Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

News about Leonard Cohen and his work, press, radio & TV programs etc.
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Leonard Cohen on pages 27 and 81 in the book above.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Now in stores. Leonard Cohen on page 64. Something about an old Kingston concert.

Image
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Leonard Cohen Brings Fresh Intensity to 'Old Ideas' Tour
Singer kicks off major North American leg of the tour in Oakland


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... r-20130303

Image

Leonard Cohen performs in support his Old Ideas release at The Paramount Theatre on March 2nd, 2013 in Oakland, California.

By Matt Diehl
March 3, 2013 11:05 AM ET

"I was looking at life expectancy tables, and I could probably do another seven or eight years." So Leonard Cohen claimed as he introduced "The Future" – the second song kicking off the major North American leg of his Old Ideas World Tour, which commenced in December 2012 with two New York dates and resumed for an additional 19 shows at Oakland, California’s Paramount Theatre last night. "I don't know, friends, when we’ll ever meet again – no one can know that – but tonight we'll give you everything we've got." And that’s exactly what the Canadian genius poet-songwriter and his nine-piece backing band did, despite the omnipresent air of mortality – only reinforced when Cohen sang "I know my days are few" during "Darkness."

With every tour jaunt, gossip inevitably centers on the possibility that it will be Cohen’s final such outing. Indeed, when you’re a 78-year-old with decades of decadence under your belt, there’s a significant chance that each performance might be your last. But Cohen’s spry sprint onto the stage to launch into "Dance Me To The End Of Love" at the beginning of the show seemed to mock such talk, resulting in the first of many standing ovations of the night. Three hours and 28 songs later, Cohen had entered Springsteen endurance territory, making clear he wasn’t going away anytime soon.

If anything, Cohen proved more vital onstage than ever, which follows his recent creative trajectory. His comeback tour, which started half a decade ago and continues to evolve with each passing year, has proven to be one of music’s greatest success stories: Cohen had always been considered a cult act, but by 2009 his recent concerts had already grossed $50 million, according to I’m Your Man, Sylvie Simmons’ essential recent biography, published last year. But Cohen refuses to exist as a mere oldies act. In 2012, Cohen released Old Ideas, his first album of new material in nearly a decade. At a moment when he could have rested on his laurels, Old Ideas proved anything but a victory lap: Instead, it was one of the greatest efforts in the Leonard Cohen canon, adding ten new stone classics to the one of the richest repertoires in pop music. Old Ideas also proved Cohen’s highest commercial success, shooting into the U.S. charts’ Top Ten and reaching the top spot in numerous countries around the globe.

At the Paramount, Cohen would perform almost half of Old Ideas, to the displeasure of absolutely no one; the new songs sounded absolutely of a piece with the more familiar chestnuts like the encore "So Long, Marianne" (which caused spontaneous outbreaks of couples waltzing in the crowd). Likewise, Cohen hardly treated his vintage favorites as sacred texts. "Waiting For a Miracle" was given a deeper, almost trip-hop funk workout, making it simultaneously sexier and more futuristically dystopian. Similarly, "First We Take Manhattan" and "Everybody Knows" sprouted even greater rhythmic heft, turning into disco-party boogie monsters onstage. "Bird on a Wire" took on a much bluesier tone, with extended guitar interplay and churchy organ, while "Anyhow" exuded some of the smokiest jazz vibes Cohen has ever rendered. "Who By Fire" became utterly transformed by Javier Mas’ dramatic Spanish-inflected six-string interpretation – just one of Mas’ many astonishing virtuoso moments throughout the evening.

Cohen’s most radical reworking, however, was saved for his biggest hit, "Hallelujah," whose arrival felt almost unexpected, introduced with offhand grace midway through the concert’s second half. Cohen started "Hallelujah" in understated fashion, seeming to deny the melisma-laden performances that have made it a TV singing-contest trademark; his delivery grew in force, seeing him drop to his knees as he lost himself in the song. His current treatment of "Hallelujah" belied a self-referential, deprecating wit that held sway over the entire performance. Throughout the night, Cohen perversely drew attention away from himself, thanking the members of his band numerous times, along with many others, including the monitor mixer and lighting designer. (Hello, Brian Patrick Murphy of Chicago!) He also encouraged lengthy solos and showpieces from his backing group – which includes the Webb Sisters on background vocals, his musical director and bassist Roscoe Beck, keyboardist Neil Larsen, guitarist Mitch Watkins, percussionist Rafael Gayol, multi-instrumentalist Mas, and violinist Alexandru Bublitchi – during which Cohen would doff his hat in respect. Of particular note, Cohen’s longtime backing singer and songwriting collaborator Sharon Robinson took the mic for an especially powerful rendition of "Alexandra Leaving" that resulted in audience rapture.

