Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazlewood Music

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Average Rating: Rating: - A Worthy Compilation For 30 years, whenever I heard the name Lee Hazlewood, all I could think of were the duets he did with Nancy Sinatra back in the sixties. I was a young teen then and considered them impossibly cheesy. Over the years, my musical tastes have broadened considerably, so that when I read in a Nick Cave biography that he looked on Lee Hazlewood as one of his musical heroes, I decided to have a listen and hear what I've been missing. While searching the racks for Hazlewood CDs, I stumbled on this and decided to give it a shot. I really had no idea what to expect as I was vaguely familiar with only two of the songs, but after three listens I was hooked. My favorite is the splendid interpretation of Summer Wine by Evan Dando and Sabrina Brooke, but I also really enjoyed The Webb Brothers on Some Velvet Morning, St Thomas on The Railroad, Erlend Oye on No Train To Stockholm, The Amazing Pilots' rendition of Soul's Island, and Kid Loco's take on If Its Monday Morning. Other songs are good too, and overall this recording features a smorgasbord of styles that give it broad appeal. The songs selected were not all hits by any means, but are representative of the breadth of Hazlewood's writing. The CD comes with an informative booklet that features Hazlewood's commentary on each of the songs and is sprinkled with goofy pictures of him in various poses. If you are at all musically adventurous, buy Total Lee! It is truly a worthy compilation. Rating: - The Songs of Lee Hazlewood in the style of the 21st century This is a rather strange tribute album in that I think it will be more acceptable to fans of the artists doing the covers rather than those who are fans of the music of the iconoclastic Lee Hazlewood. I picked up "Total Lee: The Songs of Lee Hazlewood" because I had been checking out the Nancy Sinatra albums being reissued on CD and noticed that Hazlewood wrote more than just the songs he did as duets with Nancy (e.g., "Some Velvet Morning," "Summer Wine"). With a greater appreciation of Hazlewood as a songwriter I picked this album up. However, I discovered that I recognized only three or four of the songs, which meant I was extremely limited in appreciating the songs as covers of the original. "Some Velvet Morning" by the Webb Brothers was okay, but "Sand" by Calvin Johnson & Mark Pickerel finds the former trying to go even lower than Hazlewood's original vocals, which is not a really good idea. "Summer Wine" by Evan Dando & Sabrina Brooke is also okay, but does not compare to the recent cover done by the Corrs with Bono (which actually makes it more than a duet given the number of voices). The liner notes have Hazlewood's reaction to each track and he obviously keeps more up to date on contemporary music than I do. The insights he offers are more often about the origins of the songs than the cover versions heard here, which tend to be lean towards techno as a general rule. I think this is an album that will probably introduce more fans of contemporary artists like Lambchop, Johnny Dowd, and Tindersticks to the songs of Lee Hazlewood than the other way around. Rating: - Alternative Hazlewood Lee Hazlewood's "Total Lee!" tribute could be subtitled "alternative artists discover Hazlewood." British label City Slang has put together an interesting mix of artists to showcase these songs. Other than Webb Brothers & Evan Dando, all the artists were new to me. The liner notes consist of a conversation with Hazlewood and come off as quite informal, sometimes helpful. Lambchop opens with a dense brief version of "I'm Glad I Never." Neal McNasty does a dense electronic reverb take on "Come On Home To Me." One of Lee's biggest hits with Nancy Sinatra, "Some Velvet Morning," is given an excellent update by Webb Brothers with vocals submerged under a guitar wash and synthesized keyboards. Valerie Leulliot & Calexico Feat tackle "Sundown Sundown" with a sound like a James Bond theme in Mexico. Johnny Dowd must be a band with its vocals on "Sleep in the Grass" split between male and female voices; the track is one of the less effective with corny accents. Nathan Bennet & St. Etienne do a sweet version of the Lee & Nancy song "Got It Together Again." My favorite track is St. Thomas' take on "The Railroad." Hazlewood compliments them as being better than the original artist! The vocal is enthusiastic; & the infectious percussion comes off like an alternative Tennessee Ernie Ford. Jarvis Cocker & Richard Hawley unearth an early 1956 Hazlewood hit, "The Cheat," with submerged snarling vocals and Stratocaster reverb. An acoustic "No Train to Stockholm" glides by Erlend Oye. Amazing Pilots do a very long, very spooky version of "Soul's Island." Lee's favorite is Kathryn Williams' take on "Easy & Me"; her beautiful voice with airy vocal flying above the acoustic guitars & the booming punctuation of drum. "My Autumn's Done Come" is a song about aging dreamily channeled by Tindersticks. Lee calls "We All Make the Little Flowers Grow" by Stephen Jones & Luke Scott "commercial as hell." It does have a happy bubbly rhythm. The familiar Lee & Nancy tune "Sand" is given a good reading by Calvin Johnson & Mark Pickerel whose voices alternate between a tenor and Johnny Cash-like bass. Sabrina Brooke & Evan Dando nail the spirit of "Summer Wine." "If It's Monday Morning" by Tim Keegan & Kid Loco concludes the CD with a rather strange arrangement of the song that even Hazlewood questions in the liner notes. "Total Lee!" is an adventurous look at an excellent songwriter's work. Most of it works well. His songwriting deserves to be honored. Enjoy!

Total Lee! The Songs of Lee Hazlewood Music

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