Isle of Wight 1970 release (October 2009) - all the details

[LisaLCFan]

I got mine last night (rushed over to the store after work)! Absolutely wonderful, I sat there watching the DVD in sheer delight! The quality is much better than I anticipated, including sound, picture, and Leonard himself, who was amazing. (And I love the photo of Leonard on the inside cover, in profile with his big smile.) What a cool trip back in time (to a time I never experienced), and in a way, kind of wierd seeing Leonard in that context, at a hippy music festival (not to mention his seeming to be "under the influence" ). Those timeless songs still sound so fresh today. As I was watching and listening to the Leonard of 40 years ago, my mind superimposed the image and sound of Leonard singing many of those same songs on the current tour, and while he has changed in some ways, in many he remains the same, especially in the intensity and the obvious emotions he puts into his performances. As for the CD, it will definitely be one of my favourites from now on! (But why did they not put the songs on the DVD in the chronological order, as they did on the CD?) Anyway, if anyone has not yet got this DVD/CD (or Blu-Ray, if you like), GET IT! It is awesome! I am still almost quivering with excitement about this, and I can't wait to get home tonight and watch the DVD again!

[brightnow]

Amazing CD and DVD, and now this:

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The price of the item(s) decreased after you ordered them, and we gave you the lowest price.

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Live At The Isle of Wight (CD/DVD)
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A $1.00 refund is nothing compared to how much I'm enjoying the music, but I'm not complaining...

[burningviolin]

As I was watching and listening to the Leonard of 40 years ago, my mind superimposed the image and sound of Leonard singing many of those same songs on the current tour, and while he has changed in some ways, in many he remains the same, especially in the intensity and the obvious emotions he puts into his performances.

Couldn't have said it better, thats exactly how I felt having been to the screening of the DVD at the Barcelona birthday meetup the day before the concert. I could see LC 1970 on stage in Barcelona as well and then when we lit the candles. Very cool.

[jerry]

There's a nasty glitch on Suzanne at about 50 seconds into the song. On both the cd and dvd.

[John Etherington]

I've just watched the "Leonard Cohen Live at the Isle of Wight 1970" DVD, for the first time. It was extraordinary re-living the experience again after 39 years. Leonard appears rugged and unshaven...fully aware of his messianic role. The singers look so young...archetypal hippie chicks. Solemnity prevails... I watched it with the same awe and rapt attention as on that cold and "smokey" night when the fires burned on Desolation Hill.

[quinn]

i was thoroughly enjoying the dvd, and was pleased and surprised to find one of my favourite tracks from songs of love and hate, sing another song, boys was actually a recording from this concert... so i looked forward to watching the full perfomance, only to be deflated when i realised the version on the dvd is edited... the version on the cd is complete... it just sounds remixed compared to the previous release... so my question is: does the complete clip for sing another song, boys from thsi concert exist?

[John Etherington]

Hi Quinn,

I suspect a full version of "Sing Another Song Boys" does exist, and the shortened version is the one thing that really irritates me about the DVD. The song is one of the absolute highlights of the event, and I believe that IOW was the first time Leonard played it in concert (can someone confirm? I can't remember hearing it at the Royal Albert Hall, earlier in the year). I totally appreciate having this DVD and think the whole package is fantastic value for money, but it feels short at 64.07. I wonder if the present DVD is to whet people's appetites (and make them pay more money) when a full DVD may be secretly on the agenda. I can think of at least one other case where this has happened, recently.

All the best, John E

[kwills]

Sob! unfortunately I'm not allowed to watch this now as my son has insisted he's buying it for my xmas present!

[jarkko]

The whole concert was not filmed although complete audio recording was made. It is my understanding that all existing footage has been used to make the DVD.

[elcord]

Waited until I watched it a second time to comment. I enjoyed it better the second time because on first viewing I was frustrated by what was missing. On the audio "You Know Who I Am" is, to me, a stand out performance and I wanted so much to see Leonard perform it (I'd readily give up Suzanne and Hey That's for YKWIA). And of course I'm with John with the major irritation being the butchered version of Sing Another Song Boys, which put me out of sorts. It is such a masterpiece of of song in its idea and structure, so original with the song building up and then unable to go anywhere but into the La La chorus - who but Leonard could sing a La La chorus with such meaning!! So, to see that song in particular cut and truncated in that manner really did spoil my viewing. But, having said this, on second viewing I was reconciled with my disappointments and was able to really enjoy and appreciate what is there. It is surely worth it just for Tonight Will Be Fine. And Nancy is just mesmerizing at the end. I do rather like the opening too. Seeing the studied slow time Cohen takes as he sizes up the situation and just takes command. As for the 'missing' bits, I know Jarkko has said a couple of times that all the available footage was used and we have to accept this, so I'm grateful to have what we have. And the audio CD is brilliant. And you really have to admire the crew who were there filming and recording.

