Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen Read online

  Leonard Cohen, one of the most admired performers of the last half century, has had a strange and eventful life. Now, for the first time, he tells his story in his own words, via more than fifty interviews conducted worldwide between 1966 and 2012.

  In Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen—which includes a foreword by singer Suzanne Vega and eight pages of rarely seen photos—the artist talks about “Bird on the Wire,” “Hallelujah,” “Famous Blue Raincoat,” and his other classic songs. He candidly discusses his famous romances, his years in a Zen monastery, his ill-fated collaboration with producer Phil Spector, and his long battle with depression. He also comments on his classic poetry and novels, the financial crisis that nearly wiped out his savings, and his remarkable late-career resurgence.

  Here you’ll find interviews that first appeared in the New York Times and Rolling Stone, along with conversations that have not previously been printed in English. Some have been broadcast but never published. And some of the material has not been available until now in any format, including the many illuminating reminiscences that contributors supplied specifically for this definitive anthology.

  OTHER BOOKS IN THE MUSICIANS IN THEIR OWN WORDS SERIES

  Coltrane on Coltrane: The John Coltrane Interviews

  Hendrix on Hendrix: Interviews and Encounters with Jimi Hendrix

  Keith Richards on Keith Richards: Interviews and Encounters

  Miles on Miles: Interviews and Encounters with Miles Davis

  Springsteen on Springsteen: Interviews, Speeches, and Encounters

  Tom Waits on Tom Waits: Interviews and Encounters

  Copyright © 2014 by Jeff Burger

  Foreword copyright © 2014 by Suzanne Vega

  All rights reserved

  First edition

  Published by Chicago Review Press, Incorporated

  814 North Franklin Street

  Chicago, Illinois 60610

  ISBN 978-1-61374-758-2

  A list of credits and copyright notices for the individual pieces in this collection can be found on pages 585–90.

  Interior and cover design: Jon Hahn

  Cover photograph: © Ann Johansson/Corbis

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Cohen, Leonard, 1934-

  Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen : interviews and encounters / edited by Jeff Burger. — First edition.

  pages cm

  Includes index.

  ISBN 978-1-61374-758-2 (cloth)

  1. Cohen, Leonard, 1934—Interviews. 2. Singers—Canada—Interviews. 3. Composers—Canada—Interviews. 4. Poets, Canadian—20th century—Interviews. I. Burger, Jeff, editor. II. Title.

  ML410.C734A5 2014

  782.42164092—dc23

  [B]

  2013034568

  Printed in the United States of America

  5 4 3 2 1

  For Madeleine

  CONTENTS

  Foreword | Suzanne Vega

  Preface | Jeff Burger

  PART I • THE SIXTIES AND SEVENTIES

  Cohen draws attention with his poetry and fiction, then picks up a guitar and delivers classics like “Suzanne,” “Sisters of Mercy,” “Bird on the Wire,” and “Famous Blue Raincoat.”

  TV Interview | ADRIENNE CLARKSON

  May 23, 1966, Take 30, CBC (Canada)

  After the Wipeout, a Renewal | SANDRA DJWA

  February 3, 1967, the Ubyssey (Vancouver, Canada)

  Ladies & Gents, Leonard Cohen | JACK HAFFERKAMP

  Late 1970, interview | February 4, 1971, Rolling Stone (US)

  Famous Last Words from Leonard Cohen (The Poet’s Final Interview, He Hopes) | PAUL SALTZMAN

  June 1972, Macleans (Canada)

  Cohen Regrets | ALASTAIR PIRRIE

  March 1973, interview | March 10, 1973, New Musical Express (UK)

  Leonard Cohen | PAT HARBRON

  Summer 1973, interview | December 1973, Beetle (Canada)

  Depressing? Who? Me? | STEVE TURNER

  June 29, 1974, New Musical Express (UK)

  Interview | ROBIN PIKE

  September 15, 1974, interview | October 1974, ZigZag (UK)

  Interview | JORDI SIERRA I FABRA

  October 12–14, 1974, interview | 1978, Leonard Cohen (Spain)

  Leonard Cohen: The Romantic in a Ragpicker’s Trade | PAUL WILLIAMS

  March 1975, Crawdaddy! (US)

  Suffering for Fan and Profit: The Return of Leonard Cohen | MICK BROWN

  May 24, 1976, interview | July 3, 1976, Sounds (UK)

  Leonard Lately: A Leonard Cohen Interview | BILL CONRAD

  Fall 1976, interview | May 7, 2012, nodepression.com

  The Obscure Case of Leonard Cohen and the Mysterious Mr. M. | BRUCE POLLOCK

  Late 1976, interview | February 1977, After Dark (US)

  What Happened When Phil Spector Met Leonard Cohen? | HARVEY KUBERNIK

  January 1978, the Los Angeles Phonograph (Los Angeles)

  PART II • THE EIGHTIES

  Cohen offers only two studio albums, but they feature such monumental works as “hallelujah,” “I Can’t Forget,” and “Tower of Song.”

