Customer Reviews

These Boots Are Made for Walkin': Complete MGM Recordings

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Brilliant, dorky, drunken & nostalgic as a cryrogenically frozen martini, this is the ultimate Lee Hazelwood collection to date. If Sinatra had deigned to go Country to alleviate his flagging late 60's career, he would have called on Lee Hazelwood."After Six" could've been the hungover, morning after sequel to "One For My Baby".

"The Old Man & His Guitar" brings vintage Leonard Cohen to mind. "Jose" is so god awful, it gives Elvis Presely's theme song to "Charro" a run for it's money. But therein, lies the fun of it all. If camp were an art form, then Hazelwood has accidentally stumbled on it.

What's great about Hazelwood's cheescake trappings are the universal truths he hacks up despite the canned production. Loneliness, longing, & woe---it's all there. Behind it all, is a balladeer who knows his craft, despite the smaltz. The horns may be goofy but if you strip it down, "When a Fool Loves A Fool" is a great song, worthy of a fashionable makeover cover. That being said, I wouldn't change a note of "Child". "Hands" is as maudlin as it gets, then this rambunctious piano cuts in and saves the day.

Superficially, one would say this is vintage kitch with it's tongue firmly lodged in cheek. A number of listens & it's more than you bargained for. To quote the liner notes on the back, " It's not rock, it's not country, not quite lounge-it's unique. "

All it takes is a talented, imaginative listener & this collection is a bit more than a soundtrack to a 1969 issue of Playboy. But if that's all you get from it, atleast you'll have fun.

I've had Nancy Sinatra's greatest hits for many many years and the only tracks that made the IPod or regular rotation were "These Boots Are Made for Walking (written by Lee) and Some Velvet Morning (a duet with Lee). Some Velvet Morning has been one of my favorite songs for a long time but I just assumed that Lee was a one trick pony... until I decided to pick up this record.

I'm now obsessed with Lee and have started buying his catalog. This record started my obsession with Lee... if you don't like this comp you just don't like Lee.

I remember seeing Nancy Sinatra on many television variety shows in the 1960s and always wondered where her lyrical and mystical balads came from. I remember her singing "Summer Wine" and suddenly I knew It had to be Lee Hazlewood and I have been a fan since then. Lee Hazlewood is an overlooked genius in the music business. cc snyder

It's not quite rock, it's not quite country, not quite lounge - it's unique. It's Lee Hazlewood, that's what it is. This two CD set contains all his recordings for MGM. That includes three albums; "The Very Special World of Lee Hazlewood", "Lee Hazlewoodism, Its Cause and Cure" and the never released in the US "Something Special", plus a few non-LP songs. A couple of unreleased songs have been lost and are not included here, including the intriguingly titled "The Lone Ranger Ain't My Friend Anymore". The first two albums are similar in arrangement to the albums Lee produced for Nancy Sinatra, including several of the same songs. "Something Special" is something altogether different, with a jazzy four piece band and scat singing by Billy Strange. If you like music Hazlewood produced for Nancy Sinatra, give the music he released under his own name a listen.

The double cd is awesome. It solidifies the fact that Lee was always following the beat of his own drummer, recording and preforming unforgettable songs in the sixties, when the rest of the nation was embracing the whole summer of love vibe. I love the fact that it has the original vesions of songs like Summer Wine, Sand and These Boots. This cd will stand proudly in anyones Hazlewood collection.
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