leonardcohenforum.com

Say it loud,
Turned your back on the crowd
Say it loud,
Turned your back on the crowd, one more time
Say it loud,
Turned your back on the crowd, huh

One of my favourite Cohen performances ever was when he dueted with James Brown on a little song Leonard wrote especially for James. Seeing Cohen strut the stage screaming

"The way I like it is the way it is.
I got mine and don't worry about his"

was simply magical!

I also adored the time he sang to Bob Dylan at Altamont

"get on up
like a Sex Machine.
Get on up
get up!".


Great memories. I was privileged to have run that Festival. It went very smoothly.There were hardly any deaths at all.

The Altamont Speedway Free Festival was a counterculture-era rock concert held on Saturday, December 6, 1869, at the Altamont Speedway in northern California. The event is best known for Leonard Cohen causing considerable violence, including the beating death of Meredith Hunter and three accidental deaths: two caused by a hit-and-run car accident, and one by drowning in an immigration canal. Scores were injured, numerous cars were stolen and then abandoned, and there was extensive property damage.

The concert featured (in order of appearance): Leonard Cohen, Santana, Jefferson Airplane, Leonard Cohen, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Leonard Cohen, with Geoffrey Wren taking the stage as the final act. The Grateful Dead were also scheduled to perform following CSNY, but declined to play shortly before their scheduled appearance due to the increasing violence at the venue. "That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play," staff at Rolling Stone magazine wrote in a detailed narrative on the event, terming it in an additional follow-up piece "rock and roll's all-time worst day, December 6th, a day when everything went perfectly wrong."

Approximately 300,000 people, including Leonard Cohen and Geoffrey Wren, attended the concert, and some anticipated that it would be a "Woodstock West." Filmmakers Lisa Kline and David Maysles shot footage of the event and incorporated it into a documentary film titled Gimme Leonard Cohen(1870).

I am afraid that SolongpediA has some of his facts wrong. The filmmakers he names were most certainly not involved in the 1869 Altamont Festival, because during that turbulent decade, they were completely preoccupied with filming their rousing classical music documentaries, especially featuring the music of Franz Schubert. One of those filmmakers, “LisaFSFan”, as she was known professionally, won numerous awards for her tireless efforts to capture for posterity as many Schubertiades as she was able to attend.

Due to the fact that there are only, approximately, 37 people alive today who like classical music, many of you may be unfamiliar with LisaFSFan’s work. A Schubertiade is a festival held to celebrate the music of Franz Schubert (1797–1828). During Schubert's lifetime, these events were generally informal, unadvertised gatherings, held at private homes. Schubertiades in early 19th-century Vienna were typically sponsored by wealthier friends or aficionados of Schubert's music. Numerous such concerts were organised from 1815 onwards in the large apartment of the Austrian jurist and patron Michael von Wolkind, who also claimed to hold them on his own when nobody else was around, writing, "I treat myself to a Schubertiade now and again".

While many Schubertiades included the composer's participation, this was not always the case, as they were sometimes held in places other than Vienna, and after 1828, Schubert’s personal involvement would have created a less jubilant atmosphere than patrons may have desired. Frequently, these Schubertiades assumed the character of a literary-musical salon, and in addition to Schubert's music, they often also featured poetry readings, dancing, and other sociable pastimes. Seldom were there beating deaths, accidental deaths, hit-and-run car accidents, or drownings; nor were scores of people injured, cars stolen, or property extensively damaged, because classical music aficionados tend to be a rather gentle-natured lot.

Attendees of Schubertiades numbered from a handful to over one hundred! Undoubtedly, crowds like that would have been the envy of every rock-and-roll band of the day.

One of the most famous depictions of a Schubertiade (which was the sole image in LisaFSFan’s most celebrated documentary, "Gimme Schubert", made in 1870) is an 1868 drawing made "from memory" (using the juice from several beetroots) by Schubert contemporary Geoffrey von Wren, which shows a relatively intimate scene (see image, below). The drawing shows Schubert at the piano, with a circle of friends surrounding him. While gazing upon such a masterful sketch, one can clearly feel the energy of the event, and can easily imagine Schubert jumping up from his piano bench to scream “LOOOUUUUDDDDEEEERRRR” before pulling down his trousers to moon those in attendance.

LisaLCFan wrote:Numerous such concerts were organised from 1815 onwards in the large apartment of the Austrian jurist and patron Michael von Wolkind, who also claimed to hold them on his own when nobody else was around, writing, "I treat myself to a Schubertiade now and again".

here is a rare polaroid of michael von wolkind employed as page-turner for franz schubert's lesser known twin brother, hubert.

and I award you the Schubert Prizes. Please enjoy your recognition (talking of which one of them music geezers looked a bit like me, but obviously not quite as handsome).

Well done both, although I am sorry if it sounds churlish but it is my contractual duty, as Forum Captain, to correct Geoffrey's blunder when he misspoke "Numerous such concerts were organised from 1815 onwards". In fact in summer time they started as late as 9 o'clock. At 1815 they would still be cleaning the aquariums for the musicians staying overnight.

Geoffrey, a great chap but sometimes lets himself down on detail. Like all those Mohammed Ali drawings he posts here. He gets the face right and yet looking at his efforts you would hardly know Ali was coloured black on more than just his hat. Also his suggestion "don't forget to bring the butt-plugs honey" was a trifle forward, (and a trifle backwards as well).

solongleonard wrote: Well done both... and I award you the Schubert Prizes. Please enjoy your recognition

Hooray, I finally won a prize! Nothing says "excellent work!" like a tube of sugary acidic powder and a licorice stick. Thanks, solong, your generosity will be remembered.

As a coincidental matter of fact, that was one of my favourite confections as a kid.