Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

News about Leonard Cohen and his work, press, radio & TV programs etc.
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Yes, those are really gorgeous photos. I must thank you for them, too!
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Now in Stores

Page 34 - News on the PEN New England Award and Photo of Leonard Cohen with Chuck Berry and Keith Richards.

Article titled Pen Pals ;-)

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LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Leonard Cohen Announces The First Dates Of His 2012 'Old Ideas' World Tour
The tour kicks off August 12th in Ghent, Belgium and comes to North America in the Fall


http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... r-20120326

By Andy Greene
March 26, 2012 6:00 AM ET

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Leonard Cohen is launching a world tour behind his new LP Old Ideas in the Fall. So far, only European dates have been announced, but a press release says that "Leonard will return to North America this Fall, details to be announced soon." The first leg of the tour kicks off August 12th in Ghent, Belgium and wraps up October 7th in Lisbon, Portugal.

Cohen spoke to Rolling Stone in January, and indicated that he was conflicted about going back on the road. "A tour is being booked," he said. "I haven't signed up for it yet. I have two minds [about touring.] I don't like to do a small tour, so whether I'm going to sign up for another couple of years . . . is that really where I want to be? Touring is like taking the first step on a walk to China."

The 77- year-old singer-songwriter returned to the road in May of 2008 after a 15-year break. "I never thought I'd tour again, although I did have dreams," Cohen said. "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." But Cohen's finances took a downward turn in the early 2000s after a dispute with a former manager wiped out most of his life savings. "I was able to restore my tiny fortune within a year or so," Cohen said. "But I kept on touring."

The tour ran for nearly 250 shows and took Cohen around the world many times over, wrapping up on December 11th, 2010 in Las Vegas. The highly acclaimed show regularly ran well over three hours a night. When the tour wrapped, he began work on Old Ideas with producer Patrick Leonard. The sessions were fruitful, and Cohen says he already had two-thirds of another album done.

Here are the dates for the Old Ideas World Tour 2012:

August 12th – Ghent, Belgium – St. Peter's Square

August 14th – Ghent, Belgium – St. Peter's Square

August 25th – Copenhagen, Denmark – Rosenborg Castle

August 26th – Aalborg, Denmark – Molleparken

August 28th – Bergen, Norway – Bergenhus Festning-Koengen

August 31st – Gothenberg, Sweden – Tradgardsforeningen

September 2nd – Helsinki, Finland – Sonera Stadium

September 5th – Berlin, Germany – Wuhlheide

September 6th – Monchengladbach, Germany – Hockey Field

September 11th – Dublin, Ireland – Imma

September 12th – Dublin, Ireland – Imma

September 25th – Verona, Italy – Verona Arena

September 28th – Paris, France – Olympia

September 29th – Paris, France – Olympia

September 30th – Paris, France – Olympia

October 3rd – Barcelona, Spain – St. Jordi

October 5th – Madrid, Spain – Palais Desportes

October 7th – Lisbon, Portugal – Pavilhao Atlantico
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Leonard Cohen's Ex-Manager Found Guilty of Harassment
Kelley Lynch violated protective orders


By Rolling Stone
April 13, 2012 8:35 AM ET

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... t-20120413

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Leonard Cohen's former manager has been found guilty of harassing the songwriter by a court in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times reports. Kelley Lynch has been convicted on five charges of violating protective orders, and for making harassing phone calls and sending thousands of harassing emails.

Lynch worked with Cohen for 17 years, but was fired by the singer in 2004. Cohen sued Lynch in 2005, accusing her of stealing $5 million from his personal accounts and investments. A judge granted Cohen a default judgment, obligating Lynch to pay back $9.5 million. Lynch's systematic and persistent harassment of Cohen began shortly after she was dismissed.

Lynch is being held a detention facility in Lynwood, California in lieu of $25,000 bail. A sentencing hearing will be held sometime next week.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Leonard Cohen's Ex-Manager Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison
Kelley Lynch was found guilty of harassment last week


By Rolling Stone
April 19, 2012 10:58 AM ET

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Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z1sYgnwixS

Following her conviction on harassment charges, Leonard Cohen's former business manager, Kelley Lynch, was sentenced to 18 months in prison with five years' probation, the Los Angeles Times reports. She is also banned from owning weapons for the next 10 years and will have to undergo anger management classes, psychological training and alcohol education sessions while in custody. Upon release, she will be required to undergo a mental health evaluation.

Last week a Los Angeles court found Lynch guilty of harassing the songwriter. She was convicted on five charges of violating protective orders, making harassing phone calls and sending thousands of emails.

"It gives me no pleasure to see my onetime friend shackled to a chair in a court of law," said Cohen, "her considerable gifts bent to the service of darkness, deceit and revenge."

In a statement made before being sentenced, Lynch blamed prosecutors for carrying out a "vicious attack" on her, though she added, "I do believe that I have engaged in excessive and unauthorized rambling."

Lynch and Cohen worked together for 17 years, but Cohen fired her in 2004 and sued her in 2005, accusing her of stealing $5 million from his personal accounts and investments. After a judge granted Cohen a default judgment, Lynch was obligated to pay back $9.5 million. Her harassment of Cohen began soon thereafter.



Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z1sYgwfbx9
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Leonard Cohen, Drake, Feist Nominated for 2012 Polaris Awards
Japandroids, Grimes, the Weeknd, Fucked Up also vying for Canadian honor


By Rolling Stone
June 15, 2012 12:15 PM ET
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z1xxjMZt9B

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The Polaris Awards have announced their long list for 2012, including Leonard Cohen's Old Ideas, Drake's Take Care and Feist's Metals among the nominees. Also up for the award are Japandroids' Celebration Rock, Grimes' debut album Visions, the Weeknd's Echoes of Silence, Fucked Up's David Comes to Life, Patrick Watson's Adventures in Your Own Backyard and the Handsome Furs' final album, Sound Kapital.

The Polaris Awards honor the Canadian Album of the Year, with the artist receiving a $30,000 prize. Judgments are made regardless of genre or sales by a jury of over 200 members of the Canadian music media, focusing on artistic merit only. The Polaris short list will be unveiled July 17th,and the winner will be announced at the Polaris gala on September 24th. For the full list of 2012 Polaris Awards nominees, visit the official website.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Ladies and Gents, Leonard Cohen
An interview with the "beautiful creep" who never does interviews

By Jack Hafferkamp
February 4, 1971 11:35 AM ET

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z20ycNjUpb

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San Francisco – Leonard Cohen's fans are word people. They believe a song's lyrics are more important than its instrumentation, packaging, or the lead singer's crotch. It could even be that for most of them, words have become the first-aid station in the preventive detention camp of their feelings. Certainly they are all helpless romantics, trapped by rage in the age of efficiency.

Cohen, of course, is crazy, but he is cunning enough to keep on the loose. A mystery man with a big nose, he is a "beautiful creep." He wants to be handsome, but settles for looking better than he expected. And wishing to be slick, he succeeds just enough to keep on wishing. He has no desire to be a pop star, yet he wants to sell records.

Over the house phone at Berkeley's stately old Claremont Hotel, he agrees to a few questions only after I assure him that we will meet on equal terms. "I never do interviews," he says, "I prefer an interviewer to take the same risks that I do. In other words, not to make a question and answer kind of scene, because I'm interested in ... like a description from your side ... to practice the novelist's rather than the interviewer's art. Say, like what was the feeling of the interviewer and how does that relate to the work we all know. Rather than like ... put me on the line for this or that type of question ... "

Cohen ordered a scotch and soda for me from room service – at the time it seemed like the perfect drink. He introduced me to Charlie Daniels, a member of his touring band, the Army. Once an 80 cigarette-a-day addict, Charlie is now down to five sticks of gum at once.

As I set up the tape recorder, Cohen turned down the sound from the TV. He left the picture turned to Lassie. A definite feeling of uncertainty settled around us, the intruders. Cohen carefully scrutinized us. He repeated his insistance that our meeting be held on common ground. "I had to be reminded of other things I've said. It's just sheer fatigue which has allowed me to conduct this whole scene. I don't believe in it, you know.

"One of the reasons I'm on tour is to meet people. I consider it a reconaissance. You know, I consider myself, like in a military operation. I don't feel like a citizen. I feel like I know exactly what I have to do. Part of it is familiarizing myself with what people are thinking and doing. The kind of shape people are in is what I am interested in determining ... because I want to lay out any information I have and I want to make it appropriate. So if I can find where people are at any particular moment, it makes it easier for me to discover if I have anything to say that is relevant to the situation."

A refugee from the men's garment industry (he pushed clothes racks for a time), he has arrived at 36 years of age. He is tastefully dressed in conservatively flared tan pants, black shirt, and bush jacket, but he carefully denies affluence by keeping himself particularly emaciated. He firmly believes that women are gaining control of the world, and that it is just. He empathizes, "Women are really strong. You notice how strong they are? Well, let them take over. Let us be what we're supposed to be – gossips, musicians, wrestlers. The premise being, there can be no free men unless there are free women."

His stories, poems and songs are all quite personal, written to and about himself and the lifetimes he has drifted through. Sometimes nakedly, but just as often humorously, he looks down from the cross and decides that crucifixtion may as well be holy. He answers cautiously, but once begun, his conversation glides easily from the writing of his books to the writing of his songs. "As I've said before, just because the lines don't come to the end of the page doesn't necessarily qualify it as poetry. Just because they do doesn't make it prose. Oh, I'm continually blackening pages ...

"I've always played and sung. Ever since I was 15. I was in a barn dance group called the Buckskin Boys when I was about 18 .. 17. It was just at a certain moment that I felt that songs of a certain quality came to me that somehow demanded ... or somehow engage a larger audience. Like when you write a good song, you feel like you can sing it to other people. When you write other songs that are not so good you just sing them to yourself. I don't know ... I think ... I guess greed had something to do with it.