  TV Interview | PATRICK WATSON

  February 1 and 8, 1980, Authors, CBC (Canada)

  A Conversation with Leonard Cohen | STEVE VENRIGHT

  May 1983, interview | August 1983, Shades (Toronto)

  Radio Interview | VICKI GABEREAU

  May 1984, interview | September 6, 1984, Variety Tonight, CBC (Canada)

  Interview | ROBERT SWARD

  December 1984, interview | December 1986, Malahat Review (Canada)

  Interview | KRISTINE McKENNA

  January 1985, interview | 2001, Book of Changes (US)

  TV Interview | RAY MARTIN

  May 24, 1985, the Midday Show with Ray Martin, Nine Network (Sydney, Australia)

  Songs and Thoughts of Leonard Cohen | ROBERT O’BRIAN

  January 1987, interview | September 1987, RockBill (US)

  Len | JON WILDE

  December 1987, interview | February 1988, Blitz (UK)

  Interview | KRISTINE McKENNA

  March 1988, interview | May 6, 1988, L.A. Weekly (Los Angeles)

  Leonard Cohen: The Profits of Doom | STEVE TURNER

  April 1988, Q (UK)

  I’m Your Man | ALBERTO MANZANO

  May 1988, Rockdelux (Spain)

  Dinner with Leonard | ELIZABETH BOLEMAN-HERRING

  June 18, 1988, interview | September 1988, the Athenian (Greece)

  Radio Interview | TOM SCHNABEL

  July 13, 1988, Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW-FM (Santa Monica, California)

  Radio Interview | KRISTINE McKENNA

  October 1988, Eight Hours to Harry, KCRW-FM (Santa Monica, California)

  PART III • THE NINETIES

  Cohen issues The Future and a book of poems and songs, then climbs Mount Baldy to try out the life of a monk.

  Leonard Cohen and the Death of Cool | DEBORAH SPRAGUE

  November 1991, interview | Spring 1992, Your Flesh (US)

  The Smoky Life | JENNIE PUNTER

  January 1992, Music Express (North America)

  Leonard Cohen: Inside the Tower of Song | PAUL ZOLLO

  February 1992, interview | April 1993, SongTalk (US)

  TV Interview | BARBARA GOWDY

  November 19, 1992, OTV (Ontario, Canada)

  The Loneliness of the Long-Suffering Folkie | WAYNE ROBINS

  November 22, 1992, Newsday (New York)

  Growing Old Passionately | ALAN JACKSON

  November 22, 1992, the Observer (London)

  Leonard Cohen: The Lord Byron of Rock and Roll | KAREN SCHOEMER

  November 29, 1992, the New Yor
k Times (New York)

  The Future | ALBERTO MANZANO

  May 1993, interview | Spring 1993, El Europeo (Spain)

  Radio Interview | VIN SCELSA

  June 13, 1993, Idiot’s Delight, WXRK-FM (New York)

  The Prophet of Love Looks into the Abyss: A Conversation with Leonard Cohen | THOM JUREK

  August 18, 1993, Metro Times (Detroit)

  “I Am/the Little Jew Who Wrote the Bible” | ARTHUR KURZWEIL

  November 23, 1993, interview | January 1994, the Jewish Book News (US)

  Radio Interview | CHRIS DOURIDAS

  December 1993, Morning Becomes Eclectic, KCRW-FM (Santa Monica, California)

  Interview | RICHARD GUILLIATT

  December 12, 1993, the Sunday Times Magazine (London)

  TV Interview | STINA LUNDBERG DABROWSKI

  September 1997, Swedish National Television (Scandinavia)

  TV Interview | VALERIE PRINGLE

  October 28, 1997, W5, CTV (Canada)

  PART IV • THE NEW MILLENNIUM

  Down from the mountain, Cohen enjoys a fresh outlook on life—and the biggest successes of his half-century career.