BTW anyone know who the lady is playing ocarina along to everything who appears all through the film (mostly behind Charlie Daniels and Ron Cornelius)?

[Alsiony]

I can't wait to get a copy of this - have seen a few clips - it's a bummer if it has been spoiled a bit by editing- but I am sure I shall enjoy it nevertheless

[sirius]

Filmmaker Captures the 'Many Sides' of Leonard Cohen


Oct 21st 2009 4:00PM
by Michael D. Ayers

http://www.spinnermusic.co.uk/2009/10/2 ... ard-cohen/

It's well documented that in 1970, the Isle of Wight Festival got a little crazy. It was the third year of the festival and many of the 600,000 attendees showed up with no real intentions of paying. Sets from Miles Davis and Jimi Hendrix captivated the crowd while Kris Kristofferson dodged bottles thrown his way and was eventually being booed off the stage. Performers were hit or miss and there was a feeling of angst and urgency documented, with militants setting fires nearby fueling the sense of unease. Following Hendrix's performance on the last day, Leonard Cohen took the stage after being awoken from his trailer at 2AM to perform with his band 'The Army.'

Documentarian Murray Lerner -- who had been nominated for an Oscar for his documentary on the Newport Folk Festival in the 1967 film 'Festival' -- was there to capture the entire event and has recently extracted Cohen's performance in a DVD/CD combo entitled 'Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970.'

"I wanted to show that relationship to the crowd," Lerner tells Spinner, "and how that seemingly obscure poetry was so well received. He was surprisingly successful he was at such a tense moment."

At one point, Cohen tells the audience "we're too weak to have landed yet," which while seemingly is a reference to his band's name was also interpreted as a commentary on the youth movements in Britain at the time. "He's always had a social sense and was committed to social movements in a way," Lerner says. "I wanted to show the many sides of him and how unusual that was, the many faces of him."

Indeed, Lerner was able to capture a 35-year-old Cohen in his prime and with a backing band that consisted of Charlie Daniels and Bob Johnston as well as two female backup singers, which made songs such as 'So Long, Marianne' and 'Diamonds in the Mine' a fuller, richer sound.

Even 40 years later, Lerner recalls the moment that Cohen took the stage and how enraptured the audience became -- he had a calming effect that had yet to be seen all weekend. "I know it sounds contradictory, but I think they were trying to grapple with the meaning of his songs," Lerner says. "I thought the poetry was part of the process. I always have with him."

[sirius]

Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970

By Steve LaBate

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2 ... -1970.html

Full of wit, subtle humor, sorrow and insight, showcases songwriter/poet at peak of his stripped-down powers

When you consider the whole package (words, melody, chord structure), Bob Dylan may very well be our greatest songwriter, but, lyrically, no one—not even Dylan—can touch Leonard Cohen’s painstakingly crafted poetry. Dylan channeled, pulling one winedrunk watercolor phrase after another from the ether, bottling electricity. Cohen, though, wasn’t so much a lighting rod; his timeless songs unfolded with the weight and deliberation of a glacier. They didn’t feel plucked from the great beyond, but rather conceived within—incubated and nurtured before being born into our world, each a balling, stark-naked, wide-eyed infant. This CD/DVD combo of Cohen’s masterful 1970 Isle of Wight performance captures all of this. The full band and backup singers Cohen performs with keep the arrangements fittingly sparse, and he slips tiny but moving spoken-word vignettes into the cracks between tunes.

Live at the Isle of Wight was originally to be called My Sad and Famous Songs but, at the last minute, the title was scrapped. This is fortunate—while it’s true that Cohen writes some of the heaviest songs you’ll hear, and that his dour delivery gives him his (often deserved) reputation as an artist who’s inspired quite a bit of wrist-slashing, the proposed title would have reinforced an overly simplistic perspective that fails to consider Cohen’s disarming onstage charm and potent if subtle sense of humor. Mid-set on Isle of Wight, Cohen begins delivering what, at first, seems like a ponderous activist poem so common to the era: “As for the political situation, “ he says, “they locked up a man who wanted to rule the world. The fools, they locked up the wrong man.” The crowd cheers, and Cohen continues, “ A man who eats meat wants to get his teeth into something. A man who does not eat meat wants to get his teeth into something else.” There’s a long pause, and then Cohen adds, “If these thoughts interest you for even a moment, you are lost.”

It’s refreshing to see this man from the love-and-peace era so hilariously undercut himself and the whole self-serious Woodstock generation, to which it seemed, he never quite belonged. No, Cohen’s body of work and the performances on this disc seem to exist outside of the time and place they were created—outside of any time and place for that matter. Which makes them all the more powerful.

