I'm just a poor man with a heart full of love.
Johnny Heering | Bethel, CT United States | 10/22/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Lee Hazlewood was best known as a producer and songwriter, and also for singing duets with Nancy Sinatra. But he also recorded quite a bit of solo material. This 2 CD set collects all the songs he recorded for Reprise Records (but not the duets with Nancy). He recorded three albums for Reprise, which are all included here.
The first album was The N.S.V.I.P.'s, which stands for "Not So Very Important People". Each song here begins with Lee telling a humorous anecdote about somebody he knows (although they aren't real people), which is followed by a song that comments on the story he just told.
The second album was Friday's Child, which is a more traditional singer-songwriter album. This is my favorite of the three albums, with a lot of clever songs.
The final Reprise album was Love And Other Crimes. These are all love songs, but many of them are about love gone wrong. Good songs, but not as much of Lee's sardonic sense of humor this time around.
The collection also features both sides of two non-LP singles Lee released. That still isn't enough material to fill up two CDs, so 19 rare singles that Lee wrote and/or produced for other performers are included. The only one of these songs that was any kind of a hit was "Not the Lovin' Kind" by Dino, Desi & Billy. But all the songs are at least somewhat interesting. This is a very nice collection to have if you like Lee Hazlewood."
Tell me about Phaedra
korova | Varosha | 10/01/2008
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I came to Lee Hazlewood's music through the back door, so to speak. A long time ago, I was blown away by Thin White Rope's cover of "Some Velvet Morning." Now fast forward to the present--aside from digging a few Nancy Sinatra singles and some later covers of "Some Velvet Morning" by Slowdive and Primal Scream, among others--I hadn't thought about Lee Hazlewood for years.
Then I ran across Lee's last album, Cake or Death. When I saw yet another version of "Some Velvet Morning" was on it, everything came rushing back. And not long after that, I found Strung Out on Something New.
Rhino Handmade, as usual, has done an outstanding job. This compilation provides a good overview of Lee's work for Reprise with cuts from three albums and a number of singles, including songs performed by Jack Nitzsche, Duane Eddy, and Deana Martin. The CD jacket recreates the look and feel of 60's record albums, with paper sleeves for each disc (which include the promos for other artists which were always on inner sleeves back then!) and reproductions of the album covers and liner notes. A detailed essay by Lenny Kaye is the highlight of the booklet.
The music on the discs flows well, moving from stripped down songs with just Lee and a guitar to tracks recorded with a full band. Personally, I like the twangy, ultra-reverbed stuff with Duane Eddy best, but every track is worth listening to--even if you're not a big fan of countryfied music (I'm not).
Bottom line: great packaging, nice remastering, tastefully compiled songs. All in a limited edition (5,000 copies) set. Get it while it's still available! 4 stars."
Track Listings (54) - Disc #1