In early 1972, I saw Pearls Before Swine at the Main Point outside of Philadelphia. For their last song, Tom Rapp said that they would play Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." Tom said, "It is my goal in life to have written it." A most fitting tribute.
In early 1972, I saw Pearls Before Swine at the Main Point outside of Philadelphia. For their last song, Tom Rapp said that they would play Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne." Tom said, "It is my goal in life to have written it." A most fitting tribute.
Lou
Looking forward to my day in court.
Henk Hofstede (Nits) is a great fan of him. Here he is playing a Leonard Cohen song with another ensemble.
Songs Of Love & Hate and New Skin For The Old Ceremony were always my favorites by him, they seemed the pinnacle of the bleakness, anger & despair. He's a wonderful lyricist. The late I'm Your Man and The Future have a distinctly different vibe but represented a return to form after the 80's. I'm enjoying his new one You Want It Darker.
You want it darker
We kill the flame
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I actually didn't know he was Canadian. Now Marillion's song Montreal makes more sense (not that it didn't already make sense).Originally Posted by mozo-pg
PBS/Rapp's version of "Suzanne" is the greatest Cohen cover I've heard by miles. It beats that over-exposed Jeff B. rendition of "Hallelujah" to the ground completely. Rapp's fragile, crispy vox catches the lyrical message of Cohen's in a total visualization of emotional content, backed by some of the most fascinating reedwork I've encountered in an otherwise as simple tune as this. Absolutely masterful, and I hope Cohen ever got to hear it for himself.
As for Jeff B.'s "Hallelujah", there's an interview performed here in Norway in which Cohen more or less discloses how it felt to witness his long bygone peer's estranged son appear with one of his own songs. Apparently Jeff never knew about Cohen's friendship with his dad, Tim Buckley.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Yeah, f*ck 2016. At least he made it to 82 years of age. May he rest in power.
His live show here in Moscow back in 2010 is still one of the very best I have seen in my lifetime so far. He was 76 then, but straight-backed, fit, elegant and gracious as ever. He ran us through 2+ hours of his best songs, from the earliest to the latest, including not only his famous late 1980s / early 1990s hits (that, for me, are an extremely rare example of music that isn't marred by trite, run-of-the-mill production, but may even be enhanced by it), but also some of the haunting old stuff, like "Who By Fire" or "Avalanche", the latter of which Cohen played all by himself, with a simple acoustic guitar backing. This was perhaps the quietest show I've ever been to – the man was never one to scream and shout, but at 76 his voice turned into barely anything but a soft whisper, and the backing band had to adjust to that, considerably turning down the volume of the instruments. And yet no one spoke a word or even moved during the entire performance, we all – a few thousand people no less! – sat there hypnotized. It was Kremiln Palace of all venues, perhaps the least appropriate place for a gig like that, a manifest of godawful Stalin-era grandeur, with heavy curtains and shit. For a few hours this man miraculously turned it into a beautiful place.
RIP Mr. Cohen.
My experience was the same for Avalanche in Birmingham in the 80's. Just him and an acoustic guitar. The place was dead silent, you could have heard a pin drop, everyone completely focused on the performance. It was spellbinding.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Merging the 2 threads...
I'll move it to its proper forum after a few days.
Regards,
Duncan
I've always loved Cohen's music.
I learned his chords and finger picking patterns for each song, and performed a few of them on stage when I was young and foolish enough to think I had a prayer of being a full-time musician. (Unfortunately his songs didn't always go down well with the uninitiated, who wanted more lively stuff.)
His lyrics were excellent, and often a bit esoteric. It sometimes took a few re-reads to understand what he was saying. Whatever the subject, his music always sank deep into my soul.
RIP, Leonard - your work has been woven into the fabric of my life since I was a teenager.
Regards,
Duncan
Seems to me that very few people get these lyrics.
Regards,
Duncan
Rest in peace, Leonard.
After listening to his latest album, this isn't a surprise although still shocking.
His first album was played a lot at my parents home, so that's the only one I have.
But his recent albums found their way to me too, because my wife loves them.
In fact it was the only reason why we could watch the first couple of episodes of True Detective Season 2, but after a while we stopped watching and put on the CD again.
And the latest is also outstanding. Very profound.
Wow, i thought with release of the new record he was still going strong (which is fantastic btw), very sad news. RIP
"Everybody Knows" must be featured in at least half a dozen movies. I can't remember which was the first I saw many years ago that played it. It was in a movie I saw recently, as well. I have a terrible memory for movies, especially their titles, and in some of the movies featuring that song, the song was the highlight. If anyone knows how to find a list of every movie featuring "Everybody Knows," please post it here.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
IMDB has 242 credits for his songs, looks like it mainly Suzanne & Hallelujah
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0169552/
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
I found this:
LEONARD COHEN'S SONGS ON THE SOUNDTRACKS
It appears the first movie I remember that featured "Everybody Knows" was the Canadian film Exotica. The most recent that I saw was the US film The Infiltrator. I have no reason to doubt that I saw Pump Up The Volume, but I have no memory of it.
Last edited by spellbound; 11-11-2016 at 02:46 PM.
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
We're trying to build a monument to show that we were here
It won't be visible through the air
And there won't be any shade to cool the monument to prove that we were here. - Gene Parsons, 1973
^^Impressive AND up-to-date list!
My eldest sister introduced me to Leonard Cohen. She saw him in the 70s at the Glasgow Apollo and as she described it to me, it was a magical concert where audience and artist connected and long after the set had ended, Leonard Cohen chose to play without his band, just sitting on the edge of the stage singing to a rapt audience. We saw him on his last tour and although we were far back in a 2000+ seat venue, the concert was strangely intimate. Leonard Cohen's huge talent tempered with grace and gentle humility drew everybody in, and as with Levgan and Ian's experiences, the audience was fully engaged and enamored of this man and his performance.
Glad this was put on the main page. A phenomenal lyrists and songwriter. RIP Leonard. Too many great artists gone in one year.
This stunning performance always blew my mind
I was having a Great week until this.
Have seen him several times live and it's always been an experience! Songs of Love & Hate is a desert island album for me. He was an artist, so intimate, you could have an imaginary chat with, while listening to his albums.
RIP.
This sends shivers down my spine:
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
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