Liel Leibovitz, a senior writer at Tablet Magazine, has a new book out this week: A Broken Hallelujah: Rock and Roll, Redemption, and the Life of Leonard Cohen.
Below he talks about Leonard Cohen, songwriting, and the breakthrough moment of Cohen’s career.
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –
Wild Beast’s FACT mix includes a cover of Leonard Cohen’s “Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye.”
Here’s the mix info:
John Tavener: The Lamb
Wild Beasts: Hey That’s No Way to Say Goodbye (Leonard Cohen cover)
Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd: Why do you Love me
Siegfried Sasson: The Dug Out, Everyone Sang
Haddaway: What is Love
The Blue Nile: Over the Hillside
Lil B: Flowers Rise (instrumental)
The Books: Be Good to Them Always
Burzum: Tour Around the Transcendental Columns of Singularity
Shirley Collins: Brigg Fair
Allan Holdsworth: Tokyo Dream (live)
Oneohtrix Point Never: Child Soldier
Kate Bush: Sexual Healing (phone recording)
Talk Talk: I Believe In You
Cocteau Twins: Cherry-Coloured Funk
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
Artists including Chuck Berry, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards and Shawn Colvin performed at the PEN New England’s first Song Lyrics of Literary Excellence Awards, held at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston on February 26, 2012 when Chuck Berry and Leonard Cohen were honored.
Below is a video of the entire presentation, including Keith Richards and Elvis Costello performing Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land” and Chuck Berry messing up “Johnny Be Good.” The video quality and sound is professional.
I’ve also included two fan clips that provide a different view. Sound is quite is quite good.
Chuck Berry’s “Promised Land”:
Short clip from a different angle:
-– A Days of the Crazy-Wild blog post: sounds, visuals and/or news –-
92nd Street Y has recordings of over 10,000 events going back to 1949. This Thursday they will start letting people watch or stream audio of over 1000 of them, and right now there’s an audio stream of Leonard Cohen performing “The Stranger Song” from 1966, and an interview with Lou Reed from 2006 that you can check out.
Lou Reed:
Leonard Cohen reads two poems – “For E.J.P” and “You Have the Lovers” – and performs “The Stranger Song.”
The Clash’s “White Riot” comes in at #8.
Today Flavorwire offers up what they say are the 50 best debut singles in music history. Given that #1 is the Bad Brain’s “Pay To Cum,’ I’d say this list, like all such lists, is a big dodgy. Still, you might enjoy disagreeing. Or not.
1. Bay Brains, Pay To Cum”
2/ Azealia Banks, “212″
3. Bauhaus, “Bela Lugosi’s Dead”
4. Boys Next Door, “Shivers”
5. Kate Bush, “Wuthering Heights”
6. Tracy Chapman, “Fast Car”
7. Neneh Cherry, “Buffalo Stance”
8. The Clash, “White Riot”
9. Leonard Cohen, “Suzanne”
10. The Cure, “Killing an Arab”
For the rest of the list, head to Flavorwire.
Cohen in Dublin.
Leonard Cohen premiered a new song, “I’ve Got A Secret,” at the O2 Arena in Dublin, Ireland, on Thursday evening, September 12, 2013.
Some of the lyrics are from another song, “Feels So Good,” that Cohen played during his 2009 tour, but has not released on record, according to Rolling Stone.
Cohen often spends years working on a song before he’s comfortable releasing it, Sylvie Simmons reported in her superb biography, “I’m Your Man: The Life Of Leonard Cohen.”
An excellent video of the performance was uploaded by a fan.
