | 1974

Joni Mitchell wrote and recorded this song for her album Court and Spark, but she had to switch from her regular band to make the song sound exactly the way she wanted. "I had attempted to play my music with rock & roll players," she told Rolling Stone. "They’d laugh, 'Awww, isn't that cute? She's trying to teach us how to play.'" Mitchell switched to a jazz band, Tom Scott’s L.A. Express, and scored the biggest hit of her career in the process.

More Song Stories entries »

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