Songs from a life - San Diego Union-Tribune

[DrHGuy]

This article presaging Leonard Cohen's San Diego concert, "Songs from a life" from San Diego Union-Tribune (4/2/2009), has little new to offer and seems to me, at least, to written in the style of "My Favorite 20 Facts About Leonard Cohen Arranged In No Particular Order" but that may be more telling about my cynicism than the writer's effort. In any case, the information seems accurate enough.

Songs from a life
http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... ongs-life/

A globe-hopping tour brings Leonard Cohen to San Diego for a rare concert appearance
By George Varga (Contact) Pop Music Critic

2:00 a.m. April 2, 2009

DETAILS

Leonard Cohen

When: 8 p.m. Tuesday

Where: Copley Symphony Hall, 750 B St., downtown

Tickets: Sold out

Phone: (800) 745-3000

Online: ticketmaster.com

A curious thing happened to Leonard Cohen after he retired from performing in 1993: He became a legend.

But it didn't happen overnight for this enormously influential Canadian singer-songwriter, who may very well be pop music's most celebrated Jewish Zen Buddhist – and, at 74, one of its most enigmatic poet laureates.

And it didn't happen by design for Cohen, who – to his obvious astonishment – was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame early last year in New York. The induction came only a few months before he launched his first concert tour since 1993, a globe-hopping trek that brings him to San Diego Tuesday night for a sold-out concert at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall.

A master of contradiction who has been dubbed the “godfather of miserablism” because of his frequently dark, morose songs and rumbling baritone singing voice, Cohen sounded both serious and self-mocking during his Rock Hall induction last year.

“I'm reminded,” he told the star-studded audience, “of the prophetic statement of (music critic) Jon Landau in the early 1970s, when he said: 'I have seen the future of rock and roll, and it is not Leonard Cohen.' ”

Perhaps not.

But over the course of a career that saw him publish his first book of poetry, “Let Us Compare Mythologies,” in 1956, and release his first album, “Songs of Leonard Cohen,” in 1967, he has made an indelible impact with his incandescent music, however gradual.

Or, as this quintessential maverick is fond of noting, his second album, 1969's classic “Songs From a Room,” went on to sell a million copies, but took nearly 40 years to do so.

Then again, this is an artist who admits to having spent “at least five years” completing “Hallelujah,” perhaps his most stirring and beloved song. Cohen wrote about 80 verses before finishing “Hallelujah,” even though his 1984 recording of it, on his “Various Positions” album, used only five.

A deliberately ambiguous song that seems to celebrate both the sacred and the secular, the profound and the profane, “Hallelujah” has been covered by more than 100 artists. They range from Bob Dylan and k.d. lang to Jon Bon Jovi and the Swedish metal band Pain of Salvation.

Then, there's ex-Velvet Underground member John Cale, whose version was used in the hit 2001 animated film “Shrek,” and Rufus Wainwright's own tremulous rendition on the film's soundtrack album.

In December, three versions of “Hallelujah” were simultaneously in the Top 40 in the United Kingdom, including the chart-topping one by “X Factor” TV show winner Alexandra Burke. At No. 2 was the far superior 1994 version by the late Jeff Buckley. Cohen's original only came in at No. 36.

However, as longtime fans can attest, he has written numerous other classic songs. Among his best are “Bird on a Wire,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” “Sisters of Mercy,” “I'm Your Man” and 1992's apocalyptic “The Future.”

Equally notable are such gems as “Suzanne,” “First We Take Manhattan,” “A Thousand Kisses Deep” and “Please Don't Pass Me By,” which – back in the early 1970s – was the song that usually concluded his concerts.

“I don't know what a perfect song is, but 'Suzanne' comes pretty darn close,” said San Diego singer-songwriter Drew Andrews, 30, who is also a member of the bands Album Leaf and Via Satellite.

“I first heard 'Suzanne' five years ago when I was seeking a new musical direction and the impact was immediate. It challenged me to go deeper, not be afraid to address heavier subject matter and to try and combine strong melodies with more contemplative lyrics.”

U2's Bono has often sung the praises of Cohen, of whom he said in 2005: “I've been humbled and humiliated as a fan of Leonard Cohen every time I've listened to his songs.”

