Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Love And Hate (1971)

Leonard Cohen is a highly-regarded Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist.

In the late 60s Leonard Cohen had risen to become one of the most unique and distinctive singer-songwriters of the decade. As the 1970s dawned he began to play live, and toured the US, Canada and Europe. He also appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival, which brought his music to a much larger audience. 

For his third album he again worked with producer Bob Johnston, recording in Nashville as they had done for Songs From A Room. Released in 1971, Songs Of Love And Hate further refined the signature Leonard Cohen sound, with minimal, purposefully sparse arrangements based around Cohen’s guitar picking and dry vocal delivery. It differed from its two predecessors in mood - if possible, it was even more morose than his first two albums, with a dark and unsettling vibe throughout which at times became positively sinister. His voice also seemed to be changing with the character of his music, as he began to sing in a lower register. The songs themselves included some of his very best work, including the oft-covered “Famous Blue Raincoat”. It ended up being one of his greatest albums, though definitely his bleakest, and probably the one most instrumental in earning him his reputation for downbeat, depressing music.

Songs From A Room (1969) <|> Live Songs (1973)
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Leonard Cohen - Songs From A Room (1969)

Leonard Cohen is a highly-regarded Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist.

After the success of his debut album, Leonard Cohen became recognised as a unique and highly talented songwriter, and his songs were soon being covered by all sorts of other artists.
His next collection of songs came out two years later. Songs From A Room cemented his reputation as among the best of the new crop of singer-songwriters to emerge in the late 60s, his music distinctive from that of his contemporaries with its melancholy sound and poetic lyrics. The album was produced in much the same manner as Songs Of Leonard Cohen, with a restrained, spartan sound highlighted here and there by subtle orchestration and backing vocals.
Among the most notable songs on the album was the classic "Bird On The Wire", one of his most-covered tunes. It had already been recorded by Judy Collins (appearing on her 1968 album Who Knows Where The Time Goes), and versions of it would over the years be released by Joe Cocker, Rita Coolidge, Tim Hardin, Jackie DeShannon and many others. The album also included a breath-taking adaptation of "The Partisan", a powerful song about the French Resistance in World War II (written by Anna Marly as "La Complainte Du Partisan", and translated into English by Hy Zaret).

Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967) <|> Songs Of Love And Hate (1970)
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Leonard Cohen - Songs Of Leonard Cohen (1967)

Leonard Cohen is a highly-regarded Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist.

Leonard Cohen was already a published author when he first turned to recorded music, having released two novels and a number of poetry collections between 1958 and 1966, living a mostly reclusive exsistence as he pursued his literary ambitions. He moved to the United States in 1967, and was signed as a solo artist by John Hammond to Columbia Records. His first album, Songs Of Leonard Cohen, came out late that same year. Cohen emerged as one of the first generation of singer-songwriters, alongside Tim Buckley, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and those who had matured into singer-songwriters after years as folk musicians, such as Bob Dylan and Fred Neil. His years as a writer had no doubt formed a bedrock for his poetic lyrical style.
Songs Of Leonard Cohen turned out to have a totally unique sound, one which Cohen instantly made his signature. Stylistically, it was more rooted in European folk music than that of the American folk revival. With producer John Simon, Cohen crafted a quiet, spartan sound based around his near-deadpan voice and subtle finger-picked spanish guitar, with carefully crafted embellishments of strings and other backing instruments. Of particular note were the ghostly harmony vocals of Nancy Priddy. On two other songs he was backed by the band Kaleidoscope.
The other vital ingredient besides the masterful production were the songs themselves. Cohen easily proved himself a master songsmith, and many of his best-known tunes can be found on this first album, in particular the opening number "Susanne", which has been covered by countless other artists and remains one of his most highly regarded works. Based on this splendid debut, Cohen became a hit underground artist. On the charts, he peformed much better in Europe than in America, the album reaching #10 in the UK.

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