However, as much as Cohen seemed to willfully challenge his cult of personality, there was no denying who was at the center of this hurricane set evocatively and provocatively on simmer. From his signature fedora and dark suits, Cohen has become, like Johnny Cash, an eternally compelling explorer of human nature’s darker corners. He finished his set with the appropriately climactic "Closing Time" and its farewell lyric, "Now there’s nothing left/It’s closing time." Regardless, even after Cohen told the crowd "good night" and the house lights went on, no one really believed he was going anywhere.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Lana Del Rey Covers Leonard Cohen's 'Chelsea Hotel No. 2'
Singer keeps it simple in video without tigers, bikers or A$AP Rocky
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/video ... z2PCPaNC2a

By ROLLING STONE MARCH 28, 2013 8:25 AM

There are no tigers, bikers, poolside romps or A$AP Rocky in Lana Del Rey's new video, just Del Rey herself, singing a faithful version of Leonard Cohen's reflective ode "Chelsea Hotel No. 2." Sitting on a couch in a gloomy room and fumbling occasionally with a cigarette and matchbook, Del Rey strikes the same spare, wistful tone as Cohen, who wrote the song about a fling with Janis Joplin in the famous New York artists' haunt. The tune appeared on Cohen's 1974 album New Skin for the Old Ceremony.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Flashback: Leonard Cohen and Judy Collins Perform 'Suzanne'
She introduced the world to the poet-turned-singer

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/video ... 7-20130425

By ANDY GREENE APRIL 25, 2013 12:25 PM

Leonard Cohen didn't release his debut single, "Suzanne," until he was 33. He spent his time up until that point writing acclaimed poems and novels, traveling the world and bedding a ridiculous amount of beautiful women. By 1967 it was apparent that there's not exactly big money in poetry, so he decided to try his hand at singing. Columbia executive John Hammond (who'd previously signed Bob Dylan and countless other greats) gave him a record deal months into his new career.

"Suzanne" was inspired by Cohen's encounters with Suzanne Verdal, the girlfriend of Canadian artist Armand Vaillancourt. "He got such a kick out of seeing me emerge as a young schoolgirl, I suppose, and a young artist, into becoming Armand’s lover and then wife," Verdal said in a 1998 interview. "So he was more or less chronicling the times and seemingly got a kick out of it." http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/verdal.html

Many of the details from the song are drawn straight from real life, down to the tea and oranges that Verdal served. "He was 'drinking me in' more than I even recognized, if you know what I mean," Verdal said. "I took all that moment for granted. I just would speak and I would move and I would encourage and he would just kind of like sit back and grin while soaking it all up, and I wouldn’t always get feedback, but I felt his presence really being with me."

Judy Collins released "Suzanne" in 1966, months before Cohen's original hit shelves. She turned it into a minor hit, but Cohen's own version of the song went nowhere, at least initially. Much like Dylan in 1962, Cohen was looking like a Hammond discovery with a great gift for songwriting but little ability to sell actual records. "Suzanne," however, soon took on a life of its own. A huge range of artists, from Nina Simone to Neil Diamond and Roberta Flack, covered it over the next few years.

The most famous version of the song was the Judy Collins rendition. Here's video of them singing it together on television. It took Joan Baez's sweet voice to introduce people to the music of Bob Dylan, and this was the same case with Cohen and Collins. College students began checking out Cohen's own work, and word of this brilliant new singer-songwriter grew, particularly in Europe. Yet he never became much of a commercial force in America, and by the early Eighties Columbia was refusing to release his new albums in the States.

