Date: 14 Jun 1997 13:51:44 -0700 (PDT)
From: [email protected]
Here are some recent tidbits related to "our man."
(1) Judy Collins regarding Cohen
(2) More on Judy Collins regarding Cohen
(3) Zen Cohen
(4) Joni Mitchell on Cohen
(5) Tragic news of a Cohen cover artist
(6) Does Al Pacino look like Leonard Cohen?
(7) Jarkko's visit in Berkeley
(8) Cohen-talk 1990-95 and alt.music.leonard-cohen
(9) CD player problems
rudi
Rudi Schmid, Integrative Biol., UC Berkeley
Reviews and notices editor, Taxon:
Journal for the International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT)
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(1) JUDY COLLINS REGARDING COHEN
I recently found a used CD of Judy Collins's _Bread and roses_ (Elektra,
Aug. 1976), which has "Take this longing" (5:25), her tenth recorded cover
of a LC song. The CD is apparently out-of-print. Collins's first nine covers
of LC songs are:
_In my life_ (Nov. 1966; CD reissue May 1988)
Suzanne (4:21)
Dress rehearsal rag (5:19)
_Wildflowers_ (Nov. 1967; CD reissue Nov. 1987)
Sisters of mercy (2:31)
Priests (4:55) [LC never recorded this]
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye (3:28)
_Who knows where the time goes_ (Nov. 1968; CD reissue May 1988)
Story of Isaac (3:30)
Bird on the wire (4:37)
_Living_ (Nov. 1972; CD reissue Apr. 1989)
Joan of Arc (5:55) (live)
[Famous] blue raincoat (5:34)
_Bread and roses_ (Aug. 1976; CD issue date ??, out-of-print)
Take this longing (5:25)
Duplications on compilation albums:
_Colors of the day: The best of_ (Nov. 1972; CD reissue Oct. 1988)
Suzanne [also on _In my life_]
_So early in the spring_ (July 1977; not on CD)
Bird on the wire
_Both sides now_ (Duchesse 352/32, 1991, CD)
Bird on the wire
Hey, that's no way to say goodbye
Priests
Sisters of mercy
Story of Isaac
The 10 songs fit nicely on one side of a 90-minute, with Jennifer Warnes's
_Famous blue raincoat_ (July 1987) going nicely on side B. Sides A and B
overlap only 3 songs (i.e., 13 different songs on the tape). This makes a
great car tape. LC, of course, duets on Warnes's "Joan of Arc".
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(2) MORE ON JUDY COLLINS REGARDING COHEN
More on Judy Collins from Richard Hess, who is setting up a Collins WWW
site.
Richard: What is the full title of the song that might be referred to
(first-line?) as "It Seems So Long Ago."
Rudi: The proper title is "It seems to long ago, Nancy". It first appeared
on LC's _Songs from a room_ album (1969). On later albums (1973 _Live_
the song is shortened to "Nancy".
Richard: I wrote that down at a 1969 Judy Collins concert and do not know
what it refers to, but she obviously introduced it as a LC song.
Rudi: This is interesting news, a new Collins cover of a LC Cohen song. It
is not on the official albums, of course. "Nancy" and "Song of
Bernadette," the latter from a 1994 concert, are two Collins covers not
issued. Are there tapes of these? Do you know of any more Collins covers
of LC songs besides the official 10 and the above two.
Richard: I don't have tapes of these. In her April 18th [1997] concert she
did a new LC song that I did not recognize. I don't know if it was "Song
of Bernadette," or something else. Sorry.
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I recently found in the clearance folk section a bizarre recent CD:
Zen Cohen [a woman, by the way] called _The future_
(Blood Muscle Records, Oakland, California, 1996)
19 tracks, TT
01 Alone 5:54
02 Although, cats do 4:42
03 Elephant 3:50
04 Our place 2:07
05 Bulan pucat 2:53
06 Prison blues 2:20
07 Prize 5:03
08 Blood 5:04
09 Earth ours 3:23
10 Piano improvisation #5 2:49
11 Fear blues 2:30
12 Softly 3:54
13 Where the money goes 2:56
14 Grease 3:25
15 Musim Hujan 3:28
16 Several monks 4:00
17 For Sainkho & Charles Gayle 3:22
18 Amerika 4:22
19 Amerika piano 1:49
Zen Cohen does vocals, guitar, piano, and cello. The other instruments
(by 6 people) are contrabass (2), clarinet, 3 chambered harmonica, banjo,
electric guitar, tuba. Second vocals are by Rachel Cohen (a Jill Cohen is
credited with some artwork).
