Pop Quiz: Lee Hazlewood

Pop Quiz: Lee Hazlewood

Aidin Vaziri | The voice at the other end of the line is instantly recognizable -- the smoky cowboy baritone that answered Nancy Sinatra's sex-kittenish purrs on classic hits such as "Some Velvet Morning" and "Jackson." Diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 77, Lee Hazlewood breaks his long-standing retirement with what will most likely be his last album, "Cake or Death." On the disc, the man who also produced Duane Eddy and Dean Martin takes aim at Republicans, duets with a Swedish jazz singer and a German actor, lets his 8-year-old granddaughter, Phaedra, sing a track, and even offers up the original melody for "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." It's quite an exit.

Lee Hazlewood
Q: Do you think this album is a good way to go out?
A: Unless there's some miracle and I feel better, I don't think I'll do another one.
Q: But are you happy with it?
A: I don't think I've heard it since it was released in Europe, a couple of weeks before it was released over here. They sent me a bunch of copies, but I haven't even heard it. There may not even be anything on my CDs. I don't know. I haven't listened to it.
Q: Why not?
A: Why? I heard it enough putting it together.
Q: Beck. Nick Cave. Sonic Youth. You influenced all these people.
A: There are a bunch you don't even know, in countries you haven't been in. There are a lot of them. It came awfully late in my life, but I'm very proud of that.
Q: What did you think of Jessica Simpson's take on "These Boots Are Made for Walkin' "?
A: Well, I thought it was very profitable for me. That's what I thought of that. It made money.