March 22, 1999
Cowboy In Sweden / Farmisht, Flatulence, Origami, ARF!!! And Me...
With that inimitable stentorian baritone nibbling [a]Nancy Sinatra[/a]'s ear and the movie world agog at his raffish southern charms, for a period during the mid-'60s Barton [a]Lee Hazlewood[/a] was p
5 / 10
With that inimitable stentorian baritone nibbling Nancy Sinatra's ear and the movie world agog at his raffish southern charms, for a period during the mid-'60s Barton Lee Hazlewood was pop's quintessential bon viveur. Never one to let routine get in the way of a high time, he then moved to Sweden to continue his search for the saddest tune, the sweetest girl and the smoothest Scotch, not necessarily in that order.
. They don't come much more lost or classic than this.
'Cowboy In Sweden' heralds an extensive Hazlewood reissue series by Steve Shelley's SLR imprint, for which one suspects 'Farmisht, Flatulence...' was a quid pro quo of sorts. The first new Hazlewood recording in two decades, it posits Lee as the sexagenarian crooner of pre-rock era pop standards like 'Try A Little Tenderness' and 'Makin' Whoopee'. Backed by demon sessioneers the Al Casey Combo, the old master is clearly having a ball, so it feels a little churlish pointing out that his voice has lost much of its apocalyptic timbre on this undemanding romp.
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