Lee Hazlewood

As producer, performer and songwriter, Lee Hazlewood played a part in a lot of musical history over the second half of the 20th century. Born in Oklahoma in 1929, he worked as a DJ in the ’50s before trying his hand at writing and record-making. His early successes included penning and producing such rock ’n’ roll hits as Sanford Clark’s “The Fool” and Duane Eddy’s “Rebel Rouser”. In 1966 he helped give Nancy Sinatra her iconic hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin’”. The duo cut a pair of cult-classic art-pop albums together, boasting offbeat evergreens like the trippy “Some Velvet Morning”, and Hazlewood oversaw the 1967 duet hit “Somethin’ Stupid” for Nancy and her legendary dad. Ever the entrepreneur, Hazlewood started his own LHI label in the ’60s, recording Gram Parsons’ International Submarine Band and many others. But the most personal distillation of his artistry was his ’60s and ’70s solo work, where his crater-deep vocals, arch lyrical sensibilities and country, folk and rock influences led to a long string of idiosyncratic albums with a Johnny Cash-meets-Leonard Cohen vibe that would eventually inspire alt-rock covers by the likes of Nick Cave and The Jesus and Mary Chain. Hazlewood released his final record in 2006, passing away the following year at age 78.