Lee Hazlewood

Lee Hazlewood
Siw Malmkvist and Lee Hazlewood in 1968
Background information
Birth name	Barton Lee Hazlewood
Born	(1929-07-09)July 9, 1929 Mannford, Oklahoma, U.S.
Origin	Port Neches, Texas, U.S.
Died	August 4, 2007(2007-08-04) (aged 78) Henderson, Nevada, U.S.
Genres	Pop country
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter record producer
Instruments	Vocals guitar
Years active	1958–2006
Associated acts	Nancy Sinatra Duane Eddy

Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960s.

Hazlewood had a distinctive baritone voice that added a resonance to his music. His collaborations with Nancy Sinatra as well as his solo output in the late 1960s and early 1970s have been praised as an essential contribution to a sound often described as "cowboy psychedelia" or "saccharine underground".

The son of an oil man, Hazlewood was born in Mannford, Oklahoma, and spent most of his youth living between Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, and Louisiana. He grew up listening to pop and bluegrass music. Lee spent his teenage years in Port Neches, Texas, where he was exposed to a rich Gulf Coast music tradition. He studied for a medical degree at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He served with the United States Army during the Korean War.

Following discharge from the military, Hazlewood worked as a disc jockey in Phoenix while honing his song writing skills. His first hit single as a producer and songwriter was "The Fool", recorded by rockabilly artist Sanford Clark in 1956. He partnered with pioneering rock guitarist Duane Eddy in Phoenix, producing and co-writing a string of hit instrumental records, including "Peter Gunn", "Boss Guitar", "Forty Miles of Bad Road", "Shazam!", "Rebel-'Rouser" and "(Dance With The) Guitar Man".