"And I forget, a lot had to do with poverty. I mean I was writing books (two novels and four volumes of poetry) and they were being very well received ... and that sort of thing, but I found it was very difficult to pay my grocery bill. I said, like it's really happening. I'm starving. I've got beautiful reviews for all my books, and you know, I'm very well thought of in the tiny circles that know me, but like ... I'm really starving. So then I started bringing some songs together. And it really changed my whole scene."

Bob Johnston, friend, producer, and keyboards, and Ron Cornelius, guitar and moustache for the Army, wandered in to tell of the arrival of the limousines. I asked about the picture on the jacket of his first LP, Leonard Cohen.

"The picture on the back is a Mexican religious picture called "Anima Sola," the lonely spirit or the lonely soul. It is the triumph of the spirit over matter. The spirit being that beautiful woman breaking out of the chains and the fire and prison.

"When the record came out ... there was some difficulty between the producer (John Simon) and myself. I don't mean there was any malice. It was really like a misunderstanding. And I wasn't well enough versed in ... just the whole recording procedure to be able to translate the ideas I had to him. So that he, naturally, took over and filled in the vacuum that was caused by my own ignorance and incompetence. You know ... it was a record that has, I think ... oh, I like it now. I think a lot of people have listened to it ...

"The second one [Songs From a Room] was largely unloved as I can see it ... from people's reactions. It was very bleak and wiped out. The voice in it has much despair and pain in the sound of the thing. And I think it's an accurate reflection of where the singer was ... at the time. I mean very, very accurate. Too accurate for most people's taste. But as I believe that a general wipe-out is imminent and that many people will be undergoing the same kind of breakdown that the singer underwent, the record will become more meaningful as more people crack up.

"The third one (just released) is the way out. It is a return ... or maybe not even a return – a claim, another kind of strength ... "

Isn't that a kind of heavy responsibility? Aren't you making a claim to be some sort of guide or prophet? It seems that by releasing records you are making that sort of claim.

"Very true, very true," he said. "Look, I think the times are tough ... these are hard times. I don't want in any way to set myself up as Timothy Leary or Abbie Hoffman. I mean, I'm not one of those guys. I have my feelings about how to move myself into areas which are not completely bordered with pain. And I've tried to lay out my chart as carefully as I can. I have come through something. I don't want to boast about it. I don't even want to talk about it. Look ... you know, the songs are inspired. I don't pretend to be a guide. I do pretend to be an instrument for certain kinds of information at certain moments. Not all moments, and it has nothing to do with me as a guy. I may be a perfect scoundrel ... As a matter of fact, I am ... just like the guy on the scene. But there are moments when I am the instrument for certain kinds of information."

In the Canadian Film Board movie, Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen, you wrote something on the wall while you were sitting in the bathtub.

"Caveat Emptor, or buyer beware. I I think it's good advice. Especially these days. Not specifically from me, but ... umm ... I let anybody judge me by the severest terms they choose ... I simply think that on both sides of the underground railway there is a lot of occasion to exercise our skepticism."

As Cohen speaks it becomes readily apparent that meeting people is only one reason for the tour. Another, more important reason is that for him "tours are like bull-fighting. They are a test of character every night." And that, as he says, "is something I am interested in examining."

One purposely unpublicized aspect of the current U.S.-Canada tour has been the stops at various mental hospitals. Cohen has initiated these concerts, he insists, not from any sense of charity, but because he enjoys them. There is none of that "sense of work, of show biz, of turning people on." He does it because the people there are really in tune to the songs. "Those people are in the same landscape as the songs come out of. I feel that they understand them."

In his way, Cohen has explored many terrains, physical and psychic. Success as a songwriter and performer has allowed him to wander to many places: from Montreal, his home, to Cuba, Hydra, Paris, Nashville – and back to Montreal. He left Greece, he says because, "I was ready to leave. Whether the regime changed or not. As a matter of fact. Greece is a very peaceful place to be in now."

Carrying visions of the Spanish Civil War in his head, he went to Cuba to defend Havana during the Bay of Pigs. Slowly he came to realize that he "was exactly the kind of enemy the Fidelistos were describing: bourgeois, individualistic, a self-indulgent poet." He began hanging out with people who were out of work and on no side, "procurers, pushers, whores and all night movie operators." Amid the Chinese and Czechoslovakian technicians, he found himself the only tourist in Havana.

In Paris during the O.A.S. riots and in Montreal during the so-called "occupation of the city" he felt the same stirrings. He is bothered by the fact that what he reads in other parts of the world about events he's seen usually has "very little correspondence with the actual ambiance of the place. None of those reports correspond at all to the reality that I perceive."

The Berkeley Community Theater was very nearly packed when Cohen came on stage 15 minutes late. The audience was young but mixed. Streeties mingled with Cal frat men and their pin-mates. Only occasionally were they interrupted by a well-experienced face. He started "Suzanne," but stopped and walked offstage accompanied by much good natured applause. The audience was his before he came to the theater. Smiling like an expectant mother, Cohen, the self-proclaimed arch-villain, returned to invite those in the back of the hall to fill up the empty seats and space in front of the stage. Naturally enough, very little encouragement was necessary. A large number of people scrambled forward. He called for the house lights. "We should all be able to see one another."

