Friday, June 23, 2006

Some Velvet Morning, by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra



The first time I listened to it I was mesmerized by its strangeness. It does indeed begin like a brat pack composition, but suddenly all this melancholy sci-fi atmosphere is created; Lee's somber voice juxtaposed by the violent irruptions of Nancy's sweet and dangerous voice. After her dark, prophetic voice, Nancy's is an apparition, a white ray of heavenly light cutting up the shadows. There's something mythic, epic, about this song, something absolutely drug-induced. The creation of an unreal, fantastic space. An opening in time. The song is fragmented, cut up, divided by Lee's and Nancy's parts, creating a non-fluent dialogue, a strange, never-heard-before sound artifact. Before such distinct bands like Mojave 3, Belle & Sebastian or Sonic Youth, there were Nancy & Lee. This is 1968.

Listen to it first thing in the morning. You will notice immediate effects.



[There's a fairly recent cover version by Primal Scream with Kate Moss, by the way.]

2 comments:

Helreith said...

Hay otra versión, más extraña que la de Primal Scream, más bizarra, por el uso de un violin, el cover lo hizo My Dying Bride, (si la banda de doom-gothic metal) y aparece en su disco "Meisterwerk".

unidentified said...

What about the"These Immortal Souls"
version? (i think mid 90's)
Nothing compares to Lee's but I give Roland s Howard credit for trying.