Music lawyer on Death of a Ladies' Man

[UrPal]

For me doalm was the first of LC's moves into the modern age & is as profound a musical statement about a certain state of being - admittedly not a healthy one (but nevertheless reported by an acutely sensitive spirit) - as one is likely to get. The muddy & dingy quality of the sound compliments the content. I wouldn't change a thing. It won't be bettered by a cleaner cut. It won't be bettered.

[blonde madonna]

The muddy & dingy quality of the sound compliments the content. I wouldn't change a thing. It won't be bettered by a cleaner cut. It won't be bettered.

Here here! Bands today, with all the high tech wizardry available, are deliberately trying to replicate this type of sound.

The combined madness of two men has made DOALM the best.

BM

[jeremek]

texts ok, music medium, arrangement tragic
Let no one feels offended, pls
but...with a gun and everything is possible ( as a cheap embarrassing a film about horse riding antics)
I do not understand the climate of that (perhaps there is nothing there to understand ? )
j.

[jeremek]

mistakes happen, but why Spektor did not pay for it?

[sturgess66]

A review/opinion on YouTube of DOALM - for Rhapsody.com

On The Record - Mira Aroyo - Ladytron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCuACVlACro

[Arlene W]

Like everything about Leonard, it grows on you.

[sturgess66]

From MusicMachine.org - a post about "Death of a Ladies' Man" -

http://machinemusic.org/2009/12/15/cohe ... adies-man/

Published: 12.15.09

Cohen, Spector and the Death of a Ladies’ Man


Death of a Ladies’ Man was presumably written and recorded in just a few weeks during the spring and summer of 1977. The album left a bitter taste in the mouths of those who participated in the sessions. Leonard Cohen’s fans went further and dismissed the album as a failed experiment.

Death of a Ladies’ Man is certainly a peculiar album but it is also majestic in its own ways.

Phil Spector and Cohen first met at a Zen retreat in California. The prospect of the two artists collaborating seemed unlikely at the time. Cohen nonetheless joined other guests at an evening the gun-happy producer organized at his place early in 1977. Before Cohen realized it, everyone had left and he was forced (literally it seems) to continue drinking through the night with Spector.

Cohen noticed a piano in the room and he was therefore able to turn his confinement into a productive evening. A few hours is all the two men needed to draw up initial plans for Death of a Ladies’ Man.

The resulting eight songs stood in sharp contrast from anything Cohen had ever done before. Spector’s imprint was apparent and clearly unavoidable.

Spector shares songwriting credits with Cohen for each of the eight songs that make up Death of a Ladies’ Man. He is also accorded production credits on the front and back of the album’s gatefold cover (that information also appears on the inside). Spector plays guitars and keyboards on the album and is also credited for rhythm and vocal arrangements.

Stereo 8 collectors are fortunately spared the “Spector” orgy – the 8-track cartridge contains no mention of Phil Spector.

The writing and recording of Death of a Ladies’ Man was a tumultuous experience. Drunken arguments and confrontations plagued some of the sessions resulting in considerable differences of opinions. Guns and illicit substances also contributed to making the recording of the album a tense and difficult process.

Cohen has manifested publicly his dissatisfaction with the final mix which includes vocal ghost tracks that he was supposed to re-record. “I think that in the final moment, Spector couldn’t resist annihilating me, I don’t think he can tolerate any other shadows in his own darkness,” Cohen remarked once the album was finished.

Death of a Ladies’ Man was the last album Cohen recorded before retiring to a Tibetan monastery. Guitarist David Kessel noted that the sessions gave Cohen “a chance to perfect his Shaolin priesthood stuff and become one with the universe.”

In the end, Death of a Ladies’ Man was far from a failed experiment. Cohen and Spector relied on a stellar cast of performers (Bob Dylan, Allan Ginsberg and various members of The Wrecking Crew) who provided a semblance of structure for the dysfunctional partnership. It all appeared fragile and destined to crumble but it did not. The album’s “grotesque” Vaudeville qualities and exhilarating pace elevated Cohen and Spector to heights they would never revisit.

Death of Ladies’ Man fills me with “une certaine ivresse” that not many albums can provide – that’s why I keep going back to it.

DEATH OF A LADIES’ MAN (extracted from Programme D) [Click here at the link and you can play the album]

Stereo 8 (WB M8 3125) – Track Listing:
Programme A: True Love Leaves No Traces / Memories
Programme B: Iodine / Paper Thin Hotel
Programme C: I Left a Woman Waiting / Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On / Fingerprints (Beg.)
Programme D: Fingerprints (Concl.) / Death of a Ladies’ Man

LP – Track Listing:
Side A: True Love Leaves No Traces / Iodine / Paper Thin Hotel / Memories
Side B: I Left a Woman Waiting / Don’t Go Home With Your Hard-On / Fingerprints /Death of a Ladies’ Man


Published: 12.15.09
Category: Music, Stereo 8, Vinyl