The 500 - #295 - Songs Of Love And Hate - Leonard Cohen

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #295

Album Title: Songs Of Love And Hate

Artist: Leonard Cohen

Genre: Contemporary Folk

Recorded: Columbia Studios, Nashville

Released: March, 1971

My age at release: 5

How familiar was I with it before this week: Somewhat

Is it on the 2020 list? No, but a different Leonard Cohen album is at #195

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist:  Famous Blue Raincoat

In the mid-1980s, the music of Leonard Cohen enjoyed a revival, spurred in part by the release of the record Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen by singer Jennifer Warnes.

Cover for Famous Blue Raincoat: The Songs of Leonard Cohen
by Jennifer Warnes.

At the time, Warnes was best known for her Oscar-winning duet with Joe Cocker, Up Where We Belong, from the film An Officer And A Gentleman. Warnes had also collaborated with Cohen throughout the seventies as one of his back-up singers. Additionally, she was credited as a co-vocalist on his seventh album, Various Positions, in 1984.

Album cover for Various Positions (1984)

It was their relationship that inspired her to pay tribute to Cohen and his music in 1986, with the single, First We Take Manhattan. Written by Cohen, the record became Warnes' own debut version of the dark, apocalyptic lyrics, powerfully complemented by the blistering electric guitar accompaniment from legendary blues-axeman Stevie Ray Vaughn.  It was a hit in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. An accompanying video was regularly featured on music television

Cover for the single First We Take Manhattan by Jennifer Warnes

It's hard to imagine now but, in the mid-eighties, many restaurants used music television (MTV or MuchMusic in Canada) as background music/entertainment. MuchMusic was, for some households, a specialty channel outside their budget. Consequently, local roadhouse restaurants, sports bars and pizza joints would buy "large screen" televisions and broadcast music videos whenever a hockey, baseball or football game wasn't broadcasting. I worked as a bartender and server at one such establishment at the time when First We Take Manhattan played at least five times a shift on the front-projection "big screen" tucked in a corner.

Warnes and guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughn while 
filming the video for First We Take Manhattan

The success of Warnes' single introduced  Cohen’s music to a new audience -- including me and my girlfriend, now wife, who fell in love with the works of the Quebec-born poet, singer, songwriter, musician and novelist.

Leonard Norman Cohen in 1988

Born to an Orthodox Jewish family in September, 1934, he grew up in the Westmount municipality on the Island of Montreal. He attended McGill University where he was president of the debating club and won the Chester MacNaghten Literary competition for his poems Sparrows and Thoughts Of A Landsman.  During this time, his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, was published.

After obtaining his undergraduate degree, he attended Columbia but found graduate studies unfulfilling, describing them as "passion without flesh, love without climax".

Cohen in the 1950s

He returned to Montreal, doing part-time jobs. These, and a trust fund from his father, allowed him to pursue writing full time. His second book of poetry, The Spice Box of Earth, was published in 1961 and Cohen began to gain critical, but not commercial, acclaim.

Over several years, living as a recluse in a small home he purchased on the Greek island of Hydra, Cohen published three more books of poetry and two novels. The first novel, The Favourite Game, was a semi-autobiographical bildungsroman (coming of age story) about a young Jewish man finding his identity through writing. The second, Beautiful Losers, created controversy because of its graphic sexual content.

In 1967, Cohen was back in New York , trying his hand at folk-singing and songwriting. He connected with the vibrant Manhattan art and music community, including Andy Warhol and the creative collective that frequented his now-famous residence, The Factory, in the Flatiron District of New York City. Later that year, Cohen released his first record, The Songs Of Leonard Cohen.

Album cover for Cohen's debut record

The combination of his powerful poetry, distinctive finger-picking guitar style and a cast of talented back-up musicians was the formula he had been looking for to find commercial success. It became the recipe for 14 more records over the following six decades, including this week's album, Songs Of Love And Hate, released in 1971.

Considered to be one of his darkest records, it led many listeners (including some of my friends) to pigeonhole Cohen as "a downer" and his music as "morbid and depressing". It's a fair assessment, I suppose. However, for those brave enough to dig deeper into the lyrics and the plaintive, soulful music that accompanies them, there is such honest, raw beauty to discover. In particular, the songs Avalanche, Love Calls You By Your Name and Famous Blue Raincoat  are standouts, with phrases and verses that still occupy a romantic and poetic part of my heart.

Shortly after the release of Warnes' tribute record in 1986, Cohen returned to the studio for his eighth record, I'm Your Man. My wife purchased the cassette and it accompanied us on many late night drives and road trips. Our fandom grew, and we continued to follow Cohen's career. We also dived into his back catalogue. Our affinity for him and his music solidified following the 1995 release of another tribute record, Tower Of Song, featuring performances by many of our favourite musicians, including Peter Gabriel, Sting, Billy Joel, Elton John and Willie Nelson.

In 2008, Cohen came out of semi-retirement to tour again. I attended the concert with my wife, her brother and my mother -- who had been a fan of his poetry since the early seventies. The tickets were expensive, but worth every penny. The performance was magnificent. A nearly identical performance was recorded two months earlier in London, England, and is available as a 25-song album entitled Live In London. Along with the memory of that show with people I love dearly, it occupies a special place in my heart.

My ticket stub from the Leonard Cohen concert.

Post-Script

Tom Robbins (Even Cowgirls Get The Blues, Skinny Legs And All) pens a brief tribute to Cohen on the inner sleeve of the Tower Of Song record.

It is one I have read many times and is a wonderful celebration of both Cohen's gravelly, baritone voice and the unique charm and charisma he radiated. It helped me understand the reason that so many women have told me that Cohen is irresistibly sexy.

Tom Robbins quote reads as follows:

"It is a penitent's voice, a rabbinical voice, a crust of unleavened vocal toasts -- spread with smoke and subversive wit. He has a voice like a carpet in an old hotel, like a bad itch on the hunchback of love. It is a voice meant for pronouncing the names of women -- and cataloging their sometimes hazardous charms. Nobody can say the word "naked" as nakedly as Cohen. He makes us see the markings where the pantyhose have been."

Cohen mural on a building in Montreal