Even if only for his pioneering production work with one of my guitar heroes, Duane Eddy (e.g., using a gigantic grain tank as an echo chamber), let it be known that Lee Hazlewood, while himself not a hotshot guitarist, co-wrote some of Eddy’s best tunes (including half of his excellent 1965 album, Duane-a-Go-Go), as well as penned a fair number of surf classics for other artists: “Baja“; “Movin’” and “Batman” for The Astronauts, plus all of Al Casey‘s best instrumentals – “Surfs You Right“; “The Hearse“; “Surfin’ Hootenanny“; and “Guitars, Guitars, Guitars.”
Is Hazlewood’s 1961 instrumental – five years before Neil Hefti’s “Batman Theme” – the first musical tribute to the Caped Crusader? Still trying to determine that the guitarist is using a 6-string bass (or baritone guitar) to carry out the melody line.
Cute, but it definitely doesn’t make me think of Batman. Not even the campy 1966 version.
My kids love it – that’s all that matters.
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Tip of the hat, mon frère! Eternally grateful that you posted Hazlewood’s original version of “Batman” – almost didn’t recognize it compared to the one recorded by The Astronauts.