The album was produced in Oakland, CA. This is somewhat indulgent 69
minutes and comes with Tibetan monk chants, the various instruments already
noted, an elephant song recalling that of Tanita Tikaram, some songs (both
in rendition and verses) recalling Tori Amos, still other stuff very
disharmonic, and ending with a song called "Amerika" (the Berkeley leftist
spelling). Actually all of it is interesting and some pieces quite
enjoyable, though much of it rather sounds like what a person in a music
conservancy perhaps had to do for a semester's project. Oh, Leonard Cohen is
not mentioned though his presence is obviously felt.
Jarkko currently has the CD and will post a picture of the cover in the
curiosities section of his WWW site.
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(4) JONI MITCHELL ON COHEN
Hinton, Brian. 1996. _Joni Mitchell: Both sides now._ London: Sanctuary
Publishing. 304 pp., [8] pp. pls. $19.95.
Hinton's book has many references to Leonard Cohen, mostly minor ones in the
context of his Canadian-ness, along with Mitchell, Neil Young, etc. But
there are some very interested comments, to wit:
p. 79: Like Neil Young, Leonard Cohen is a companion--and compatriot--and
not a threat. The two did not really meet until both had left Canada. Both
are famed for their restlessness, geographically and in matters of the
heart. Cohen appears in three of Joni's songs: in 'That Song About the
Midway' [on _Clouds,_ Oct. 1969]--about their brief affair--he is a devil
wearing wings. In 'The Gallery' [on _Clouds_] he is a saint, though a
tainted one. 'Rainy Day House' [sic; = "Rainy Day Night," on _Ladies of the
canyon,_ May 1970] is said to be a tender farewell from her to him, though
he was the one who instigated the parting. He left his melancholy spell on
her music: "I think I'm rather Cohen influenced. I wrote 'Marcie' and
afterwards thought that it wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for
'Suzanne'."
Cohen's influence has been verbal rather than musical, showing her how
poetry can be integrated into the popular song. "My lyrics are influenced by
Leonard. After we met at Newport last year (1967) we saw a lot of each
other. Some of Leonard's religious imagery, which comes from being a Jew in
a predominantly Catholic part of Canada, seems to have rubbed off on me
too." Elsewhere, she described Cohen and Dylan as points of departure.
"Leonard didn't really explore music. He's a word man first. Leonard's
economical, he never wastes a word. I can go through Leonard's work and it's
like silk. Dylan is coarse and beautiful in a rougher way."
p. 94 (about events in 1969). Joni is also catching up on her reading.
Herman Hesse, Leonard Cohen--"her favourite poet"--and Rod McKeun. ...
p. 100 (about songs on _Clouds_): Side two opens with an extremely
sinister item, 'The Gallery', supposedly about Leonard Cohen, and portraying
a man as manipulative as the narrator of, say Robert Browning's poem 'My
Last Duchess'. This lover collects women; like the traditional song
'Reynardine', there is the suggestion he might kill them. Like Rose, he
appears brainwashed. ...
p. 108 (about songs on _Ladies ..._): 'Rainy Night House' is a strange
song, quietly underpinned by cello. Joni becomes a whole choir at one point.
It's a gentle farewell to Leonard Cohen--a boy who gave up his inheritance
to become 'a holy man on the FM radio'--who is gently parodied in the
religious imagery she calls up. The way 'called' is used twice, in two
different senses, is pure Joni. 'The Priest' [Incidentally, "The priest" is
JM's song, not LC's "Priests".] is also Cohen territory, an agnostic age's
nostalgic for faith, but given a sexual charge. ...
