Product Review

Lee Hazlewood - songwriter, singer, producer, independent record label entrepreneur, DJ, raconteur and self-proclaimed 'Ol' grey-haired sonofabitch' - is a key figure in the history of popular music. Laced with lashings of dark wit, wrong-side-of-the-tracks heartbreak and esoteric imagery, his compositions have been recorded by everyone from Frank Sinatra to German industrialists Einstrzende Neubauten. 'Son-Of-A-Gun' is the third volume of Hazlewood's compositions to be released in Ace's renowned Songwriter series. The first, 'Califia', comprised recordings made in the 1950s and the 60s, while the second, 'Shazam!', focused exclusively on instrumentals. Although 'Son-Of-Gun' features some performers whose recordings Hazlewood produced in his glory years, it consists primarily of interpretations by a diverse array of contemporary international artists who were inspired by his work from afar.