Since returning to the road in 2008, Cohen has undergone one of the most surprising comebacks in musical history. The tour started in tiny theaters and quickly graduated to huge arenas. At age 78, Cohen plays for well over three hours and leaves audiences stunned. A hush always falls over the crowd when he plays the opening notes of "Suzanne."
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

50 Greatest Live Acts Right Now

26. Leonard Cohen

Cohen emerged from a fifteen-year hiatus in 2008 with marathon shows that showcase all of his best songs. His band is absolutely stunning, and, at 78, his deeper-than-deep voice is captivating. The three-and-a-half hour show seems to pass by in minutes.

Showstopper: He doesn't do many covers, but his set-closing rendition of "Save the Last Dance for Me" almost makes you forget the Drifters version even exists.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z2amBt0bNG
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

ImageImageImage

Image
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Thomas Ehretsmann Creates a Portrait for Rolling Stone of Leonard Cohen
http://www.richardsolomonblog.com/2012/ ... trait.html
http://drhguy.com/2012/02/23/leonard-co ... n-edition/
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Leonard Cohen Debuts New Song In Ireland
Watch the first performance of 'I've Got A Secret'


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/video ... z2f0ij3q6h

ByANDY GREENE SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 9:50 AM

Leonard Cohen's never-ending tour touched down at Dublin's 02 Arena on September 12th, and midway through the show, he broke out a brand new song entitled "I've Got a Secret." Like many recent works by the seventy-eight-year-old singer-songwriter, the tune reflects on love and aging. "I'd like to love you baby, but I don't feel right," Cohen sings. "I've got this full length mirror, and it ain't a pretty sight." Thankfully, a fan captured a pretty stellar video of the performance from close range.

Some of the lyrics from the song come from "Feels So Good," a work that Cohen debuted on his 2009 tour and has sprinkled into his set list over the previous few years, though he has yet to release it on an album. He last played it on December 4th, 2012 in Toronto, and since then it seems to have morphed into this new song.

Cohen's most recent LP is Old Ideas, which hit shelves in January of 2012. Since then, he has circled the globe a couple of times over. Despite the fact that he's less than two years away from his 80th birthday, his shows regularly stretch beyond three and a half hours. He didn't play a single concert between 1993 and 2008, but when a former manager absconded with the vast majority of his life savings, he was forced back onto the road.

Much to his shock, Cohen quickly discovered that he loved life on the road, and the reviews have been almost entirely euphoric. "I was able to restore my tiny fortune within a year or so," he told Rolling Stone last year. "But I kept on touring. It wasn't exclusively that unique situation. Touring is like taking the first step on a walk to China. It's a serious commitment."

The European leg of Cohen's tour wraps up September 18th at Rotterdam, but just two months later he resumes with a series of shows in Australia and New Zealand.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
cohenadmirer
Posts: 1026
Joined: Wed Apr 09, 2008 3:44 pm
Location: wirral, uk

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by cohenadmirer »

Poorly informed re where and when the last European concert is :?
Leonard's work resonates
Brighton 1979; Dublin , Manchester june 2008; glasgow, manchester Nov 2008; Liverpool july 2009 ; Barcelona Sept 2009 ;marseille, lille september2010: Ghent August 2012;Barcelona October 2012;Montreal x2 November 2012: 2013; Saint John NB April 2013; Brussels June 2013;Manchester August 2013; Leeds , Birmingham September 2013; Amsterdam September 2013
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

NOW IN STORES - LEONARD COHEN ON PAGE 10

Image
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Goldin
Posts: 2480
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:57 pm
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Goldin »

Roy wrote:NOW IN STORES - LEONARD COHEN ON PAGE 10
Nothing special. Just one small picture and a few lines; only one mistake (in Dublin LC wasn't yet "the 79-year-old master"). Plus another version of the song title - "Got a Little Secret" (instead of "I've Got a Secret" mentioned early on the site). Seems like Rolling Stone's authors finally managed to watch Albert's video and notice the actual lyrics.

The next step: to learn to use Wikipedia.
User avatar
Goldin
Posts: 2480
Joined: Fri Aug 14, 2009 9:57 pm
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Goldin »

But! - they have good taste in TV shows, imho: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13330&p=340596#p323810 :lol:
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Flashback: Leonard Cohen's Miraculous Resurrection in 2008
Watch Cohen perform 'Hallelujah' at this first concert following a 15-year break


Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/video ... z2zzUb2RkJ
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

By ANDY GREENE APRIL 24, 2014 12:45 PM

The Fredericton Playhouse in New Brunswick, Canada seats just 709 people. It usually doesn't manage to book shows bigger than children's entertainer Raffi or a local production of Guys and Dolls, but on May 11th, 2008 it served as the launching pad for one of the most extraordinary (and unexpected) resurrections in rock history. That was the night that Leonard Cohen, with virtually no fanfare, took the stage for the first time in fifteen years, kicking off a six-year odyssey that absolutely nobody, least of all Leonard Cohen, could have ever seen coming.