He began again with "The Stranger Song." His voice was surprisingly well defined and strong. After another song the Army appeared. Two more guitars, bass, keyboards, and two female voices.Elton Fowler, Susan Musmann and, that night, Michelle Hopper, made up the rest of the group. They all started into "Bird on the Wire."

The association of Leonard Cohen with the Army was fortuitously arranged through the good offices of Bob Johnston. They provide just the right musical superstructure for his songs. Expertly but not overpoweringly they give his ideas a range and versatility his previous records have lacked. After the concert they would go back to Nashville with him to lay down the last track for the new album. If tonight's concert is a proper indication, ...several tracks will have a definite country sound.

Meanwhile, having found less space than bodies to fill it, the crowd began settling in the aisles. Aisles-sitting, though – as everyone knows – is illegal. An announcement was necessary. "I've had some crucial news from the authorities," he began facetiously, then broke into a spontaneous song:

"It's forbidden to sit in the aisles
As for me I couldn't give a damn
I don't care where you sit
I don't care where you stand, either
or recline in any position you wish

Nonetheless, I feel it is my civic duty
To tell you to get out of the aisles immediately
So come up on the stage instead
And they came up on the stage
And they won't go back again

And they came up on my stage
And they won't go back no more
Oh, I promise to do anything
But they won't go back no more.
No, they won't go back anymore."

And, clapping, laughing and singing, the audience once again moved forward. The Army was engulfed. Only Cohen stood out as if people were afraid to get too close. A few murmurs of discontent were heard from the expensive seats, but they were to no avail. Not only was the stage filled, but the aisles remained jammed.

Another announcement of some seriousness was imperative: "It is with no regret that I bear the final tidings in this sordid drama ... They say we've got just one more song ... If the aisles aren't cleared by then the concert will end." Someone behind Cohen shouted, "Make it a long one." He replied, "I don't think they'll be taken in by our cunning. In a while they'll kill the power and then start on the rest of us ... I don't care what happens myself because I feel really good ... I can't concern myself with these details. I'm not in the business of clearing away people."

As the song began, something truly remarkable happened. Hestitantly, a few people began to filter back to their original seats. Appreciative applause from the seat-bound majority led even more people to reconsider the moral implications of being in the way. A general retreat commenced. And at that very moment, the police, who allegedly had been grouping for action, relented by giving permission for people to sit in the aisles. Cheers filled the house. Leonard Cohen was still grinning when he left the stage for intermission.

Intermission? He and the Army stepped into the wings, looked at one another, and wordlessly returned to the stage. "That was intermission. This is so good, why stop now?" Although the concert was billed as an evening of songs and poetry, only two short poems were recited. Cohen sang several new numbers confidently. He was obviously pleased and his pleasure was returned by the audience.

The band couldn't leave without an encore. Tired, but game, Cohen returned to sing "Seems So Long Ago, Nancy." He explained that he wasn't sure if he could remember the song. Nancy's spirit was clear enough, but they hadn't done it in a long time. For help he invoked her memory by telling her story. They knew one another in Canada, long years ago. In 1961. Before there was a Wood-stock Nation or hip newspapers. When to be strange was to be on your own. Nancy's father was an important judge, but she lived near the street. Her friends told her she was free. "She slept with everyone. Everyone. She had a child, but it was taken away. So she shot herself in the bathroom."

After that, the crowd wanted still more. But Cohen would only come back to bow. The concert was over. Back stage road manager Bill Donovan searched everywhere for Cohen's already missing guitar. Leonard greeted some familiar faces and some he couldn't remember. Gracefully he edged from person to person towards the exit. Clumps of people stood around speaking low with much affirmative nodding of the head. The guitar was found to have been stuck in the wrong case.

Back at the hotel, exhausted, champagned, and groupied after (some intelluctually, some in the usual way), Leonard Cohen sank wearily into the soft. A bottle circulated. "Nancy was with us. Without her we wouldn't have been able to pull it off."

He slipped off his boots. People began arriving for a party. Partly from fatigue, partly from triumph he spoke freely of the concert and bigger things. "I like that kind of situation where the public is involved. I happen to like it when things are questioned. When the very basis of the community is questioned. I enjoy those moments."

The cheerful detente he had achieved between the crowd and the police reinforced something he had said earlier. "I believe there is a lot of goodwill in society and in men ... and it's just a matter of where you cast your energy. You can in some way place yourself at the disposal of the good will that does exist ... or you can say there is no goodwill in society and what we must do is completely destroy the thing. I believe that in the most corrupt and reactionary circles there is goodwill. I believe that men are mutable and that things can change ... It's a matter of how we want things to change."