Cohen's appetite for fame has varied over the years, which is one reason he spent five years in the 1990s living in a Zen monastery on top of Mount Baldy.

“It was one of the many attempts I've made in the past 30 or 40 years to address acute clinical depression,” he told an interviewer in 2001.

Those five years were healing for Cohen, who recalled “drinking about three bottles of wine before each concert” during his 1993 tour (which included a sublime San Diego show at Humphrey's).

Bassist Roscoe Beck, who first worked with Cohen in 1979 and is now the musical director of his touring band, recalls that five-year sabbatical.

“When he took up residency at Mount Baldy, Leonard told me he was 'getting out of the music racket',” Beck said from his Austin home last week. “The next time I talked to him was in 2001, about the time of his 'Ten New Songs' album, and I said 'I thought you were getting out of the music racket.' He replied: 'Now, I'm getting out of the spirituality racket!'

“I knew a little bit about his reputation for being morose, depressed and dark, when I met him in 1979. But he has a great sense of humor. He's one of the funnier people I know.”

Yet, even when his public profile was low, Cohen's legacy continued to grow among his fellow musicians. The 1992 tribute album “I'm Your Fan” featured his songs performed by such admirers as Nick Cave, R.E.M. and The Pixies, while 1995's “Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen” featured such disparate artists as Elton John, Suzanne Vega and Willie Nelson.

The 2005 film documentary “Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man” featured the man himself, along with spoken and musical tributes from Wainwright, Cave, U2, Beth Orton, Antony & The Johnsons' namesake Antony Hegarty and others.

That 2005 film came out the same year Cohen discovered that his manager had siphoned more than $5 million from his savings, leaving the veteran musician almost broke. His decision to resume touring last year was prompted by his financial misfortune – a court ruling has since awarded him $9 million, but Cohen says he has yet to see any of the money due him.

That may explain why the top ticket price for his concert here is $549 for a “VIP ticket package.” But no matter.

Quicker than you could say “Hallelujah,” virtually every date on his 28-city North American tour sold out, while his hugely successful 2008 European tour saw him fill 20,000-seat arenas. Clearly, the rare chance to see Leonard Cohen, live and in the flesh, is almost priceless. So, fortunately for fans, is his music.

THE COHEN FILES

Leonard Norman Cohen

Born: Sept. 21, 1934, in Montreal, Canada.

First band: The Buckskin Boys (1951).

Early ambition: To become a “world famous orator.”

First book of poetry: “Let Us Compare Mythologies” (1956).

Latest book of poetry: “Book of Longing” (2006).

First novel: “The Favorite Game” (1963).

First album: “Songs of Leonard Cohen” (1967).

Latest album: “Dear Heather” (2004).

Number of Canadian Juno Music Awards: 5.

Number of Grammy Awards: None.

Marriages: None.

Children: Two – a son, Adam (born 1972), and a daughter, Lorca (born 1974).

Home, sweet home: His second novel, 1966's “Beautiful Losers,” about a three-way love affair, was dismissed by one reviewer as “the most revolting book ever written in Canada.”

Self-evaluation: “My voice sounds so much better when a woman is singing with me. Some dismal quality is neutralized.”

Most unlikely cameo: As French secret service agent Francois Zolan, in a 1986 episode of TV's “Miami Vice.”

Best lyrical tribute in song by another artist: Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld / So I can sigh eternally (“Penny Royal Tea” by Nirvana, 1993)

Most high-profile living musician fans: Bob Dylan, Bono, Nick Cave.

Most high-profile non-musician fans: French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who attended Cohen's concert in Paris last year, and England's Prince Charles, who in 2006 said of Cohen, “He's remarkable ... the words, the lyrics, and everything.”

On growing old: My friends are gone and my hair is gray / And I ache in the places where I used to play (from 1988's “Tower of Song”)

– GEORGE VARGA

LADIES' MAN

Although he has never married, Leonard Cohen's reputation as a ladies man is a matter of record, not fiction.

During his tours of Europe in 1970 and 1971, Cohen would invite as many audience members as could fit to come sit on stage. He would then select the most beautiful young woman close by and make out with her, while his band and the audience watched and waited. “He did that every night!” recalled former Cohen band singer Jennifer Warnes.

