A part of history for sale (Bird on a Wire)

[bridger15]

As for the edited version of BOAW, Steve Machat doesn't think it exists.

Mmmm.... based on precedents from the landscape of Leonard Cohen, I remain optimistic.

Let's wait and see.

---Arlene

[bene449]

The precedents show that Steve has never lied, whilst others have. I will be at the reunion in 2012, and will remind you of this edited version.

[bene449]

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/sh ... e_1_781134

[Mabeanie1]

Malbeanie,

I posted a lengthy reply to your post but somehow it got deleted by this site and i don't have the time to rewrite it. Basically, LC only gave the reels to Steve as he owed Steve several million dollars (after pretending for years that he didn't know where the reels were). LC then pretended that he hadn't authorised the release of the dvd............then, embarrassingly remembered he had authorised the showing, at the world premiere, at the Leonard Cohen event in Krakow. Many people here will remember that night, because they gave a standing ovation. Maybe, it's just old age! I am 54 and am always forgetting things, like the 294 reels in my loft. lol.

With all due respect, this is Steve Machat's side of the story. There are two sides to every story. I have not heard Leonard's version, nor do I want to. I can't be doing with all this stuff. Rightly or wrongly, to me Steve comes across as a very bitter man both from his press release and from the article Arlene referred to. I was also interested in the article Arlene posted for the light it appears to shed on his views of Leonard's fans.

BTW my name is Wendy. Or Mabeanie / Mabeanie1. I am not, and never have been, Malbeanie.

Wendy

[bridger15]

http://www.hackneygazette.co.uk/news/sh ... e_1_781134

Yes. I already posted the same link to that article a few hours before your post.
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=24331&start=45#p266027

Re: my reference to precedents. I have learned while surfing the many sources of LC material over the past few years that there is a lot of intrigue associated with such a fascinating and complex icon and that certain truths have a way of emerging in unexpected ways.

---Arlene

[LisaLCFan]

With all due respect, this is Steve Machat's side of the story. There are two sides to every story. I have not heard Leonard's version, nor do I want to. I can't be doing with all this stuff. Rightly or wrongly, to me Steve comes across as a very bitter man both from his press release and from the article Arlene referred to.
Wendy

I agree with Wendy. Some serious allegations are being made by S. Machat, and by others in this thread, about Leonard Cohen, and this does not seem like an appropriate place for such discussion. If you wish to discredit Leonard and to accuse him of criminal activity, perhaps you should do so in private, rather than on this forum, since this is supposed to be a place for fans to share their love of Leonard Cohen.

Lisa

[FOXWOOD]

Are the "High Value" Reels the only copies of these concerts or have they been copied by the people who own the rights to the recordings?

[bridger15]

More quotes from Steven Machat.

http://www.thejc.com/node/44345

Leonard Cohen's musical legacy up for grabs
By Jennifer Lipman, January 27, 2011

Some of the hundreds of reels which made up Bird on A Wire
Rock music history is up for grabs after a lawyer decided to sell his collection of Leonard Cohen films.

Steven Machat is offering for sale 294 reels of film of the singer, a former client of his late father, music manager Marty Machat.

The material, which formed the basis of the iconic 1974 Tony Palmer film, Bird On A Wire, includes shots of Cohen as a child and at concerts in Jerusalem and Paris.

Marty Machat's partnership with Cohen ended badly, but not before he funded Bird on A Wire, recording Cohen on stage and behind the scenes of his 1972 European tour.

The reels disappeared in 1980 and their whereabouts have been the subject of a feud between Cohen and Mr Machat, of Shoreditch, east London, ever since.

Mr Machat finally acquired the reels from Cohen in 2009, and last year the film, restored by Tony Palmer, was shown on BBC Four.

Mr Machat, 58, said he was selling the reels because he wanted to give his father back his legacy.

He said: "This is the most important thing I can do this year. My dad was my god and I was his gangster."

He said he was happy to sell the reels and end his family's involvement with the Canadian singer.

"I wanted rid of him years ago," he said. "I don't like him – he's not my cup of tea. But I do respect him. He's a damn good writer."

[sturgess66]

Here's a different spin - about the money -

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/view/17 ... ohen-film/

£300K LEONARD COHEN FILM

29th January 2011
By Daily Star Reporter


Footage of Leonard Cohen will net a London lawyer £300,000

A LAWYER is heading for a bumper £300,000 bonus from selling a huge cache of footage featuring songwriter Leonard Cohen.

The film, which has been missing for more than 30 years, led to a feud between Steven Machat of London and Hallelujah writer Cohen, 76.

But the squabble has now been settled.

Lawyer Machat is selling 294 reels of film of the Canadian singer, a former client of his late father Marty, for £1,000 each.

AND - wondering about the answer to FOXWOOD's question -

Are the "High Value" Reels the only copies of these concerts or have they been copied by the people who own the rights to the recordings?

[hydriot]

What baffles me is that nowhere has anyone stated what format these reels are. If they date from the seventies, I would assume 16mm. Who amongst us today owns a 16mm projector?

What is the point of owning a reel that you cannot even view, or show to your friends etc? Is the lucky Cohenite expected to take the reel to bed and cuddle it affectionately through the night?

I was absolutely stunned by the re-edited Bird on a Wire shown at Krakow - it was a thousand times better than I expected it to be, largely because it was warts-and-all, showing Leonard at times being very far from god-like. Tony Palmer's talk was fascinating too. And, of course, I immediately bought the DVD.

But for me that is enough. If I had £1000 to spare, personally I would prefer to spend it on some piece of original Leonard artwork that had come from the pen held in his very hand.

[Paula]

From the Jewish Chronicle 28th January 2011

http://www.thejc.com/node/44345

[Amrei]

It's a long time since I have been so sad, while reading this thread.
It took me 3 days to finish, as several times I could not continue because of that.
Any sentimentality put aside, still this is our chance to show, that we have learned - from Leonard's lyrics, from the spirit of the Unified Heart or just from the spirit of this forum.
If Steve Machat really wants Leonard's fans to own the reels and for that purpose already has turned down more valuable offers, he surely would be happy to sell them to all of us?
I am no lawyer, but there must be a possibility to start a collection amongst all of us, where everybody can contribute according to their possibilities and for this money Steve - if he really wants the fans to own the reels - will sell the reels to us, whereafter we can donate or permanently make them accessible to all present and future friends in the museum, which already is in possession of Leonard's papers and the rights, coming along with the buy, we could return to Leonard as an act of gratitude for what he gave to us.
Yours,
Amrei