More people arrived. Old friends, Ron Cornelius' relatives, and strangers hoping for a chance to talk to Cohen. Despite his exhaustion, Cohen was ready for them. "Man, you know what is best about having a good crowd and giving them everything you've got? The incoherence afterwards. That's what ... Hey, where are the 14-year-old girls? This is California, isn't it? Where are the 14-year-old girls?"
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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500 Greatest Albums of All Time
# 295 Leonard Cohen, 'Songs of Love and Hate'

Columbia, 1971

The Montreal poet-turned-songwriter's most intense album. Cohen strums an acoustic guitar and murmurs about the destructive powers of love, and his tender croak of a voice gives every song an air of hushed drama.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... z20yeOngv6
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Flashback: U2 Teams With Leonard Cohen
2005 performance began singer's gradual return to the spotlight


By ANDY GREENE SEPTEMBER 17, 2012 11:24 AM

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/video ... n-20120917

Leonard Cohen was living pretty much off the grid when he stepped into a New York nightclub with U2 in May of 2005. The songwriter hadn't performed in public since his previous tour wrapped in 1993, and he spent a great deal of that time living an incredibly spartan life at a Buddhist monastery on Mount Baldy in California. His absence only served to enhance his legacy, and all-star tribute concerts began popping up all over the world. In 2005 filmmaker Lian Lunson shot a pair of Hal Willner-produced shows featuring Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Jarvis Cocker and many others for a documentary called Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.

Cohen didn't attend any of the tribute shows, but for the movie he did agree to perform his 1988 classic "Tower of Song" with U2 at the Slipper Room in New York. The performance wasn't open to the public, but it was the beginning of Cohen's gradual return to the stage. The following year he was coaxed onstage at a book signing in Toronto to sing "So Long, Marianne" and "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye" with the Barenaked Ladies and Ron Sexsmith. Two years later he finally announced a tour. It ran for well over two years, circling the globe many times over. Much to everyone's surprise, the tour dates quickly graduated from tiny theaters in Canada to arenas and festivals. It was one of the most stunning comebacks in music history, and it all began on this tiny stage with the biggest band in the world.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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2008: Benicassim, Spain
2009: Dublin, Ireland and Madrid, Spain
2010: Grenoble, France and Tours, France
2012: Dublin x 2
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Leonard Cohen Shows Vitality in Austin Tour Opener
Three-hour show spans the great songwriter's career

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... r-20121101

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By Chad Swiatecki
November 1, 2012 12:35 PM ET


During Leonard Cohen's last American tour, which stretched for the better part of two years, the septuagenarian often pointed out that there was no telling when or if he and his audience would meet again. On Wednesday night at the kickoff of his new American tour in Austin, Cohen echoed that sentiment: "I hope we meet again, but if we don't, we're going to give you everything we've got tonight."

That "everything" turned into a marathon performance of more than three hours, which saw Cohen and his nine-piece band offering reverential and impassioned versions of songs from throughout his career, including a handful from his latest album, Old Ideas. Jogging out on the stage of Bass Concert Hall wearing his trademark black suit and fedora, Cohen exuded a playful spirit from the start of the swaying waltz opener "Dance Me to the End of Love," through the emotional peaks and valleys of his deep and storied songbook.

Cohen was in sharp command of his sturdy, smoky baritone for the entire show, with its tone adding gravitas to the dilemma of "The Future" ("When they said repent, I wonder what they meant"), the game-is-fixed lament of "Everybody Knows" and the romantic fatalism of "The Darkness." To punctuate those and other sentiments he often kneeled while clasping his microphone, genuflecting on one knee to address a lover or someone wronged, or going completely prone on two knees when speaking of a higher power.

What became quickly apparent once Cohen started traipsing through his catalog – the whole of it masterfully painted with vivid images, conflict and rich characters – is how much his songwriting benefited from piling up accolades as a writer and poet before moving into folk music in the Sixties. With his skill with phrasing and imagery, he let lines linger throughout the night while repeatedly doffing his hat toward his guitarists, violinist, backup singers and other side players, who guided the songs from dirges ("Amen") to a boogie country shuffle ("Heart With No Companion") and the near-Goth dance beat of "First We Take Manhattan."

Referring to his audience throughout as "my friends" and spreading the love around to his band after several standing ovations, Cohen otherwise was sparing but gracious in his crowd interaction. One exception was the introduction to "Democracy," which saw the Canadian native reassuring that the song was not a commentary about next week's presidential election, no matter how easy it might be to draw inferences from a chorus like "Democracy is coming to the U.S.A."

More than an hour into the night, showing not even a trace of fatigue after a moving run through "Anthem," Cohen skipped off the stage to take an intermission; one suspects it was more for the audience's benefit than his own. He jogged back 15 minutes later to kick off "Tower of Song," pranced back off another hour-plus later after "Take This Waltz" and trotted out again for a restrained encore opener, "So Long, Marianne."

Just as it looked like the 78-year-old might stretch the night into morning, Cohen lamented he had "only four minutes left" and ended with a half-speed but celebratory cover of the Drifters' "Save the Last Dance For Me." By that point he was about two hours past having anything left to prove. Yet it was a closing that left no doubt that he's as vital – both physically and as a cultural asset – as he's ever been.

