Magical Moment - In Roscoe Beck's Own Words

June 20, 2012

This photo was posted by Roscoe Beck on Facebook today.

Roscoe's caption:

Veterans of Leonard Cohen 1979/1980 Tours. From left to right: Leonard Cohen, Sharon Robinson, Roscoe Beck, and Mitch Watkins

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I am guessing this photo was taken at the Leonard Cohen 2012 Old Ideas World Tour rehearsal space in Los Angeles.

Magical Moment - Reading Leonard Cohen Lyrics Quoted in a Short Fiction Story

"Everybody Knows" Gothenburg Aug/10

June 8, 2012

While sitting in a sombre, well appointed medical waiting room, the kind where people speak in hushed tones, I burst out laughing.

I brought with a recent issue of the New Yorker magazine, figuring this would be a good time to do some catch up reading.  I flipped to the Fiction section and it was there I had such a nice surprise.

The two protagonists, college students William and Bridey, met again in their hometown during a Christmas break. They talked about their experiences at each of their music/performing arts colleges.

William: Do you have friends? 

Bridey:  I do. ...But you know here how the bad kids drink beer from kegs and get in fistfights... 

There, they do Ecstacy and strip to that Leonard Cohen song, Everybody Knows.  And then fall into bed with whoever's there.  It's like they have these fabulous bodies and don't want to waste them.  "There are so many people you just had to meet without your clothes" --- that's the line they like

Reading that was unexpected and it made me laugh.

Here is one of my own favourite videos of Leonard Cohen singing Everybody Knows at the Gothenburg concert in August 2010.  I particularly remember how extra animated he was and it has stayed in mind.

Everybody Knows
Everybody knows that the dice are loaded 
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed 
Everybody knows that the war is over 
Everybody knows the good guys lost 
Everybody knows the fight was fixed 
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 
Everybody knows that the boat is leaking 
Everybody knows that the captain lied 
Everybody got this broken feeling 
Like their father or their dog just died 

Everybody talking to their pockets 
Everybody wants a box of chocolates 
And a long stem rose 
Everybody knows 

Everybody knows that you love me baby 
Everybody knows that you really do 
Everybody knows that you've been faithful 
Ah give or take a night or two 
Everybody knows you've been discreet 
But there were so many people you just had to meet 
Without your clothes 
And everybody knows 

Everybody knows, everybody knows 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 

Everybody knows, everybody knows 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 

And everybody knows that it's now or never 
Everybody knows that it's me or you 
And everybody knows that you live forever 
Ah when you've done a line or two 
Everybody knows the deal is rotten 
Old Black Joe's still pickin' cotton 
For your ribbons and bows 
And everybody knows 

And everybody knows that the Plague is coming 
Everybody knows that it's moving fast 
Everybody knows that the naked man and woman 
Are just a shining artifact of the past 
Everybody knows the scene is dead 
But there's gonna be a meter on your bed 
That will disclose 
What everybody knows 

And everybody knows that you're in trouble 
Everybody knows what you've been through 
From the bloody cross on top of Calvary 
To the beach of Malibu 
Everybody knows it's coming apart 
Take one last look at this Sacred Heart 
Before it blows 
And everybody knows 

Everybody knows, everybody knows 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 

Oh everybody knows, everybody knows 
That's how it goes 
Everybody knows 

Everybody knows

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• Fiction story: "The Proxy Marriage" by Maile Meloy, The New Yorker, May 21, 2012  
• "Everybody Knows" was first released on Leonard Cohen's album I'm Your Man, February 1988.
• In Gothenburg, LC substituted "Mighty Heart" for "Sacred Heart".  It was always fun at concerts waiting to see how he would vary the lyrics.

Who's King Of Pop Now? The last, best laugh is Leonard Cohen’s (New York Times)

February 12, 2012

This is my favourite Old Ideas album review published in The New York Times (here)

Who’s King Of Pop Now?

By JESSE KORNBLUTH 
Published: February 11, 2012

There are things that do not happen in the real world. Noam Chomsky becoming president. Unflattering photos of Jennifer Aniston. Apple doubling the price of iPhones so its Chinese assemblers can work a 40-hour week.

Or Leonard Cohen, at 77, occupying the No. 1 position in music at Amazon.com for his just-released “Old Ideas.”

And yet Mr. Cohen not only vaulted to the top of Amazon music last week with his new collection of songs, he stayed there for a week, until Adele — who has already sold 7.5 million copies of her latest release in the United States alone —  got a second wind and sent him reeling down to No. 4.