[Evie B]

I haven't actually listened to the CD yet, I am so mermerised by watching Leonard singing and doing his thing. As both my cd player and dvd player are bust, until my new cinema system is delivered next week my only way of watching is on my pc. But, my g*d, Leonard looks great close up, the pc the monitor is about 12 inches from my face and it is the very best way to watch it, right up close and personal. I have never seen a face that is so open and sincere, still the same all these years later. If you haven't watched it like this yet, forget the tv across the room, get it on your pc and get up close.

If there is anything missing that could have gone into it then that's a shame, but I believe it when Jarkko says there was nothing else. All those little noises and glitches are great, too much perfection detracts from the soul and the moment as it was at the time. I have absolutely no complaints, I love it and am so glad I can have it. Eventually I will get round to the cd, and I am sure it will also be great. For the moment I cannot drag myself away from looking deep into those eyes and I cannot stop smiling.

[sirius]

Director Murray Lerner Discusses New Concert Film on Leonard Cohen


Author: Donald Gibson — Published: Oct 22, 2009

BC Music Premium



http://blogcritics.org/music/article/di ... w-concert/

Released this week on DVD, Leonard Cohen: Live At The Isle of Wight 1970 chronicles the singer/songwriter’s landmark set at the five-day music festival in England. Directed by Academy Award winning filmmaker Murray Lerner—whose credits include Message To Love: The Isle of Wight Festival 1970, The Other Side of The Mirror: Bob Dylan At Newport and Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who—the documentary renders Cohen as the infamous event’s saving grace.

Despite an unprecedented audience of 600,000 and a roster of high-profile acts from The Who and Joni Mitchell to Sly & The Family Stone and Jimi Hendrix, the massive happening quickly took on an iniquitous subtext. Tension between many in the crowd and the concert organizers (who hadn’t prepared for such staggering attendance) was inevitably directed toward the artists, resulting in a climate of random disruptions and resentment.

It’s within this context that Lerner frames Cohen’s performance, interspersing it with present commentary by other artists, including Joan Baez and Kris Kristofferson, who were also on the bill.

Murray Lerner recently spoke to Donald Gibson of Blogcritics Magazine about his latest film as well as his thoughts on Dylan and the essential power of music.



There are a lot of sustained close-ups on Cohen’s face, which seem to reflect the way the audience was paying attention to him.



Excellent point. I think he made them feel very intimate with him. And I wanted to show that. He was the only one that I can think of, out of all the performers, who actually expressed sympathy and consensus with the audience’s ideals and feelings. [When] he in a sense said, “We’re a nation, but we’re weak. We need to get stronger,” he was telling the audience that he was on their side ideologically.



He was empathetic.



Yeah. Therefore, I think that meant a lot. A lot of the performers were upset with the audience—and rightly so because of the conditions… As Joni [Mitchell] was saying, “Please give me some [respect].” In other words, be aware of my feelings. She wasn’t saying, “I’m aware of your feelings.”



She was basically saying I need you to quiet down so I can do my thing.



Right—“I’m an artist and this is my life.” She wasn’t saying, “Well, you’re in a bad position; I understand why you’re doing this.” But [Cohen] was. He wasn’t being clever; I think that’s just what he really felt… He was one with the audience almost instantly… Ordinarily a quiet, acoustic set wasn’t their thing… The thing is, though, he was there for them. [Also], T.S. Eliot said, “[Genuine] poetry can communicate before it is understood.” And as Joan Baez said [in the commentary], she didn’t understand a lot of it, but it worked. That’s true. Because of that, they were really listening.



Also in the commentary, Kris Kristofferson suggests that one of the reasons the crowd didn’t turn on Cohen was because he wasn’t intimidated by them.



Right. He was very prepossessing. He was his own man and he wasn’t really feeling adversarial.



Having filmed Dylan at Newport, particularly in ’65, and then Cohen five years later at the Isle of Wight, how would you contrast their relationship to the audience?



That’s a good question. It was a big contrast. The audience booed in ’65—not the whole audience, [but] in a way, it was the opposite of Cohen. To me, the music was absolutely hypnotic and mesmerizing with Dylan; I loved it. Now, people were thrown by the unexpectedness of it, but if you think about it, the lyrics reflected what the audience felt. He was talking about their feelings, the alienation of young people. It’s a very mysterious thing because I guess they didn’t respond to the lyrics. They responded to…



The volume.



The volume, right, the electric part of it, which I thought was great. I don’t think it’s volume [though] that creates the power of electric music. It induces a kind of hypnosis in the body, gets into the nerves. It’s always fascinated me.



What is it about music in general or music performance specifically

that has interested you as a primary subject to document?



I was fascinated with how a performer used the power of music to relate to the audience. I think that’s really my constant theme. But someday I want to make a film about the power of music. It’s an amazing phenomenon… What does it mean to get 100,000 people—or 600,000 people—in concert? They want something that the music gives them but also that the music allows [for] them to be together with other people.



It’s communal.



It’s a communal activity. People evidently need that. Why, we don’t know, but they do.