Set List:
"Dance Me to the End of Love"
"The Future"
"Bird on a Wire"
"Everybody Knows"
"Who By Fire"
"The Darkness"
"Sisters of Mercy"
"Amen"
"Come Healing"
"In My Secret Life"
"A Thousand Kisses Deep"
"Waiting for a Miracle"
"Anthem"
"Tower of Song"
"Suzanne"
"The Night Comes On"
"Heart With No Companion"
"The Gypsy's Wife"
"The Partisan"
"Democracy"
"Coming Back to You"
"Alexandra Leaving"
"I'm Your Man"
"Hallelujah"
"Take This Waltz"

Encore:
"So Long, Marianne"
"First We Take Manhattan"
"Famous Blue Raincoat"
"Going Home"
"Closing Time"
"Save the Last Dance For Me"
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

Post by Junk »

"Dance me to end of love" is not a waltz (and I don't think you can be prone AND on your knees) but good to see glowing reviews!
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Exclusive Book Excerpt: Leonard Cohen Writes 'Hallelujah' in 'The Holy or the Broken'
The story behind the folk legend's most famous song

DECEMBER 3, 2012 4:40 PM ET

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... n-20121203

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Leonard Cohen's career had reached a low point when he wrote "Hallelujah." It was 1984, and he had been out of the spotlight for quite a long time. His 1977 LP, Death of a Ladies' Man, a collaboration with Phil Spector, was a commercial and critical disappointment, and his next album Recent Songs fared no better. When Cohen submitted the songs for his subsequent LP, Various Positions, to Columbia, label execs didn't hear "Hallelujah," the opening song of Side Two, as anything special. They didn't even want to release the album, though it eventually came out in Europe in 1984 and America the following year.

It took a few years for "Hallelujah" to emerge as a classic. Bob Dylan was one of the first to recognize its brilliance, playing it at a couple of shows in 1988. The Velvet Underground's John Cale tackled it on the piano for a 1991 Cohen tribute disc, and three years later, Jeff Buckley took inspiration from that rendition and covered it on his 1994 album, Grace. It was that version that eventually created a huge cult around the song, and it's since been covered by everybody from Bono to Bon Jovi. It's far and away Leonard Cohen's most famous composition, even though many people don't even realize that he wrote it.

Alan Light dove deep into the history of the song for his new book, The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of 'Hallelujah' by Alan Light, copyright 2012 by Alan Light, Published by Atria, an imprint of Simon and Schuste. Here is an excerpt.

****

In June 1984, Cohen and Lissauer recorded the album that would become Various Positions in New York's Quadrasonic Sound studios. In the album's arrangements, for the first time on Cohen's recordings, synthesizers were prominent; they would come to define his sound more and more in the years to come. A group of musicians from Tulsa provided the backbone of the arrangements. Sid McGinnis – who joined the band at Late Night with David Letterman that same year and has remained with the show ever since, in addition to recording with the likes of Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Dire Straits – provided additional guitar parts.

Jennifer Warnes, who had sung backup with Cohen on previous albums and tours, was brought further into the spotlight as a featured vocalist, a counterpoint to the limited parameters of Cohen's voice. Hawaiian-born Anjani Thomas was one of the backup singers on these sessions; she would go on to become Cohen's longtime companion, and he produced an album of her singing his songs, Blue Alert, in 2006.

Lissauer, a Yale graduate who has gone on to a successful career scoring films, beamed when he spoke of these sessions that took place almost thirty years earlier. Seated in the larger of the two studio rooms he operates from his thirty-five-acre farm about an hour north of Manhattan, he described working on Various Positions as pure pleasure. "I've never had a more rewarding experience," he said. "It was so much fun; we had a great time. Leonard and I got along so well it's almost scary. There were no roadblocks, no disasters; it was great start to finish – it was high art, it was just thrilling."

The songs included several of Cohen's most lasting compositions. The selections that ultimately opened and closed the album, "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "If It Be Your Will," stand among his best-loved work.

Midway through the sessions – Lissauer can't remember the precise sequence, but it wasn't near the beginning or the end – Cohen brought in "Hallelujah" to record. Whatever torment he'd been going through with the song's lyrics over the previous months and years, he showed no sign of confusion or indecision in the studio. "I think it was as it was," said the producer. "There was no 'Should we do this verse?' – I don't think there was even a question of the order of verses, any 'Which should come first?' And had he had a question about it, I think he would've resolved it himself.

"He's not one to share his struggles," Lissauer continued. "If he wasn't up to recording, if he was still working on something, then we just wouldn't go in. But he'd never go in and act out the tormented, struggling artist."

Leanne Ungar, who engineered Various Positions and has remained part of Cohen's production team ever since, said that there was a pragmatic reason he would not have been experimenting with lyrics during the recording. "He wouldn't bring extra verses to the studio because of time pressure," she said. "The meter is running there." It seems that the breakthrough in Cohen's editing – the vision that allowed him to bring the eighty written verses down to the four that he ultimately recorded – was reaching a decision about how much to foreground the religious element of the song. "It had references to the Bible in it, although these references became more and more remote as the song went from the beginning to the end," he once said. "Finally I understood that it was not necessary to refer to the Bible anymore. And I rewrote this song; this is the 'secular' 'Hallelujah.' "

"Hallelujah" as it exists on Various Positions is both opaque and direct. Each verse ends with the word that gives the song its title, which is then repeated four times, giving the song its signature prayer-like incantation. The word hallelujah has slightly different implications in the Old and New Testaments. In the Hebrew Bible, it is a compound word, from hallelu, meaning "to praise joyously," and yah, a shortened form of the unspoken name of God. So this "hallelujah" is an active imperative, an instruction to the listener or congregation to sing tribute to the Lord.

