The sound of singer/songwriter/producer Lee Hazlewood is of its time, but also transcends it. It’s a mystical, psychedelic version of pop music with soaring, cinematic backing tracks that perfectly balance the gruff, gritty content so often at the center of a Lee Hazlewood song. The producer in him saw this as a formula, as he would often explore the idea of duets that featured smooth-voiced females to contrast his imperfect voice.
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From his early days as a DJ in Coolidge, Arizona, Hazlewood was surrounded by a whole local and regional scene of country performers. He moved to Phoenix and started recording them and pressing records. He was finding his way through the record industry on a local level. He would record an act, supply them with songs if needed, press a record for them, and get it played on the radio. Once he saw what was possible locally, he expanded his horizons and tried to do it on a bigger scale.
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1. His First Record Label Was Named After a Brand of Lipstick
Jimmy Spellman, Loy Clingman, and Jimmy Johnson may not be household names, but they were the first artists Hazlewood worked with. He started the business in his garage, which he named Viv Records, a name he borrowed from a lipstick brand. None of the songs made the charts, but it empowered Hazlewood. He saw that he could do every step needed to get a song from his guitar to the radio waves and then to stores. He started taking the bus to Los Angeles, California, to pitch his artists to bigger labels. The idea was to secure a record deal and continue the process on the bigger stage. Unfortunately, there was no interest in Viv’s artists. Hazlewood discovered many others with the same idea coming to Los Angeles.
2. “The Fool” Was a Last-Ditch Effort
After striking out in Los Angeles multiple times, Hazlewood found himself with a garage full of unsold records and no money. He talked MCI Records into putting up the money to record one more song, “The Fool.” He just needed the right person to sing it. Guitarist Al Casey was a Sunset Riders member who had backed all of the artists on Viv Records. Casey suggested a high school friend named Sanford Clark. In March 1956, “The Fool” was recorded in Phoenix with Casey and his wife, Corki, on guitars. The song got some local play, and about two months later, Randy Wood of Dot Records heard it and got ahold of MCI about purchasing the master. This was exactly what Hazlewood had hoped for. “The Fool” hit No. 7 on Billboard‘s Top 100.
Hazlewood started working for Dot Records as an A&R man. After a year, he started a production company with Lester Sill. Duane Eddy had been one of those local Arizona musicians playing in country bands when Hazlewood was DJing. He started recording Eddy with the intention of finding the sound he had for the guitarist in his head.
3. A Storage Tank Was the Secret Weapon in Hazlewood’s Recording
Hazlewood wanted an echo chamber for his studio in Phoenix and started searching out storage tanks. He went around yelling and clapping into all types of tanks until he found one he liked, paid 200 dollars for it, and had it delivered to the studio. Eddy maintained it was a water tank. Hazlewood always called it a grain storage tank. Regardless, a speaker was placed on one end and a microphone on the other. This provided the unique echo that was used on Eddy’s recordings—the downside being that a good take could be ruined by a truck passing or birds gathering around the tank. Eddy has often reminisced about going outside to “shoo the birds away.”
Hazlewood and Sill secured a record deal for Eddy with Jamie Records out of Philadelphia. Eddy’s big break came when Dick Clark played his record on American Bandstand. He went on to have many hits. Hazlewood co-wrote classics for him like “Rebel Rouser,” “Cannonball,” and “(Dance with the) Guitar Man.”
4. Hazlewood Rescued Nancy Sinatra’s Career
Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy, was having trouble finding success as a singer herself. The Chairman of the Board approached Hazlewood about working with his daughter. Hazlewood was apprehensive, but couldn’t say no to Frank. The first thing Hazlewood did was tell Nancy to stop with the good-girl routine and start singing like a “14-year-old girl who f—s truck drivers.” Frank may not have liked that particular description of his daughter’s career direction, but he was happy with the outcome. “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’” topped the charts around the world, and a duet with her father, “Somethin’ Stupid,” was also produced by Hazlewood and hit No. 1 on the charts.
5. Billy Ray Cyrus Gave Hazlewood an Unexpected Boost
Hazlewood started LHI Records and released albums by himself and others, but never matched his success with Eddy or Sinatra. He spent time in Sweden making movies and recording music. In his later years, younger musicians started to champion the music Hazlewood made throughout his career. Artists such as Beck, The Tubes, and Primal Scream recorded Hazlewood’s songs.
Hazlewood was all but retired when Billy Ray Cyrus exploded in the early ’90s. No, Hazlewood didn’t write “Achy Breaky Heart,” but the album that contained it, Cyrus’ Some Gave All, also featured a version of “These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.” Hazlewood made a nice paycheck from it, and started writing music and recording again. He released Cake or Death shortly before he died in 2007.
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