Exclusive Q&A: Leonard Cohen on New Tour, 'Old Ideas'

For much of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Cohen retreated completely from public life and lived on a Buddhist monastery on Mount Baldy near Los Angeles. Returning to the stage was the furthest thing from his mind. "I never thought I'd tour again," he told Rolling Stone in 2012. "Although I did have dreams. Sometimes my dreams would entail me being up on stage and not remembering the words or the chords. It had a nightmarish quality, which did not invite me to pursue the enterprise."

Cohen made a rather large mistake by leaving his manager/ex-lover in charge of his finances while he was living on the mountain. When he came back home he discovered that his life savings had been whittled down to $150,000. He took his manager to court, but was ultimately unable to collect the lost funds. A tour was the most obvious way to rebuild his nest egg, but in early 2008 he was 73, hadn't played a show since 1993 and was extremely unsure whether or not he still had an audience.

A very short Canadian theater tour was booked, kicking off in tiny, remote cities far away from the media spotlight. It turned out that such precautions weren't warranted. Cohen assembled a stunning band and his deepened voice actually infused his songs with incredible power and emotion. He'd never sounded better and he somehow found the stamina to perform for over three hours. Reviews were absolutely rapturous and word spread very quickly. Before he knew it, he was headlining arenas for the first time in his career. (Above is the video of "Hallelujah" from that very first night in Fredericton.)

Within a year Cohen had more money in the bank than ever before, but the tour just kept going. He stopped in 2011 to record the new album Old Ideas and then got right back on the road. He's played over 370 concerts since that first night, and there are indictions he wants to get back on the road after wrapping up a new album at the end of this year. He'll be 80 years old at that point, but there's every reason to think that he'll keep playing three-and-a-half hour shows where he literally skips offstage after the final encore.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
User avatar
Roy
Posts: 758
Joined: Sun Mar 01, 2009 2:11 pm
Location: Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale
Contact:

Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Roy »

Leonard Cohen to Release New Album For 80th Birthday Next Month

'Popular Problems' info unveiled at singer's Irish fan convention


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z3A8xKKIs1

Image

By Andy Greene | August 11, 2014

Leonard Cohen will commemorate his 80th birthday next month by releasing a new LP entitled Popular Problems. While Cohen's representative could not confirm the album, word of the release dropped last week at Leonard Cohen Event 2014, an officially sanctioned fan convention held in Dublin. There's also a September 22nd release date for Popular Problems listed on Amazon France.

"Leonard has worked hard on his next studio album of entirely new songs," read a foreword to the event booklet written by Jarkko Arjatsalo, a finnish accountant that runs Cohen's authorized fan site The Leonard Coen Files and serves as a liaison between the singer and his fan community. "He asked me to let you know that Popular Problems will be out at the end of September, shortly after his 80th birthday."

In an e-mail to Rolling Stone, Arjatsalo confirmed the statement and said he received the information "directly from Leonard." When news hit Cohen's fan community, Arjatsalo posted to clarify Cohen's upcoming plans. "There are no tour plans!" he wrote. "We are now looking forward to a great new studio album."

Cohen publicly thanked Arjatsalo for his tireless work at a 2012 show in the webmaster's hometown of Helsinki. "There was someone from this town that began a website called The Leonard Cohen Files," he said. "Through his efforts, my work was kept alive for all these years. The man's name is Jarkko Arjatsalo. I want to thank him for the spectacular effort he's made on my behalf. I am deeply grateful."

Cohen's last album was 2012's Old Ideas, though in the year leading up to the album's release, the singer-songwriter unveiled new songs onstage that failed to make the album. "I rehearsed some other songs on the road – new songs that didn't make it onto the record," he told Rolling Stone in 2012. "So I have a new record [after this one], at least two-thirds of it, anyway."
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
Post Reply

Return to “News”