the webb sisters

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songwriter
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by songwriter »

I wonder if perhaps my problem is that is always the same song they sing. If it be your holds special memories dating back to the 80s for me (when I was just a kid with a crazy dream myself...). I guess I am sad that the song now belongs to the webbs and even before a leonard cohen show has begun I know leonard wont be singing that song for me that night.

Perhaps if you could look at it this way - if the webb sisters always sung your special leonard song every night, how would you feel? If the webbs sung so long marianne every night perhaps...?

I feel if it be your will is just too important a song for someone else to sing but him! But of course it demonstrates the supreme generosity of the man that he would allow some one else to sing this wonderful song. I cannot imagine paul mccartney letting his backing singers sing hey jude!

Oh gosh I feel I am talking about this too much now!!

I KNOW I am blessed to see leonard sing AT ALL, but I hope people do not mind frank discussion like this

Peace be with you all
holydove
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by holydove »

songwriter wrote: I am so sorry to be morbid but we must accept Leonard is in the twilight of life. Every single second is so precious I want every one to be spent with him singing!
Maybe Leonard's life is being lengthened by the Webb sisters' & Sharon's singing of these songs. Wouldn't that be wonderful. After all, Leonard did inform us that their chanting stopped the rain in Gent, so one never knows. . .
songwriter
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:58 pm

Re: the webb sisters

Post by songwriter »

holydove wrote:
songwriter wrote: I am so sorry to be morbid but we must accept Leonard is in the twilight of life. Every single second is so precious I want every one to be spent with him singing!
Maybe Leonard's life is being lengthened by the Webb sisters' & Sharon's singing of these songs. Wouldn't that be wonderful. After all, Leonard did inform us that their chanting stopped the rain in Gent, so one never knows. . .


tha tis a very pleasant thought! I hope this is the case.

ps congratulations on your 1000 message!
Tchocolatl
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by Tchocolatl »

Are you serious or did you write this just to start a flame
Ah-ha!
Hum... :roll:

Those two gifted ladies may get too close to Salem lately, and that may have activited some latent energy of a surge to burn a witch or two. 8) And that's all. 8)
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
Beautiful Losers
HelenD
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by HelenD »

The sublime Webb Sisters singing If It Be Your Will sound like angels but they sang a new song of their own at the recent concerts. They are not just backing singers but artists in their own right - both as singers and songwriters. Sharon Robinson also writes songs with Leonard.

I recently went to a concert for another artist and the next day he was congratulating himself on Facebook about having broken his two hour record! He is young enough to be Leonard's grandson and had various support artists on before he even made an appearance and he said he was exhausted by it.

I do not see how anyone can complain about such talented singers performing a couple of songs during a four hour concert.

P.S. I hope Dino does make a comeback in 2013.
songwriter
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by songwriter »

HelenD wrote:The sublime Webb Sisters singing If It Be Your Will sound like angels but they sang a new song of their own at the recent concerts. They are not just backing singers but artists in their own right - both as singers and songwriters. Sharon Robinson also writes songs with Leonard.

I recently went to a concert for another artist and the next day he was congratulating himself on Facebook about having broken his two hour record! He is young enough to be Leonard's grandson and had various support artists on before he even made an appearance and he said he was exhausted by it.

I do not see how anyone can complain about such talented singers performing a couple of songs during a four hour concert.

P.S. I hope Dino does make a comeback in 2013.

having considered this over night Helen I think it just comes down to selfishness on my part, pure and simple!

I just think the songs the ladies sing solo are infinitely improved if sung as a duet with Leonard.

As for Dino, I must admit I think the sound is 100% better with Mr Bublitchi. Of course this is nothing personal towards Dino who is a fabulous musician, I have just never enjoyed the sound of the saxophone. Just a personal opinion.

I listen to Famous blue raincoat from 2008 tour and compare to 2012 tour with Alexandru and to me the song goes from the good to the absolute sublime.
holydove
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by holydove »

songwriter wrote: having considered this over night Helen I think it just comes down to selfishness on my part, pure and simple!

I just think the songs the ladies sing solo are infinitely improved if sung as a duet with Leonard.

As for Dino, I must admit I think the sound is 100% better with Mr Bublitchi. Of course this is nothing personal towards Dino who is a fabulous musician, I have just never enjoyed the sound of the saxophone. Just a personal opinion.

I listen to Famous blue raincoat from 2008 tour and compare to 2012 tour with Alexandru and to me the song goes from the good to the absolute sublime.
songwriter, I don't think you need to get down on yourself about wanting to hear Leonard's Beautiful Golden Voice. I think everyone would agree that Leonard Cohen's Voice is what draws so many of us to concert after concert, tour after tour. . .. I would also love to hear Leonard singing every song, with our without backup vocals - I don't think anyone would have any objection to that. It took me some time, at first, to accept the idea of others singing Leonard's songs in concert, but in the end, it's simply a matter of respecting Leonard's choices (& I'm sure you do), whatever his motives may be at any given time, & appreciating the beauty of whatever is offered. It is a wonderful thing that all the band members are such excellent musicians & singers, & in time, I came to realize that there is always so much beauty & richness in every song, in whatever manner it is performed, & I feel very grateful for that, & also for the fact that, after all these years, Leonard is still singing his beautiful little heart out for us.

And I agree that Alex Bublitchi's contribution is absolutely brilliant, the sound of the violin with Leonard's music is sheer perfection & bliss, & I think bringing Alex into the fold was a very wise decision.

I don't see anything negative in anything you said, your opinions are totally valid, & I admire your honest, straightforward expression of what you are feeling.

