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:: Track list & details
Cake Or Death is reputed to be legendary producer/songwriter/performer Lee Hazlewood's last album. Hazlewood's career reads like the history of 20th century music, but for Cake Or Death, Hazlewood collaborates with people of his choosing, rather than admirers.
Cake Or Death features a diverse cast of characters such as Lula whose vocalization on "Nothing" is as naughty as a glimpse of Marlene Dietrich's gams and Scandinavian jazz songstress, Ann Kristin Hedmark, whose throaty contribution on "Please Come To Boston" can stand on its own next to any authentic Deep South counterpart. Horns abound on "Baghdad Knights" and "She's Gonna Break Some Heart Tonight" (featuring Tommy Parsons). On the former they burst brightly while on the latter they have a distinct south of the border flavor.
Various instruments (accordion, organs, violins) are used in tandem in a fashion not previously experienced, thrown in with conventional percussion and guitar sounds. Grand and with Hazlewood constantly telling a story, Cake Or Death has the feeling of the soundtrack to a cheeky musical. Hazlewood's gruff and crusty intonations sound like they're making fun of the listener and the subject of the song, all at the same time.
A positively eerie version of one of Hazlewood's most recognizable recordings, "Boots," as in "These Boots Are Made For Walking," is offered here with Hazlewood himself taunting you the whole way with spine-chilling instrumentation. Hazlewood's granddaughter, Phaedra Dawn Stewart, accompanies him on another notable number, "Some Velvet Morning," turning it into a delightful children's ditty—proving it doesn't matter who is or when Hazlewood's songs are being performed, they are classics.
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