Complaints - Will they reach LeonardCohen?

[monidamian]

Have been at the Montreal concert ofJune 24 2008.
Complaint #1.
- Dance Me To The End Of Love, without a "burning violin".... you know what I mean.
Complaint #2.
- Waiting For The Miracle, my favourite song was not to be set-listed!
Enjoyed the NY and London excerpts shown on TV. Hope for more to come.
The rating of "five stars" is insuficient.
moni

[Kim Whittle]

I agree about number one. I don't understand number two.

[MaryB]

monodamian,

As good as Dino Soldo is, I too miss the violin .

I'm not sure for how many of these recent concerts, but you will be happy to hear that 'Waiting for the Miracle' is now being performed .

Best regards,
Mary

[Davido]

Initially, Christine Wu was to be a member of Leonard's band, but their schedules did not coincide....
but how great would that have been:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jZoZpUrk ... re=related
viewtopic.php?f=26&t=10283

[tomsakic]

Later they did have a violinist (I believe Javier Mas band's member) announced for Fall 2008 tour, but that attempt also failed because of the working permit...

Just two days ago I downloaded OSLO 1993 show and I realised how I miss Bobby Furgo's violin, not only during Dance Me..., but also the sound of it going like the busy bee in the background of many songs which at first sight don't contain the violin...

[burningviolin]

Well never fear, I'm available to play! Just say the word Leonard and I'll have my people talk to your people!! hee hee

[Evie B]

Hi Tom, I was very interested to read your preferences.
A few years ago a friend gave me a 'copy' cd, given to him by his brother, which was entitled 'Blossoms of Heaven, Ashes of Hell'. I subsequently saw it for sale on Ebay and discovered it was a double cd and I only had disc 1. Some time later I decided I would like to buy it but though I waited for it to appear again on Ebay it never did. A friend who is much more versed in the internet than I downloaded a copy of disc 2 from a website. I was very grateful though I felt guilty because I believed this was probably illegal and robbing Leonard of royalties. My search continued for a 'kosher' copy so I could pay for it and right the situation in my heart. I subsequently discovered from the Forum that the whole recording was a bootleg.
One point of this is to say that I also think that the version on the bootleg of 'Dance me to the end of love' is the best because whilst I do very much enjoy Dino Soldo's instrumentation, Bobby Furgo's soaring violin in the bootleg version is just beautiful and seems to better suit the song, for me giving it the feel of Greek or Jewish wedding music - just my interpretation - and I have said before it seems almost worth getting married again to have this played at the wedding!!! I was pleased to read that somebody else particularly loved his violin playing. His lively violin in 'Closing Time' was superb, and the sax (Paul Ostermeyer)/electric guitar (Bob Metzger) solos in 'Bird on a Wire' were also of the highest quality.
Incidentally, my favourite version of Hallelujah is the one on this bootleg, it contains only what I regard as the 'personal' or 'secular' verses, each conveying emotions that might arise during the subsequent meeting of parted couples, i.e: resentment/reprimand; deep, nostalgic memories; resignation; bombast. I just love it and the raw emotion in Leonard's delivery is breathtaking, easily the best for me. That is not to say hearing Leonard sing six (or was it seven?) of his verses on the 'Live in London' recording was not welcome, it certainly meshed the versions together.
My other point is that unless bootlegs existed I would never have heard the above versions. I suppose as I have purchased official versions of all these songs I have covered Leonard's royalties via another route, a little salve to my conscience.
Do you know Tom if any officially recorded tracks from this 'Blossoms...' tour appear on one of his 'live' albums? If they do appear on one, that will be my next purchase.
Thanks for all your hard work on the forum, and that of your fellow dedicated moderators?

Kindest regards
Evie

Later they did have a violinist (I believe Javier Mas band's member) announced for Fall 2008 tour, but that attempt also failed because of the working permit...

Just two days ago I downloaded OSLO 1993 show and I realised how I miss Bobby Furgo's violin, not only during Dance Me..., but also the sound of it going like the busy bee in the background of many songs which at first sight don't contain the violin...

[Womanfromaroom]

Is that "'Blossoms of Heaven, Ashes of Hell" - double CD still available somewhere, I wonder?! I do not believe in just downloading stuff from illegal sources, either, and if any of you guys knows of an alternative, I'd be glad! Thank you so much...

[tomsakic]

Hi Evie and Womanfromaroom;)

well, only officially released tracks from 1988 and 1993 tours are on COHEN LIVE CD from 1994. The 1993 cuts on that album are from Canadian shows (Dance Me... is from Toronto, other songs from Toronto and Vancouver), while 1988 tracks are from Austin City Limits and San Sebastian TV shows.

Blossoms of Heaven used to be a bootleg in 1990s, but with advance of the internet, I think there's no more bootlegs (looking like real CDs), but you can get most of the live recordings for free from sites like dimeadozen. I just got some 1976 and 1993 shows from there, plus DVDRs of San Sebastian 1988 (2006 broadcast / digital recording) and "Leonard Cohen 1976-79" DVDR compilation. Free fan stuff - not for sale.

The best way to obtaining these is looking thru Google or on site like dimeadozen for the free download, or simply trade here in the Collector's Corner section. Buying the stuff on eBay means not only that Cohen is not getting any royalties (while he doesn't mind the fan recordings and their exchange), but also that some people's fan work (recording the show or finding the old tape from 1970s, making the CD, mixing, burning, editing, uploading...) is stolen.


Back to the violin and Dance Me... In another thread here, recently we discussed how good 1988 tour was (and also we commented on 1993 tour). Adding to that discussion, and to this here also, I was wondering on Oslo 1993 recording about that long intro on keyboards which opens the show and Dance Me... (it goes before "la la la" and first tunes).

After some thinking, I was sure that I read somewhere, many years ago, that it was Mr. Cohen opening the shows personally on his synthesizer (the one he uses on Tower of Song performance). (Why I say "read"? You have to recall the times before online downloads and home-made DVDRs - for years I didn't actually know HOW does it look like in SIGHT when he performs... I had only sound... And then I was *devastated* when I got VHS tape of 1988 show in late 1990s.)

So I was thinking how great that is... To have the man opening the show with some instrumentation on his keyboard... And I checked it - indeed, on my Roskilde 1988 DVDR the show starts with Leonard personally playing the intro to the show, and only then the band takes over.

[edit: I just uploaded Roskilde 1988 "Dance Me..." to YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkn2B_pwGqU]

CD Cohen Live is also opening that way - that's Leonard on synthesizer before "la la la" and the band (and the violin)... I miss that tunes on this tour, I have to admit. But every tour has its own moments. Put together, it would look like the Photoshop collage of "the most beautiful woman in the world" made up of pieces of bodies of "the most beautiful women in the world" (legs from one, eyes from another, etc.) - it was done few years back and it was Mrs. Frankenstein.

[tomsakic]

I just checked -Zurich 1993 is available for free fan download at dimeadozen.org, under its alternative title "The Ladies Man in Concert".

[Evie B]

Hi Tom
Thanks for all this information. I am just about to buy myself an iPod and downloading this (if the download will transfer okay onto the pod) will be wonderful. I will let you know how I get on.
Kindest regards
Evie B