In the Christian tradition, "hallelujah" is a word of praise rather than a direction to offer praise – which became the more common colloquial use of the word as an expression of joy or relief, a synonym for "Praise the Lord," rather than a prompting to action. The most dramatic use of "hallelujah" in the New Testament is as the keynote of the song sung by the great multitude in heaven in Revelation, celebrating God's triumph over the Whore of Babylon.

Cohen's song begins with an image of the Bible's musically identified King David, recounting the heroic harpist's "secret chord," with its special spiritual power ("And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him" – 1 Samuel 16:23). It was his musicianship that first earned David a spot in the royal court, the first step toward his rise to power and uniting the Jewish people.

"As a student of the sound, I understood the resonances of his incantation and invocation of David," said Bono, who added that he immediately responded to the "vaingloriousness and hubris" of the lyric. "I've thought a lot about David in my life. He was a harp player, and the first God heckler – as well as shouting praises to God, he was also shouting admonishment. 'Why hast thou forsaken me?' That's the beginning of the blues."

But this first verse almost instantly undercuts its own solemnity; after offering such an inspiring image in the opening lines, Cohen remembers whom he's speaking to, and reminds his listener that "you don't really care for music, do you?"

"One of the funny things about 'Hallelujah,' " said Bill Flanagan, "is that it's got this profound opening couplet about King David, and then immediately it has this Woody Allen–type line of, 'You don't really care for music, do you?' I remember it striking me the first time I heard the song as being really funny in a Philip Roth, exasperated kind of way – 'I built this beautiful thing, but the girl only cares about the guy with a nice car.' "

Cohen then describes, quite literally, the harmonic progression of the verse: "It goes like this: the fourth, the fifth / the minor fall, the major lift." This is an explanation of the song's structure (the basic chord progression of most pop and blues songs goes from the "one" chord, the root, up three steps to the "four," then up another to the "five," and then resolves back to the "one"), followed by a reference to the conventional contrast between a major (happy) key and a minor (sad) key. He ends the first verse with "the baffled king composing Hallelujah!" – a comment on the unknowable nature of artistic creation, or of romantic love, or both. In the song's earliest moments, he has placed us in a time of ancient legend, and peeled back the spiritual power of music and art to reveal the concrete components, reducing even literal musical royalty to the role of simple craftsman.
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Why Adam Sandler's '12-12-12' Parody of Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' Was Long Overdue
A gentle poke at the ubiquitous song is probably a good thing at this point

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... e-20121213

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zqv4YI9PiE

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By Alan Light
December 13, 2012 2:20 PM ET


At last night's "12-12-12" concert benefiting the recovery from Superstorm Sandy, in between sets by Roger Waters and Bon Jovi, Adam Sandler and Paul Shaffer took the stage and began playing a familiar, waltz-like melody. Known for his imitations and song parodies since his Saturday Night Live days, Sandler started singing the tune of Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" in his familiar tuneless warble. The lyrics, at first, were reverential enough: "The terror of the hurricane/The unforgiving wind and rain/ New York, the world held its breath as the storm took it to you." When he hit the chorus, his play on the lyrics actually held close to the song's sense of battered uplift. "Hallelujah/Sandy, screw ya/We'll get through ya/'Cause we're New Yorkers."

As the verses went on, of course, Sandler got ruder and more topical, with references to such local struggles as "Times Square losing all its porn," and "the mayor's ban on 32-ounce Mountain Dew-ya." (As a fair-weather New York Knicks fan, I especially liked these lines: "The Mets have sucked since '86/Isaiah tried to ruin the Knicks/But now Jason Kidd and the boys can freakin' school ya.")

With Shaffer's first notes, my iPhone was immediately besieged by texts and emails. My new book, The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of "Hallelujah," traces the remarkable journey of this one song from virtual obscurity to international anthem over the course of almost three decades. When Cohen first recorded the song in 1984, the album it was included on was actually rejected by his record label. Yet through covers by John Cale, Jeff Buckley, kd lang, and more than 300 more; placements in the soundtracks to films like Shrek and dozens of TV dramas; and frequent use in American Idol, X Factor, and other singing competitions, "Hallelujah" has become an improbable modern standard, a staple at weddings, funerals, and religious services worldwide. Bono told me that he thinks it might be "the most perfect song in the world," and lang said that now, "it doesn't belong to anybody, it's just infused in the culture."

Toward the end of the book, I wrote, "It's a bit surprising that no one has created a devastating 'Hallelujah' parody yet. You would think that after all this time, and no shortage of ludicrous usages, there's an opportunity for comedy – maybe not the full 'Weird Al' Yankovic treatment, but at least a gentle poke at its ubiquity . . . for now, though, the song still seems too sacred to spoof."

