ARTIST: Lee Hazlewood 
TITLE: Strung Out on Something New: The Reprise Recordings
YEAR RELEASED: Compilation
CHART ACTION: None
SINGLES: Ode to Billy Joe, Morning Dew
OTHER SONGS YOU MAY KNOW: Houston
LINEUP: Lee Hazlewood and various session players
WHAT’S IT ALL ABOUT: Producer, writer and oddball teller of tales Lee Hazlewood’s Reprise records are collected here, along with some of his productions (except his Nancy Sinatra collaborations).
SOME WORDS, PHRASES AND CLAUSES ABOUT THIS RECORD: Lee Hazlewood made his real bones as a songwriter and producer (starting with Duane Eddy and Sanford Clarke – then with Nancy Sinatra). As a performer, though, he’s an acquired taste of say the least.
Hazlewood’s deep baritone and talky style leads to storytelling, and in fact his first album was all story songs with actual stories before the songs themselves. That can be intriguing, and annoying, depending on your tolerance for such things.
I thought I’d give him a spin, since I’m going to review his collaborations with Ms. Sinatra. I think I’ll stick to those, and file this into a ‘well, it may be someone’s taste, but not mine’ file.
NOTES & MINUTIAE: He recorded for Reprise, then MGM (his stuff for that label isn’t streaming), and then his own LHI records (which again has a collection).
IS THERE A DELUXE VERSION: No
GRADE: C+: Try some, if you like it, fine. I’m passing on these recordings. I may try his LHI stuff out.