Some of his best and most intensely autobiographical songs, including “Suzanne” and “So Long, Marianne,” are about the women who were his muses. “Just being on intimate terms with somebody is going to move you around a lot because the content of a man is a woman,” Cohen said in a Union-Tribune interview in 1993, when he was living with actress Rebecca DeMornay (of “Risky Business” fame).

Here's a look at two of his musical paramours from the 1960s (Cohen's quotes are from interviews with other publications):

Janis Joplin: Although he didn't name her in the lyrics, Cohen documented his 1967 liaison with the doomed blues-rock singer – and a specific sexual act they engaged in – with his song, “Chelsea Hotel No. 2.” He later apologized during a 1994 interview in England.

Cohen: “I don't know when it started, but I connected her name with the song, and I've been feeling very bad about that ever since. ... If there is some way of apologizing to a ghost, I want to apologize now for having committed that indiscretion.”

Joni Mitchell: These two iconic Canadian singer-songwriters had a brief fling after they were introduced at the 1967 Newport Folk festival, and again in 1968. “After we met at Newport ... we saw a lot of each other,” Mitchell told her biographer, Brian Hinton, in 1996.

Cohen: “I remember we were spending some time together in Los Angeles years ago, and someone said to me: 'How do you like living with Beethoven?' She (Mitchell) is a very gifted woman. I didn't like ('living with Beethoven') because ... who would?”

– GEORGE VARGA

[benning]

"During his tours of Europe in 1970 and 1971, Cohen would invite as many audience members as could fit to come sit on stage. He would then select the most beautiful young woman close by and make out with her, while his band and the audience watched and waited. “He did that every night!” recalled former Cohen band singer Jennifer Warnes."

Thanks for the post, but I wish I'd never read the quote above.

[mnkyface]

Well you can actually watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O3HHkSeSiE
starts around 5:20...

The weirdest part is the creepy guy stroking his back and whispering in his ear the whole time.

I don't know. I kind of think Leonard should bring this back. Maybe next week or so, say, April 13th in Oakland?

[melancholia]

I don't know. I kind of think Leonard should bring this back. Maybe next week or so, say, April 13th in Oakland?

no compaints should he resurrect this on april 14th & 15th when i'm in the front row... weeping..


m.

[MaryB]

Mnkyface,

Thanks for posting this link. Got a kick out of watching LC coming on to a fan .

Best regards,
Mary

Enjoy your concert!

[KaimiK]

Thanks for the post, but I wish I'd never read the quote above.

Like my mom said when I told her I was going to see him, "He is one sexy old man, (pause), but I bet he's hell to live with."

To each their own, but I'm sure glad we don't all have our lives recorded for public viewing 40 years later!

[ladydi]

Hi Kaimi,

Your Mom is very astute! You know, that started me thinking and omg, if videos existed of things I may have done 40 years ago I would be devastated! That is, after I took one last look at them

No matter what...Leonard is still so cool although that impetuous nature is reigned in a little, I think. Hey, if it's not I'll buy front row center for every concert possible

Diana

[DrHGuy]

Sadly, my first thought on viewing the video clip was that I wished I had episodes like that to regret

[lizzytysh]

It seems to me that "every night" is a bit of an exaggeration. As I'm recalling, this was the 'breakdown' tour, where Leonard ended up in tears in an emotional breakdown, which he may have equated with 'disgracing' himself.


~ Lizzy

[KaimiK]

Hi Kaimi,

Your Mom is very astute! You know, that started me thinking and omg, if videos existed of things I may have done 40 years ago I would be devastated! That is, after I took one last look at them

No matter what...Leonard is still so cool although that impetuous nature is reigned in a little, I think. Hey, if it's not I'll buy front row center for every concert possible

Diana

Hi Diana,

Yes, she is very astute. Though she loves him too, she turned down an offer to come to the concert with me - preferring to keep him in the realm of myth I think!

I'm afraid I don't have any frame of reference for the atmosphere that prevailed back in those days - I wasn't born until the early 70's! But, I think many of us have experienced some type of relationship with a brilliant artist in one form or another - and all the highs and lows that entails. I'm just feeling exceptionally blessed to have married a man with an artist's soul, but one who thinks coming home to only me every night is the highlight of his life!

KaimiK