Being Adam Sandler, of course, soon enough his own gentle poke at the lyrics had degenerated to "the lady who said she was a man right after she blew ya (sorry, that was just me!)" and, in the final verse shout-out to New Jersey, "Turnpike Exit 13 stinkin' like poo-ya." I suppose it was at this point that my Facebook page started filling up with people saying "Leonard Cohen won't be amused . . . and I'm not either," or, "Terrible – as if I needed more reasons to hate Adam Sandler."

You know what? Having spent the better part of the last two years thinking about this song, I thought it was pretty damn funny. Most of all, Sandler's "Hallelujah" was a testament to the composition's universal popularity – you don't stand up in front of hundreds of millions of viewers watching the "12-12-12" broadcast and spoof a song unless you're pretty confident that most of them know it. And while the magical spirit of "Hallelujah," the meeting of prayer and sexuality its lyrics embody, may not benefit from jokes about the Situation or "the congressman who tweeted his dick," the song has taken more severe hits before – I mean, have you heard the version on Susan Boyle's Christmas record?

Cohen himself has expressed concern about the ubiquity of "Hallelujah"; he once said, "I think it's a good song, but too many people sing it." If Sandler's comic assault on the song was long overdue, I hope that what it does is make people think twice before using it in obvious and hollow situations ("In Memoriam" tributes at awards shows, Big Emotional Moments in Special Season Finales), and instead look even deeper at the magnificent language and imagery of these lyrics, and the simple, elemental beauty of the melody.

"Hallelujah" has demonstrated its resilience and tenacity, and having its solemnity tweaked a little – letting a little air out of the balloon – is probably a good thing at this point. "So many songs you have to sing a certain way, or at the right emotional temperature, or they just collapse," Regina Spektor said to me. "This song is pretty much indestructible."
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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Re: Rolling Stone News on Leonard Cohen

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Leonard Cohen Adds U.S. Dates to 'Old Ideas' Tour
Singer and songwriter kicks off next leg March 2nd in Oakland
JANUARY 9, 2013 11:35 AM ET

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... r-20130109

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Leonard Cohen's "Old Ideas World Tour" will keep moving along, with the singer and songwriter kicking off a second North American leg March 2nd in Oakland. Tickets will go on sale starting Friday, January 18th, at 10 a.m. local time. While the next leg will bring Cohen back to cities such as New York and Chicago, he'll also be performing in New Orleans, Memphis and Louisville for the first time.

Cohen spent much of 2012 touring behind Old Ideas – his first album of new material since 2004's Dear Heather – with a nine-piece band that knocked out three-hour sets filled with new tunes and classics. "I never thought I'd tour again, although I did have dreams," the 78-year-old Cohen told Rolling Stone before embarking on the first leg. "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. "

A full list of dates and venues for the second leg is below:

3/2 Oakland, CA – Paramount Theatre
3/6 Victoria, BC – Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
3/9 Regina, SK – Brandt Centre
3/11 Winnipeg, MB – MTS Centre
3/13 Chicago, IL – Chicago Theatre
3/15 Milwaukee, WI – Milwaukee Theatre
3/18 Tampa, FL – David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts, Carol Morsani Hall
3/20 Miami, FL – James L. Knight Center
3/22 Atlanta, GA – Fox Theatre
3/24 Memphis, TN – Orpheum Theatre
3/28 New Orleans, LA – Mahalia Jackson Theater
3/30 Louisville, KY – Palace Theatre
4/2 Wallingford, CT – Toyota Presents Oakdale Theatre
4/6 New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
4/9 Hamilton, ON – Copps Coliseum
4/13 Halifax, NS – Halifax Metro Centre
4/15 Saint John, NB – Harbour Station
4/17 Moncton, NB – Moncton Coliseum
4/20 St. John's, NL – Mile One Centre

50 BEST SONGS OF 2012

# 20 Leonard Cohen, 'Going Home'


The 78-year-old folk-poet OG gets a collect call from God himself, who reminds the "lazy bastard living in a suit" that soon it'll be time to go home forever. Cohen's voice rumbles with ancient wisdom, as background honeys and a restful organ pave his way toward heaven – suitless, but burdenless, too.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... e-19691231

NOW IN STORES

Rolling Stone Special: 2012 Year in Review

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/p/rolling ... =magazines

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50 Best Albums of 2012: Leonard Cohen Old Ideas at # 13

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists ... s-19691231

At 78 years old, the dapper Canadian sage came back to whisper his heavier-than-ever poetry about sex and spirituality, complete with bedroom scenes like "I'm naked and I'm filthy/And there's sweat upon my brow." As a man who never really sounded young he was well into his thirties when he dropped his classic debut album in 1967 – Cohen adapts to this uncharted age with a lifetime's worth of grace and wit. Best lines: "I dreamed about you, baby, you were wearin' half your dress/I know you have to hate me, but could you hate me less?"
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.blogspot.com
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