Anyway, in this blog I will not be speaking of a specific record, rather, the artist behind the art. The word artist is just one word that describes Leonard Cohen perfectly.
'Songs of Leonard Cohen' was Mr. Cohen's first album. Originally released in December of 1967, it introduced the world to Cohen's lonely 'all-to-human'* songs, in which he took a more literate approach to songwriting than most artists of the time.
The album was produced by Cohen himself and John Simon, who managed to give the album a distinct sound that separated it from other top albums of the time, but by using the same effects. Simon gave Cohen a large amount of creative freedom when it came to the record, however there were still big disagreements over the effects of the instruments. Towards the end of the recording process Simon left for a Christmas vacation, leaving Cohen to mix the remainder of the record himself. In 2001, in an interview with Mojo magazine in which he recalled "we did have a falling out over the song 'Suzanne'. He wanted a heavy piano syncopated and maybe drums and i didn't want drums in any of my songs, so that was a bone of contention."
The majority of the songs on the album are rooted in european folk music. In the 1970's, his music would evolve to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Ever since about the 1980's his high baritone voice evolved into almost a bass baritone, guiding in places for synthesizers and female backing singers.
In 2008, Leonard Cohen was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame by The Velvet Underground's Lou Reed, where he was described as "the echelon of songwriters". In his speech, Cohen recited a spoken word version of his song 'Tower of Song' from his 1987 album,'I'm Your Man'.
Now, I know this is supposed to be about records and music, but since it is related to Mr. Cohen, i shall tell you a story...
In February of this year, i had the honour of watching Leonard Cohen perform live at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne. Needless to say, the arena was packed. The crowds had flocked to see a living legend perform his songs of love, hate and everything in between.
The show went for two hours and he performed at the top of his game. A man well into his seventies, still had that charisma to keep the whole crowd wanting more.. which explains the three or four encores.
To myself, the show felt as if, as Cohen put himself, we had "gathered on just the other side of intemacy". It was me, a young man (having turned eighteen two days before) gathering with people of different ages, gathering to watch a man who had written such beautiful lyrics, poems, and stories, that would speak to you and that you could relate to. Its hard to explain just how surreal it was to watch the composer of songs that had meant so much to me, perform those same songs. Mainly when in his final encore, the stage lights turned blue and the first chords of 'Famous Blue Raincoat' whispered from the same guitar i've watched him play in videos on youtube. It sent a shiver down my spine, and everything was perfect.
But now i'm rambling on. So on with the album details.
Track listing
All songs written by Leonard Cohen.
Side one
"Suzzane" – 3:48
"Master Song" – 5:55
"Winter Lady" – 2:15
"The Stranger Song" – 5:00
"Sisters of Mercy" – 3:32
Side two
"So Long, Marianne" – 5:38
"Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" – 2:55
"Stories of the Street" – 4:35
"Teachers" – 3:01
"One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" – 4:23
Bonus tracks on 2007 reissue
"Store Room" – 5:06
"Blessed Is the Memory" – 3:03