  TV Interview | STINA LUNDBERG DABROWSKI

  Early 2001, Swedish National Television (Scandinavia)

  Happy at Last: The Poet Returns from His Zen Retreat with a New Album and a Sunnier Disposition | J. POET

  November 2001, Pulse! (US)

  Exile on Main Street | BRETT GRAINGER

  November 2001, Elm Street (Canada)

  The Prince of Prurience and Loss | JOHN LELAND

  November 2001, GQ (US)

  Brother of Mercy | MIKAL GILMORE

  Late 2001, interview | March 2002, Spin (US)

  Radio Interview | SHELAGH ROGERS

  February 7, 2006, Sounds Like Canada, CBC (Canada)

  Life of a Ladies’ Man | SARAH HAMPSON

  May 26, 2007, the Globe and Mail (Toronto)

  He’s Your Man | GILLIAN G. GAAR

  June 2007, Harp (US)

  Cohen Wore Earplugs to a Dylan Show? | BRIAN D. JOHNSON

  June 4, 2008, interview | June 12, 2008, macleans.ca (Canada)

  TV and Radio Interview | JIAN GHOMESHI

  April 16, 2009, Q with Jian Ghomeshi, QTV (Quebec), CBC Radio One (Canada)

  “All I’ve Got to Put in a Song Is My Own Experience” | DORIAN LYNSKEY

  January 19, 2012, the Guardian (London)

  The Works of Leonard Cohen

  About the Contributors

  About the Editor

  Credits

  Index

  FOREWORD

  I’ve had the chance to talk to Leonard Cohen on a few occasions, some private and some public.

  You should know, and you’ll see in this book, that he tends to speak in complete sentences, with careful and appropriate vocabulary. Mr. Cohen is a bit formal, in fact.

  This is true even after a bottle or two of wine. We did an interview together once. A room was reserved somewhere on the record company lot, where we sat for more than an hour and bantered. He asked me questions about an album of mine that was just being released. The result was funny, dense; he was being provocative and asking (fair) questions about my personal life, and the world of the songs, that I wasn’t inclined to answer. Especially since we were being recorded for radio.

  After the interview was over and we went out to dinner, though, I decided I would probably reveal what he wanted to know. But to my surprise, I found that although he continued to be flirtatious, he no longer pushed to know, and I didn’t pull. So all was left unrevealed. Although he had been candid during the interview, it was still definitely a kind of performance as he was more polite, congenial, and friendly in private.

  But still somewhat formal.

  I asked him once about his preference for wearing suits. “My father was a tailor,” he said. “I am not trying to be Paul Bunyan.”

  One Saturday I ran into him at a hotel in Los Angeles. He invited me to breakfast by the pool at ten the next morning. I showed up on time. I wondered whether he would wear one of his well-known suits. He showed up wearing jeans, a T-shirt, cowboy boots, possibly a fedora, and a tailored jacket.

  “Would you like to hear a song I’m working on?”

  “Of course!” I said.

  Without looking at any papers, he then proceeded to recite for the next eight minutes a perfectly metered, perfectly rhymed song. (Unfortunately, I can’t remember which one.) I sat, mesmerized.

  Then, as I watched, first one girl in a bikini came out behind him and then another. They arranged themselves around the pool for a day of sunning.

  By the end of the song, there were probably nine girls in bikinis around the pool.

  “You’ll never guess what happened!” I said to him, and joyfully described the scene right beyond his back.

  Without turning around to see, he just shrugged and smiled.

  “It works every time,” he said.

  When I was a teenager, I was the only one of my friends who listened to him, which I did fervently, every day after school. I felt that he was my friend, and this feeling was not changed by meeting him. I loved his darkness and complexity, his fearlessness of song choices. It has been strange to witness his rise in the world. Now I must share him with thousands of people at Radio City and Madison Square Garden.

  And with you! Enjoy this book and the eloquence of the man.

  —SUZANNE VEGA

  New York City, 2013

  PREFACE

  How many of the 701 people inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by 2013 hit their peaks in their mid- and late seventies? Maybe just one: Leonard Cohen, who, at age seventy-three, began his first tour in fifteen years in 2008, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Since then, he has performed all over the world to some of his largest audiences ever; released three popular DVDs, Live in London, Songs from the Road, and Live at the Isle of Wight 1970; and issued the most successful album of his nearly half-century recording career, the emotive Old Ideas. That 2012 recording—only his twelfth studio collection—climbed higher on the charts than any of its predecessors, reaching number one in nearly a dozen countries and the two or three position in others, including the United States.

