Songs of Leonard Cohen (Remastered) Leonard Cohen

• 1 Suzanne 03:47
• 2 Master Song 05:54
• 3 Winter Lady 02:14
• 4 The Stranger Song 04:59
• 5 Sisters of Mercy 03:33
• 6 So Long, Marianne 05:37
• 7 Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye 02:54
• 8 Stories of the Street 04:34
• 9 Teachers 02:59
• 10 One of Us Cannot Be Wrong 04:26
• Total Runtime 40:57

Info for Songs of Leonard Cohen (Remastered)

Songs of Leonard Cohen is the debut studio album by Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen, released on December 27, 1967, on Columbia Records. More successful in Europe than in North America, Songs of Leonard Cohen foreshadowed the kind of chart success Cohen would go on to achieve. It peaked at number 13 on the UK Albums Chart, spending nearly a year and a half on it. In the US, it reached number 83 on the Billboard 200.

"At a time when a growing number of pop songwriters were embracing a more explicitly poetic approach in their lyrics, the 1967 debut album from Leonard Cohen introduced a songwriter who, rather than being inspired by "serious" literature, took up music after establishing himself as a published author and poet. The ten songs on Songs of Leonard Cohen were certainly beautifully constructed, artful in a way few (if any) other lyricists would approach for some time, but what's most striking about these songs isn't Cohen's technique, superb as it is, so much as his portraits of a world dominated by love and lust, rage and need, compassion and betrayal. While the relationship between men and women was often the framework for Cohen's songs (he didn't earn the nickname "the master of erotic despair" for nothing), he didn't write about love; rather, Cohen used the never-ending thrust and parry between the sexes as a jumping off point for his obsessive investigation of humanity's occasional kindness and frequent atrocities (both emotional and physical). Cohen's world view would be heady stuff at nearly any time and place, but coming in a year when pop music was only just beginning to be taken seriously, Songs of Leonard Cohen was a truly audacious achievement, as bold a challenge to pop music conventions as the other great debut of the year, The Velvet Underground & Nico, and a nearly perfectly realized product of his creative imagination. Producer John Simon added a touch of polish to Cohen's songs with his arrangements (originally Cohen wanted no accompaniment other than his guitar), though the results don't detract from his dry but emotive vocals; instead, they complement his lyrics with a thoughtful beauty and give the songs even greater strength. And a number of Cohen's finest songs appeared here, including the luminous "Suzanne," the subtly venomous "Master Song" and "Sisters of Mercy," which would later be used to memorable effect in Robert Altman's film McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Many artists work their whole career to create a work as singular and accomplished as Songs of Leonard Cohen, and Cohen worked this alchemy the first time he entered a recording studio; few musicians have ever created a more remarkable or enduring debut." (Mark Deming, AMG)

Leonard Cohen, vocals, acoustic guitar
Jimmy Lovelace, drums
Nancy Priddy, vocals
Willie Ruff, bass
Chester Crill, flute, mandolin, Jew's harp, violin, various Middle Eastern instruments
Chris Darrow, flute, mandolin, Jew's harp, violin, various Middle Eastern instruments
Solomon Feldthouse, flute, mandolin, Jew's harp, violin, various Middle Eastern instruments
David Lindley, flute, mandolin, Jew's harp, violin, various Middle Eastern instruments John Simon, string arrangements

Digitally remastered

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This album contains no booklet.