Sharon Robinson on Leonard Cohen-The Beautiful Loser (11/11)

[sturgess66]

http://www.xpressmag.com.au/index.php?o ... Itemid=124

SHARON ROBINSON ON LEONARD COHEN
The Beautiful Loser

By JULIAN TOMPKIN



The remarkable Leonard Cohen returns to Perth, after 2009’s universally acclaimed and sell-out performance, for what many are predicting will be his last ever Australian tour. He plays nib Stadium on Wednesday, November 24.

Sharon Robinson has bewitched many a soul in her years. As the female voice so elegantly (and always with a hint of lust) framing that of Leonard Cohen’s on record and stage since she first worked with him in 1979, Robinson’s rich-as-honey tones are as arresting spoken word as they are in song.

It was in the 1980s that Robinson would fully come to work with the songwriter most had by then derided as an obsolete relic of the 1960s folk movement. His previous two albums – Recent Songs (1979) and Various Positions (1984) – had sensationally flopped in sales-speak, and it appeared he’d etched a more accurate epitaph than he’d hoped on 1977’s Phil Spector-possessed Death Of A Ladies’ Man.

But the arrival of Robinson and a new decade would reinvigorate the then 40-odd year old poet-come-songwriter – the man then best known for such acoustic anthems of sex, love and longing as Suzanne, So Long, Marianne, Chelsea Hotel and Bird On A Wire – with the release of the compelling I’m Your Man (1988).
During the ’90s Cohen had pretty much retired from performing, retreating to Mount Baldy where he was ordained a Buddhist monk. But 2001 would again find him back on ‘Boogie Street’ for the Robinson co-written and produced modern classic Ten New Songs.

Cohen would offer up the patchwork Dear Heather in 2004 to lacklustre reviews, and once again retreat into obscurity. But, as has been exhausting documented, in 2005 Cohen realised his modest fortune (on which he had planned to fully retire) had been whittled away unbeknownst to him by his now former manager. Ironically, this huge misfortune would prove his epic fortune.

Broke and 74 years-of-age, Leonard Cohen announced he was coming out of retirement and hitting the road one last time – a tour that has now lasted the best part of three years, and well and truly replenished the man’s retirement kitty and more. But most importantly, Cohen’s return has reinvigorated one of the finest canons of song in popular music – introducing genuine masterworks such as Hallelujah to an entirely new generation.
While in fear of fading into virtual obsolescence only a few years ago, Cohen is now officially one of the most successful and celebrated artists alive today. As Cohen would himself say, life is a peculiar enterprise. And Sharon Robinson has been there to share the best of it with the great man himself – as a collaborator, member of his touring band and close friend.

I don’t think that anyone could have imagined the 2008 return shows would roll through 2009 and now, here we are, talking at the end of 2010 about a second Australian tour. What keeps Leonard Cohen, you and the rest of the band out there on the road?

Well, we’re just loving it. The breadth and depth of Leonard’s catalogue, his music and stage presence – the whole thing – the audiences are loving it and I don’t think anybody’s anxious to stop; we’re having a good time.

The shows, as you have said, have been very well received by the fans, as well as the critics. People have been speaking in superlatives of a spiritual experience in sharing an evening with Leonard. Has it felt so profound within the band?

Yes, absolutely. We all are just a little bit awed by the whole thing, as the audience is. We feel we’re involved in something that’s bigger than the sum of its parts. It’s all been quite phenomenal.

Going back to 2007-2008, were you as surprised as the rest of us when you received word saying Leonard was considering going back out on the road?


I was – well, we had been working on some new material right before that, so I had been working with Leonard and he had been talking about the fact he might have to go back out on the road, I must say, with a slight sense of dread without knowing how it was all going to work out (laughs). But now there’s no dread, we’re having a fantastic time… you never know how things are going to go!


Could you or anyone at that time have sensed how big the reaction was going to be?

No, not at all. I think Leonard was concerned whether he would even have an audience at that point and how many tickets would sell, or how people would respond or react to the music. I don’t think he really knew; but because of extenuating circumstances (laughs) was sort of forced into the activity and we’re all very happy that he was (laughs).

In effect, being forced back out on the road has been the best thing that could have happened to Leonard. It’s completely reinvigorated and redefined his career.

Yes, but having said that one of the things that Leonard enjoys most is bands – his relationships with the musicians. It’s like an extended family for him and it’s one of the things he looks forward to… and of course the music itself.