p. 131 (about songs on _Blue,_ July 1971): 'A Case About You' returns to
that lonely northern star, shining through the night. It could be both Nash
and (more secretly) her lost daughter [note, reunited with Mitchell this
spring] being bid goodbye to; the lyrics imply that love is never lost, but
can be recreated in the memory, as if new born. Taylor [singer James Taylor,
another lover] plays second guitar here, which, with the re-evocation of the
devil in the second verse, suggests that he too could be the subject of the
song. My own uninformed guess is that 'A Case About You' is about Leonard
Cohen--though the couple had parted some years before. If so, this would
explain its religious imagery, the map of Canada, the lines about northern
stars, and particularly the phrase "love is touching souls," which sounds
like neither Nash [singer Graham Nash, another lover] nor Taylor, but
straight out of the mouth of 'Laughing Len' It is a deeply heretic song, in
which the changing of Jesus's blood into holy wine transmutes into sexual
love. Mind you, what exactly is the point of a wine you can drink twelve
bottles of, and still remain standing?
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(5) TRAGIC NEWS OF A COHEN COVER ARTIST
Jeff Buckley's 1994 album has a cover of LC's "Hallelujah" (6:53). Bulletin
from Tower Records, EPULSE, 30 May 97:
8. rest in peace, jeff buckley:
The details were sketchy at post time: JEFF BUCKLEY -- rising young
singer/songwriter, Columbia recording artist, son of '60s folk-jazz singer
Tim Buckley -- apparently drowned late Thursday, May 29, in the Mississippi
River outside of Memphis. What's known is that he disappeared while
standing waist-deep in the water, and that the Mississippi there has a
strong undertow, and that authorities are still dragging downriver, hoping
to find his body. Death is almost always tragic; to call it so is
oxymoronic. But Buckley was an artist of rare promise who was just at the
beginning of what looked to be a long and fruitful career. His Columbia
discography is slim: one EP (1993's 'LIVE AT SIN-E') and one album (1994's
'GRACE'); he also appeared on the Jazz Passengers' 1994 High Street/Windham
Hill album, 'In Love,' singing "Jolly Street." At the time of his death, he
was in Memphis waiting to begin pre-production on his next album with
producer Andy Wallace, after an earlier attempt with producer/Television
guitarist Tom Verlaine didn't work out. While Buckley's emo-drenched style
seemed excessive to some, his music rewarded the listener after repeated
playings -- his vocal nuances expressed a broad palette sensitivity, like a
more complex Robert Plant. He will be missed. Shame.
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(6) DOES AL PACINO LOOK LIKE LEONARD COHEN?
I recently had the 1993 Helsinki poster of LC framed. The clerk thought
the picture remarkably like Al Pacino's?
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(7) JARKKO'S VISIT IN BERKELEY
As you know, Jarkko arrived on 29 May in California with his family for a
two-week car tour visit. The three stayed at my place for the night and on
the afternoon of the 29th, despite developing jet lag, locally (mainly
Berkeley) we hit 10 CD and book stores in about 3 hours, checking only for
Cohen things (well I also checked some for Bob Dylan and some other
artists). Alas Jarkko and I did not find anything either of really did not
have or want. Jarkko's only purchase was a promo of _The future_ (the duller
promo, not the more attractive _Be for real_ one). Amazingly, one store had
4 rare 45" records (including the "Butcher"), which Jarkko already had (I do
not collect vinyl as my life is already overburdened with too many other
things), and boots are still available (a few of Cohen, who has been booted
perhaps 20 times, but many of Dylan, who has been booted maybe 500 times).
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(8) COHEN-TALK 1990-95 AND ALT.MUSIC.LEONARN-COHEN
I was forced to switch servers from GARNET to SOCRATES and so have to clean
up files on the former. GARNET has 10 files, cleaned up, in ASCII, 1.4 MB
worth, of the Cohen talk forum from 8 Nov. 90 through 21 June 95. This
ceased after the newsgroup ALT.MUSIC.LEONARN-COHEN formed in early Sep.
1994. If anyone is interested in a copy of the 1990-95 files let me know by
the end of the month. It probably is simpler for me to send a disk copy (I
have tons of disposable American Online diskettes) of the files rather than
to email them. The Cohen talk forum was especially heavy in 1991 and, when
LC was touring, in 1993.
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Some of you know that previously I had trouble playing some of the CDs that
Jarkko had sent. Well, cleaning the laser lens of the CD player seems to
alleviate the problem, a very quick process with one of the cheap (about
$11) commercial lens cleaners. According to the 2/97 _Consumers reports_
Sony CD changers are especially finicky in this respect.
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