Nothing about Mr. Cohen’s late-life success readily computes. His range as a composer is limited; as he has noted, “People said I knew three chords when I knew five.” His vocal range is even more limited. A fan got it exactly right when he said, “No one can sing a Leonard Cohen song the way Cohen himself can’t.” The dirge-like songs and midnight voice that result are an easy target for reviewers. He’s “the poet laureate of pessimism.” “The grocer of despair.” “The godfather of gloom.” “The prince of bummers.” And, inevitably, “music to slit your wrists to.”  

And this codger is, however briefly, the King of Pop?

Yes, and the joke’s on Pop. Our absurd political and media squabbles have created a vacuum of gravitas. That has turned Leonard Cohen into a trending topic, and for the simplest of reasons: he’s an authentic seeker. And Mr. Cohen’s not the only musician with a fan base that spans decades. Look at the Amazon music best-seller list: Adele is 23 years old , but just behind her are Paul McCartney (69), Eddie Van Halen (57), Mr. Cohen, an Amnesty International tribute to Bob Dylan (70) and Bruce Springsteen (62). Further down the list: 85-year-old Tony Bennett’s collection of duets. Honorable mention: Paul Simon, now 70, for his 2011 collection, his best in 25 years.

Until the last century, there was no expectation that artists would constantly change styles and messages. It was enough that they did something well. Over time, with work and grace, they saw more, went deeper, gave their audiences greater satisfaction. Now art is like fashion. Careers have stages. Novelty and astonishment are now synonymous with art.

The musicians who top the Amazon list are fully formed. In 1962, Mr. McCartney began writing his generation’s best pop songs; he still has the touch. Mr. Springsteen has been standing up for the forgotten since the mid-’70s. Mr. Dylan says he now has to work conscientiously to produce songs that used to drop into his hands, but he gets it done.

These are our elders, making mature music for an audience hungry for maturity. And one of the oldest of these elders leads the pack. The last, best laugh is Leonard Cohen’s.

Jesse Kornbluth is the editor of HeadButler.com.

A version of this op-ed appeared in print on February 12, 2012, on page SR3 of the New York edition with the headline: Who’s King Of Pop Now?

Leonard Cohen In A "Red River Coat" Is Left Outside By His Mother and Could Never Get In

January 13, 2012

The title of this post came from listening to an interview of Leonard Cohen on a program called "Mixed Bag" with Pete Fornatale on WNEW-FM in New York.(4/28/85 Part 1).

In response to the interviewer asking why LC chose "Stranger Music" for the name of one of his publishing companies, Leonard's comments included:

I have always been on the outside...
My mother used to leave me outside, in the snow, in the winter, in Montreal.
She would dress me very warmly and just leave me outside.
I could never get in.
And those Montreal winters were bitter.
I had this Red River Coat with a red sash and a toque with a pom pom
and I was visible in the snow.
She could see from the kitchen window, but she'd never let me in.
...I don't think she wanted me around

I have heard Leonard Cohen tell this very charming story before.  But I don't recall him describing what he wore. When he mentioned wearing a "Red River Coat", I was curious.  Having lived in Toronto, a large Canadian metropolitan city, for most of my life, I have never heard of that coat style. 

Although the Red River flows through the US and Canada, I always associate it with Winnipeg, Manitoba. So, the mention of a "Red River Coat" interested me.

I learned that the "Red River Coat" for children was very popular in Montreal in the thirties and it was worn by... "rich kids".

Red River coats

One especially popular type of winter coat was the Red River coat which was worn by both boys and girls... a kind of duffel coat with a toque with pom pom. There was also a wool sash which was useful when it was really freezing. The child put this sash over his face like a scarf...  Leggings were the same colour as the toque,  mittens and sash. Stockings were under leggings and kept the child warm...it was one of the most beautiful winter outfits worn by children until 12...The coats were always black (or very dark blue), accessory colours were either tomato red or aqua blue for the toque, sash, mittens and thick stockings.

Photo source: McCord Museum of Canadian History, Montreal

 Photo by: William Notman (1867), McCord Museum, Montreal

The Red River Coat came from the Métis culture, described as people of mixed native and European origin. Métis often acted as middlemen who communicated between the First Nations peoples and the European settlers and colonists.

The sash was used by the Métis as a practical item of clothing. It was decorative, warm and could be used to replace a rope if none was available.  The Metis consider the sash as a symbol of nationhood and cultural distinction. Today it is still considered to be an important part of traditional dress.