Editing: another way to see it, is that Leonard's Voice is always there; even when the Webbs or Sharon are singing, it is Leonard's lyrics & melodies, & Leonard certainly has a strong pervasive hand in the arrangements & what they are doing with his songs in his concerts (as opposed to covers that are not in Leonard's concerts, where the artist does whatever he/she wants with it); & as someone else mentioned, Leonard is there on stage the whole time, while they sing, & I think that tells us something - that the songs are infused with his presence, his energy. . .his Voice.
Tchocolatl
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by Tchocolatl »

Songwriter, I don't know how you arrived to this conclusion of yours (the selfishness) but I hope you did not turn your anger against you, instead of turning it toward the WS. That is useless anyway, in a way or another to turn it to others or to yourself. It is useless. Your feelings are OK. They just need to be acknowledged by you without judgment. This is how you act your feelings (caused by your ideas - and those ideas can be questionned also without judgment), that can harm you and/or the others - or not, hopefully, not. 8)

Everyday life provides many occasions of frustrations. Things cannot go perfectly like we want all the time. Some frustrations are caused by a bit or a lot of selfishness - or other shortcomings, ey! We are all just human beings, he? 8). But sometimes it is caused by something outside us. In any case, improving the frustrating situation by doing some actions rarely need to harm anybody, though it can disturb.

I am still surprised by your post, because, I never think that you were selfish - I though that you were a highly emotional and spontaneous individual. But I'm sure that you know better than me what you are and what you feel. :D

And maybe your posts are dramatized because you used high emotional terms, that are overated in regard of what you really feels. Like crying "this is awful" about something that is just slightly annoying, objectively.

But they have some sort of alarming tone to me, obviously. 8)
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
Beautiful Losers
songwriter
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 4:58 pm

Re: the webb sisters

Post by songwriter »

firstly thank you holydove for that beautifully written post. I must say I agree with everything you say 100% and I wish I had your skill with words!

And I think Tchocolatl has spoken wisely also. I must confess English is not my first language, and whilst I have lived in the UK for quite some time now, there are still elements of the language that remain a deep mystery to me!

Having googled some of the words I used - infuriated for example - then yes I can see how I may have looked somewhat crazy when compared to my true feelings! I can assure everyone here that when the webbs begin singing their song I do not shout rude words at them or march off to the bar! I sit in my seat enthralled by the beauty of their singing and my heart soars! but sometimes when I am at home listening to Various Positions by Leonard I do think I wish I could hear leonard himself sing "if it be your will" one last time...

but I have enjoyed discussing this topic with you very nice people.
TonVH
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by TonVH »

"If it be your will" is also my favorite and no matter who sings it although I find the voice of the Webb sisters a bit better suited. Songs I love are those where Leonard sings and at same time is accompanied by female voices. The combination give (my opinion) the 'Best of 2 worlds".
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Mabeanie1
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by Mabeanie1 »

I really do not like the Webbs version of If It Be Your Will at all. What I do like however is the ecstatic look Leonard often has on his face when they're singing. Watch him instead and you'll see what I mean.

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musicmania
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by musicmania »

I love The Webb Sisters and love hearing them sing and think they and Sharon are a wonderful compliment to Leonard on stage. However just once I too would love to hear Leonard sing If It Be Your Will. It is one of my favourites of his songs and I do like the ladies singing it and indeed I am moved to tears every time I hear them sing it so I imagine I'd be in a heap if Leonard did sing it but just once to be witness him sing this song live would be amazing and even just thinking about it I have tears in my eyes. We are blessed though with the length of Leonard's concerts and I totally respect him and his musical choices.
2009 Dublin 2010 Lissadell Katowice LV x2 2012 Ghent x2 Dublin x4 Montreal x2 Toronto x2 2013 New York x2 Brussels Dublin x2

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Tchocolatl
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by Tchocolatl »

songwriter wrote:(...) I have enjoyed discussing this topic with you very nice people.
Thanks Songwriter! That is sweet! :D

All the meanings in your last post are crystal clear. 8)
***
"He can love the shape of human beings, the fine and twisted shapes of the heart. It is good to have among us such men, such balancing monsters of love."

Leonard Cohen
Beautiful Losers
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LisaLCFan
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by LisaLCFan »

Mabeanie1 wrote: ...the Webbs version of If It Be Your Will ... What I do like ... is the ecstatic look Leonard often has on his face when they're singing.
I love watching him when they sing! Same for when Sharon sings. Leonard is so completely in the moment, it is a beautiful and poignant thing to witness.
asta
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Re: the webb sisters

Post by asta »

Leonard's band are all A-List songwriters and performers in their own right (they are certainly not 'sidemen' or 'back up singers' at all!) This makes things very very different than a performer who has 'sidemen' as the band.

Leonard attracts the highest quality exponents in their field (as you often hear Leonard mention on stage) - perhaps it is likely that, without Sharon and The Webb Sisters having the opportunity to 'shine' in their own moment, and similarly when the other brilliant musicians get their 'spot' - some would not agree to do the tour. It must be both an honour but a slog too - being away from a 'normal' way of life for so long, and obviously putting their own careers on hold.
LC concerts get such rave reviews all over the world - including often mentioning his band members by name - and if you critisise the set lists, you are criticising Leonard's own choice of how he wants the concerts to sound and who he wishes to participate on which song. Altering this could possibly alter the successful dynamic, and frankly Leonard's own enjoyment too - which he expresses so clearly when Sharon (and the Webb Sisters) sing their solos. I think it best to just fully appreciate what the concerts give us all.
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