Please, please, please – no darker!
I first heard Leonard Cohen on that CBS Sampler – Rock Machine Turns You On. What an incredible cheap price sampler!
Side 1[edit]
- “I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight” – Bob Dylan – from the LP John Wesley Harding
- “Can’t Be So Bad” – Moby Grape – from the LP Wow
- “Fresh Garbage” – Spirit – from the LP Spirit
- “I Won’t Leave My Wooden Wife For You, Sugar” – The United States of America – from the LP The United States of America
- “Time of the Season” – The Zombies – from the LP Odessey and Oracle
- “Turn on a Friend” – The Peanut Butter Conspiracy – from the LP The Great Conspiracy
- “Sisters of Mercy” – Leonard Cohen – from the LP The Songs of Leonard Cohen
Side 2[edit]
- “My Days Are Numbered” – Blood, Sweat and Tears – from the LP Child Is Father to the Man
- “Dolphins Smile” – The Byrds – from the LP The Notorious Byrd Brothers
- “Scarborough Fair / Canticle” – Simon and Garfunkel – from the LP Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme
- “Statesboro Blues” – Taj Mahal – from the LP Taj Mahal
- “Killing Floor” – The Electric Flag – from the LP A Long Time Comin’
- “Nobody’s Got Any Money In The Summer” – Roy Harper – from the LP Come Out Fighting Ghengis Smith
- “Come Away Melinda” – Tim Rose – from the LP Tim Rose
- “Flames” – Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera – from the LP Elmer Gantry’s Velvet Opera
On the strength of Sisters of Mercy I went out and bought that first album. It was great. Songs From a Room was even better.
These were songs that really grabbed me. Songs of love, mysticism, defiance, melancholy, politics and social import. These were lyrics which oozed poetry, nuance and imagery.
There were up and downs with later albums but Len never failed to produce great songs – songs that put him right up there with Bob Dylan as a mighty performer, songwriter and poet. Perhaps he should have shared that Nobel prize.
I read his poetry -Eichmann was my favourite – read his two novels (which were weird mystical voyages) and read about the man.
I like people who are different, defiant and have their own personality. Nobody has produced such a rich tapestry of song. I shall miss him.
In these days of Brexit and Trump the death of Leonard is darker still. I shall miss him. My abiding memory is from the Leeds concert in 2013 of Len skipping across the stage.
I think he’ll be skipping for ever – at least in my mind! Thanks Len!!