Singer, songwriter Lee Hazelwood dies
Lee Hazlewood, a singer and songwriter best known for writing and producing "These Boots Are Made For Walkin' " for Nancy Sinatra, has died. He was 78.
Barton Lee Hazlewood died at his home in Henderson of kidney cancer on Saturday evening, the Clark County coroner's office said. A fiercely independent artist known for his disdain of the music industry, Hazlewood kept a low profile in his final years.
"I had heard he was living in Arizona," said Billy Hinsche, a Henderson-based musician who was part of the group Dino, Desi & Billy. Hazlewood produced all four of the group's albums in the 1960s. "I never saw him socially ever after that."
During a tour with Brian Wilson in June, Hinsche came across a signed poster of Hazlewood at a club in Sweden. That motivated him to try to get in touch with Hazlewood. "I got an e-mail from his wife that Lee wanted so much to return my e-mail but his illness prevented him. ... I have no idea how he ended up in Henderson. I would have really made an effort to see him."
The Oklahoma songwriter was most famous for his work with the daughter of Frank Sinatra, including writing and producing such hits as "Sugartown" and "Some Velvet Morning." He also produced "Something Stupid," a duet Nancy Sinatra recorded with her father in 1967.
He also produced Duane Eddy and Gram Parsons, and performed on a number of solo albums and with Nancy Sinatra in three "Nancy & Lee" albums. He was paired with Sinatra after producing the Dino, Desi & Billy albums for Frank Sinatra's label Reprise.
"Lee was brought in to produce us after our first song didn't go anywhere," Hinsche recalls. "He just struck me as a really cool, laid-back country guy from Oklahoma."
A hit he delivered the teen group, "Not the Loving Kind," did not break his penchant for dark, cynical lyrics. "I remember Ed Sullivan saying to us after we did it on his show, 'Sorry to hear about all your heartbreak and loss.'"
Hazlewood was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2005. He released his final album, "Cake or Death," in 2006.
He is survived by his third wife, Jeane, his son, Mark, and daughters Debbie and Samantha.
Review-Journal writer Mike Weatherford contributed to this report.