  Besides peaking late, Cohen started late, at least as a recording artist. Born in Montreal on September 21, 1934, he didn’t release his first album until he was thirty-three. We won’t dwell in these pages on what he did before that age, as his early years are well covered in several biographies, most notably Sylvie Simmons’s I’m Your Man. Suffice it to say that his youth provided strong hints of the direction his life would take. He was a poetry fan by high school and showed particular interest in the work of Federico García Lorca. He also learned guitar and formed a country-folk group, the Buckskin Boys. Then, in the early 1950s, while an undergraduate at McGill University, he published his first poems and won a literary competition.

  After graduating from McGill, Cohen flirted with the idea of becoming an attorney (can you imagine?) and attended one term at the university’s law school. Then he spent a year at Columbia University in New York. But he became increasingly focused on fiction and poetry. He published his first book of poems, Let Us Compare Mythologies, in 1956. The following year, he returned from New York to Montreal and began taking odd jobs so he could concentrate on his writing. Four years later, in 1961, he published a second book of poetry, The Spice-Box of Earth, which ultimately found its way into many college students’ backpacks and did much to enhance his prospects. The Favorite Game, his first novel, followed in 1963 and Beautiful Losers, another novel, arrived in 1966.

  But Cohen didn’t release his debut album, Songs of Leonard Cohen, until December 27, 1967. And it took him a long time to develop into the performer he is today. You could certainly hear songwriting brilliance— and the influence of a literary background—in “Suzanne,” “So Long, Marianne,” and many of his other early creations; but Cohen onstage in the early years was
by all accounts a tentative and limited performer. Today, critics call his strikingly deep voice “a force of nature” and he appears with a magnificent group of backing musicians and singers who beautifully complement his singing. Watching the video of his performance at the Isle of Wight festival in 1970, though, you’d have to conclude that he was getting by at the time largely on the considerable strength of his lyrics and personality.

  In the decades since then, he has sold more than 21 million albums and built a large and devoted fan base. He has been the subject of many documentary films and tribute albums and has seen his songs featured in more than fifty films and covered more than thirteen hundred times by such admirers as Judy Collins, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Joe Cocker, Rufus Wainwright, Nick Cave, Jennifer Warnes, Sting, R.E.M., Concrete Blonde, and Jeff Buckley.

  But Cohen’s story is far from all happy. Though the cloud appears to have lifted in recent years, he suffered from clinical depression for decades. And while relationships clearly matter a lot to him, he has had a long series of failed ones and has never married. Moreover, he found his retirement savings reduced to about $150,000 in 2004, after Kelley Lynch—his manager of seventeen years and one-time lover—misappropriated a reported $5 million. (In May 2006, Cohen won a $7.3 million civil suit against Lynch. Sylvie Simmons reported in 2012 that “through the various legal proceedings, Leonard had recovered some of his lost money, though nothing like all of it.” Lynch, meanwhile, was convicted in 2012 of harassing Cohen and sentenced to an eighteen-month jail term.)

  There have been musical stumbling blocks as well. In 1977, he collaborated with legendary producer Phil Spector on Death of a Ladies’ Man, an album that many critics—and the singer himself—consider a serious blunder. And then there was 1984’s Various Positions, which was anything but a mistake—it was, in fact, frequently brilliant—but which Columbia Records deemed not good enough for US release. (The label distributed it only in Canada and Europe, though an independent company subsequently issued it in the United States; it finally entered the Columbia catalog in 1990.)

  Cohen talks thoughtfully and in detail about all these ups and downs in the interviews that follow, many of which have not previously appeared in print or in English. And the man who emerges from these conversations is as complicated and surprising as his career has been. He once said he “dislikes talking” but at times he is positively loquacious. Indeed, there were years when he seemed to give no-time-limit interviews—often in his own home—to almost anyone who asked. Then there were the years when he retreated to a Zen monastery; was ordained as a monk with the Dharma name “Jikan,” meaning “the Silent One”; and for long stretches gave no interviews at all. (During one thirteen-year period, which ended in 2006, he made absolutely no public appearances.) In the many new reminiscences provided for this book, quite a few journalists recall him as the most charming and gentlemanly individual they’ve ever met; a couple of others remember questionable behavior and ostensibly drunken rants. As for the content of the conversations themselves, who else would discuss the “Talmudic sense of human possibility” in one interview and oral sex with Janis Joplin in another?