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Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:11 am
by Cheshire gal
I was wondering what type of car Leonard drove during the 80's and 90's? I think I could see him in a little green MG. sportscar. What do you think?
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 5:06 am
by lizzytysh
I can't remember where I got the idea, but there was something about a Volvo .
I could easily be wrong about that, though.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 6:19 am
by B4real
Hey Marie,
The only little green thing I know that Leonard drove was an olive green Olivetti 22 portable typewriter bought for 40 pounds in 1959.
I think it was his favourite and he certainly did many miles with it.
EDIT: I've just remembered seeing him driving in a car and singing Never Any Good in the Spring 1996 Mt Baldy video. I don't know if it was his or a communial car for the Mt Baldy Zen Center. You can't see what type of car it is but it does have a roof. I love this scene because the radio is on and his song is playing and he's got his eyes closed (the car is parked) and he's singing along to himself. I remember saying on the forum at the time when I first saw this video it was a bit serendipitous because that's what I (and I think most of us) do when we play his songs.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 6:54 am
by Cheshire gal
Right Bev.
I remember reading about his Olivetti. Great little typewriter. I learned to type on one myself many, many years ago.
I am finally reading Ira Nadel's book about Leonard, even though I have had it for over a year now. Quite an eye opener for me I must say.
which is why I was thinking about his image in those days.
I remember that clip you are talking about Bev. but I was thinking about cars he might have had years earlier.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:01 pm
by DrHGuy
lizzytysh wrote:I can't remember where I got the idea, but there was something about a Volvo .
I could easily be wrong about that, though.
You may be thinking of the Leonard Cohen quote: "My songs usually last about as long as a Volvo -- about 30 years" from Cohen Grows Into The Future Gracefully, And With A Grin By Peter Howell (Toronto Star, November 19, 1992).
And he did sing about driving "Elvis's Rolls Royce" http://1heckofaguy.com/2007/01/24/leona ... y-to-find/
[attachment=0]lc-elvis-500.jpg[/attachment]
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:03 pm
by Goldin
OK, I know nothing about LC's cars. And therefore I want to know something.
Lizzy, sorry, I may be wrong, but probably your LC-Volvo connection might be based on this quotation tracing back to The Future Era:
So, as I'm fond of saying, my work has lasted about as long as the Volvo: 30 years. And whether it will go on, like some of those old Ford trucks you see in certain parts of the country where someone has taken care of them since 1922...I don't know how long I'll last.
(there're
various versions in different articles, as usual)
The next step is, I guess, Nadel-googling, i.e. looking thru Various Positions (I'm using early 1997 edition). Cars are mentioned twice, both times in pre-recording period - 1950s (p. 45), 1967 (p. 156-157).
I'd like to remind a funny episode from 1950s:
Layton frequently brought Cohen along on reading or promotional tours. On one of their frequent car trips to Toronto, they became so engrossed in talking about poetry that they didn’t notice they were running out of gas. Fortunately, they were not far from a farmhouse, where they found help. Several years later they were again driving to Toronto and again ran out of gas. Uncannily, it was in front of the same farmhouse. They sheepishly told their story to the woman in the farmhouse who remembered them from years past. She summed up the entire episode with one word: “Poets!”
No cars in the biography since 1967 - (almost) no cars in songs.
I can remember "the sleeping car that's warm" (The Stranger Song), "I'm burning up the road" (I Can't Forget) and "the brave, the bold, the battered heart of Chevrolet" (Democracy).
What's the result? - Hope, our old-timers would help.
DrHGuy made a great series of sketches on Guns of Leonard Cohen. Surely, we need someting like
tomwaitslibrary.com/cars.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:03 pm
by Goldin
Some extra notable car episodes, with descriptions from
http://www.tvtalkin.com/leonardcohen/list.htm:
1) First We Take Manhattan / Songs from the Life of Leonard Cohen
2)
http://1heckofaguy.com/2010/01/02/leona ... pocalypse/ (note 1st video, 5:15)
1992 - Megamix - Network M6, France
TV spot looking at I'm Your Fan. It includes an interview with Leonard in Paris. Ian Mc Culloch sings Lover, Lover, Lover and Christian Fevret explains the genesis of the 1991 tribute LP I'm your Fan.
3) Can't find it, sorry.
1 March 1992 -Interview - Antenne 2, France
Leonard interviewed whilst driving around Los Angeles in his car, playing tracks from the forthcoming album.
Also, I can name the beginning of LC section in Beautiful Losers documentary (1997). It starts with a panorama of the streets of Los Angeles taken from a car window.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:59 pm
by lizzytysh
Yes, I believe that both you and Allan have postulated correctly, Goldin.
I'm guessing that my sub-conscious internalized Leonard's quote with greater fervor than it was made; that he may have wanted [and so driven
] a car that would last as long as his songs that had the lasting power of his car.
Now, back to the drawing board
.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:27 pm
by remote1
Goldin wrote:
3) Can't find it, sorry.
1 March 1992 -Interview - Antenne 2, France
Leonard interviewed whilst driving around Los Angeles in his car, playing tracks from the forthcoming album.
Is this the one?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K7U_OIKuy0
This is in Paris, though... Check 1.48 min.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 3:57 pm
by Goldin
This is the 1st video from Allan's post I gave link to. Paris, Megamix.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:07 pm
by remote1
Oops, sorry, I need some coffee to wake me up!
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2012 4:40 pm
by Andrew (Darby)
I can clearly recall in one of the documentaries made during Leonard's time residing at Mt Baldy (perhaps
Portrait of LC, Spring 96) there was a segment of him driving down to LA and the vehicle was a dark green Nissan Pathfinder. My recollection of this vehicle at the time was heightened, because a guy I worked with in those days had a like vehicle.
So, Cheshire gal, at least you got the colour right!
Cheers,
Andrew
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 6:17 am
by Cate
Goldin wrote:Some extra notable car episodes ...
Also, I can name the beginning of LC section in Beautiful Losers documentary (1997). It starts with a panorama of the streets of Los Angeles taken from a car window.
Well there's a
very interesting car scene in beautiful losers as well - but I don't think he describes the actual car.
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2012 8:42 pm
by Christiane
LC had a black Volkswagen in Montreal in the seventies. But I can´t remember where I read that.
The car he drove when he lived on Mt. Baldy was a SUV because the road that leads up to the
Zen Center is so steep and dangerous.
Christiane
Re: Cars and L.C.
Posted: Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:56 am
by Andrew (Darby)
Christiane wrote:The car he drove when he lived on Mt. Baldy was a SUV because the road that leads up to the
Zen Center is so steep and dangerous.
Indeed... and the Nissan Pathfinder I referred to, is in that category.
Cheers,
Andrew