There is also a book written by Mary Peate, Girl in a Red River Coat: Growing Up in Montreal in the 1930's, originally published by Clarke, Irwin & Company in 1970. It was aimed at younger readers, but according to literary articles, it is still enjoyed by many age groups because of its Montreal nostalgia.

Book cover: Google images

This is the fictionalized memoir of Mary Peate, a young girl in Montreal's Notre-Dame-de-Grace neighbourhood near the onset of World War II. It is the best of times and the worst of times. The Depression is still affecting even middle-class communities. There is an innocence to pre-adolescent life (especially convent-educated life) in this era, resulting in some of the book's best comedy. Peate also has to deal with real problems of polio outbreaks, friends losing their parents, and her ongoing battles with the nuns.

"Mixed Bag" with Pete Fornatale on WNEW-FM in New York.
Leonard Cohen Interview (4/28/85 Part 1)

Uploaded by minordrag on Feb 12, 2008
 

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WNEW Interview Part 2.  Leonard performs an acoustic version of "Night Comes On"  click here

WNEW Interview Part 3.  More interview and Leonard reads a couple of poems. click here

Magical Moment - Leonard Cohen Recites One Verse from Hallelujah at Songwriters Hall Of Fame Induction

September 7, 2011

Artisan News Service captured Leonard Cohen's induction speech at the Songwriters Hall Of Fame ceremony on June 17, 2010.

"kd Lang and Judy Collins inducted Leonard Cohen into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame, and he received one of the biggest cheers of the night."

Leonard Cohen's magnificient words and compelling recitation are so moving, it was indeed a magical moment.

There is a verse of Hallelujah that I want to give to you.  It goes like this:

I did my best, it wasn't much
I couldn't feel, so I learned to touch
I've told the truth, I didn't come to fool you
And even though it all went wrong
I'll stand before the Lord of Song
With nothing on my tongue but Hallelujah

ArtisanNewsService - cued to start at 1.51
(Alert: ANS has engineered the audio on that section of the clip and the end result is less than stellar.)


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• (YouTube comment by Maetel22)  Oh my God...wen he recited that verse of Hallelujah, i broke down in tears...this song has such a deeper meaning than we could possibly understand...

• Photo: screenshot from ANS video

Magical Moment -- Leonard Cohen's Poignant Response at Las Vegas Concert 1, Dec 10, 2010

Screen shot: Tower Of Song one handed solo - Las Vegas Concert 1, Dec 10, 2010

From August 2, 2011  leonardcohenforum

After enthusiastic audience cheers and applause for his one handed solo in Tower Of Song, Leonard Cohen responded first with his usual gracious...

You are so very kind

Then he added something I had never heard him say at any of the other World Tour concerts I had attended or in any of  the World Tour videos I had watched on YouTube.

What he said next was very touching, especially so, because the almost three year long World Tour was about to conclude the following night...

You know how to spoil an old man

 Cued to start at 1.20 when he begins his one handed solo

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This is the same Tower Of Song video featured in a previous post, when Leonard Cohen paid tribute to his back up singers in his outro. click here

"How The Hell Do You Know Leonard Cohen?"

July 25, 2011

After being discharged from hospital recently, an arrangement was made for a visiting nurse to come to my apartment.  The first time the nurse arrived,  she stepped into my entry hall, saw my Leonard Cohen wall grouping and in a loud voice....

How the hell do you know Leonard Cohen?

She originally lived in Montreal where she trained as a nurse.  "I left Montreal in the big exodus from Quebec in 1979."

Did you know Leonard Cohen personally? I asked.

Everyone in Montreal knew who Leonard Cohen was.

I get such a thrill every 

time I pass by this wall. 

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In 1979, the Quebec government made public its constitutional proposal in a white paper entitled Québec-Canada: A New Deal. The Québec Government Proposal for a New Partnership Between Equals: Sovereignty-Association. The province-wide referendum took place on Tuesday, May 20, 1980, and the proposal to pursue secession was defeated by a 59.56 percent to 40.44 percent margin. (Wikipedia)

Magical Moment -- Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass "Book of Longing " Q&A

Uploaded by: videodharma - cued to start at 2.39

Leonard Cohen and Philip Glass in conversation with John L Walters prior to the UK premiere of 'The Book of Longing' at London's Barbican Hall on October 20, 2007.

From July 7, 2011  leonardcohenforum

(From Audience Q&A)

Q   Would you swap longing for... fulfillment?

LC  What's fulfillment got to offer?

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To see the 2009 Book of Longing promotion poster and my related report, click here