+ First ever reissue
+ Re-mastered from original master tapes
+ CD/LP include new liner notes by Wyndham Wallace, interviewing director Torbjörn Axelman
+ Unseen archive photos
+ 180-gram LP includes 18″x24″ fold-out reproduction of original film poster
The second release in our exhaustive Lee Hazlewood reissue series, A House Safe For Tigers (LITA 087) is the soundtrack to one of the seven TV movies Hazlewood made with the director Torbjörn Axelman during his period living in Sweden in the early 1970s. Hazlewood had moved there to lay low and to help his son avoid the draft, but wound up finding happiness and creative freedom. Many of the albums recorded in Sweden made their way no further than Scandinavia, but of them all, A House Safe For Tigers is the holy grail for collectors, often changing hands for hundreds of dollars.
Originally only available in Sweden, this marks the first time Tigers has been reissued and available the world over. The movie was a “semi-documentary” featuring Hazlewood and his friend Axelman, looking back to childhood and contemplating the meaning of life. In it, Hazlewood runs a marathon, tells anecdotes about a bum who cured his stutter and convinces a group of Swedish children to take sides against Richard Nixon. “It’s strange, very strange,” Hazlewood said, “But we meant it to be strange.”
The album finds Hazlewood contentedly immersing himself in Swedish life, serenading Gotland, the island Hazlewood fell in love with during the shooting of the television movie Cowboy in Sweden and where he spent time filming Tigers. Highlights include “The Nights,” in which Lee conjures up an epic tale of love and genocide that draws on his Native American blood running, “Our Little Boy Blue,” a magical, sleepy lullaby, and the two versions of the stirring, cinematic “Souls Island” frame the album.
For audio samples, more info and to pre-order (street date August 21, 2012) Lee Hazlewood A House Safe For Tigers (CD / 180-gram LP / Digital) visit LightInTheAttic.net. Still curious about this release? Take a gander at the “What’s Inside?” videos below for the full visual scoop!