Leonard Cohen is more popular now than he has ever been, with record-breaking ticket sales; the reissue of his CDs; his novels and poetry books are back on the bookshelves and, of course, the new enterprise of DVDs – in your opinion is the great man finally getting the recognition he so deserves by a wider audience? /b]

I think so, but things happen maybe as they’re supposed to and when they’re supposed to. Absolutely though and, for the sake of the people who are becoming aware of him, it’s a great thing for them as well. His audience is getting larger, the demographic is getting broader and I think that’s an excellent turn of events. It’s great for everyone concerned, because his music is unique, his point of view is unique, his lyrics speak to the human heart in a way that’s unique, and I think it’s fantastic what’s happening.

At a sprightly 70-odd years of age…

Yes, odd being 76 to be exact (laughs).

How does the Leonard of now differ from the man you started working with in 1979?

Well, I think he’s maybe lighter – a little bit happier than he was then. But in many respects no different; he’s still gracious and generous in a certain way just as he was then. A lot of things haven’t changed that much when you think of him as a person. His catalogue, his music, has broadened and he’s delved into some new genres of music quite successfully so, as an artist, I think he’s changed somewhat – his voice is different. He’s singing in a lower register and bringing all of the deeper parts of his voice which are resonating very beautifully with people. But in a sense some things stay the same quite thankfully, and that’s why friendships last.

You fully began your collaboration with Leonard on I’m Your Man, which followed Recent Songs and Various Positions – themselves two records which marked a commercial low for Leonard Cohen. What did you see in that 40-odd year old man – that marginal songwriter – that made you want to work with him?

Ah, well his stature as an artist when I first met him was, you know, so high that there was no doubt I would want to work with him as a writer. And I actually first wrote with him in 1980 and presented a melody to him a hotel lobby, I think we were in Tel Aviv at the time, and he liked it and he was of a mind to work with me on the song, and I was very lucky that he was. So ever since then it’s just been this feeling of being very honoured to be his collaborator.

It was on Ten New Songs in 2001 that you fully came to collaborate with Leonard, as co-writer and producer. It would go on to become one of his most highly acclaimed albums but, at the time, as you began to put music to his lyrics did you know you were both onto something masterful here?

A couple of songs into it yeah; when we finished something we would go and get in the car and drive to this little special spot of mine here in Los Angeles and listen to it over and over and over again. We knew that we were enjoying it, but we listened to it so many times just to make sure, as Leonard would say, “we weren’t putting ourselves on”. And I think we, at a certain point, did start to get very excited about what was happening.

Was there a real sense that he was coming back down to ‘Boogie Street’?

Oh yes, absolutely. And that event happened even before we started the album, and I love the way that songs tells that part of his story – every time I sing that song I can get more and more involved in translating that story, because it gets more real for me as well and I really enjoy that.

It was an album that, to some, suggested that Leonard Cohen gets better with age. Is there some truth to that in your opinion?

Ah, yeah I think maybe we all do (laughs). But it’s hard to say that about Leonard really, because his early stuff is brilliant as well.

Leonard is many things to many people: he’s a poet, he’s a maverick, he’s a gentleman, he’s a provocateur – what is Leonard Cohen to you?

Well, he’s a wonderful friend, a loyal friend, very caring and gracious… the kind of person I feel very, very lucky to have in my life.

In terms of the songwriting, Dear Heather was merely a bridge for what fans are hoping will be another proper studio album. You have been writing with Leonard for the past few years; can you ease fans’ anxieties… are we any closer to a new recording?

There is an album being worked on… I can’t tell you when it will be ready (laughs) but, you know, with the touring and everything it takes a little longer. But he’s definitely working on putting something together; something new.

So even at 76 years of age there’s still no sense of urgency…

(Laughs) Right! It’s funny, because he never does seem to be in a rush but he has an enormous body of work. He always talks about how it takes him years and years to write a song, but, you know, it makes you wonder how he’s managed to finish so many.

And with the tour – it inevitably needs to come to a conclusion one day. What then…

Well, I think the plan is… oh gosh, I can’t really answer that either. We’re winding down in December but no one’s quite sure, including Leonard, what will transpire next year. I think everybody would be thrilled to tour more but we’re not really sure about what’s going to happen.

Is there a moment of dread? The Leonard Cohen family all going their separate ways after three years…

Yeah; that is a hard idea to entertain. I have been avoiding it myself (laughs).

[B4real]

Thanks Linda, for posting this interview. I'm particular interested in the following statement by Sharon:

I don’t think that anyone could have imagined the 2008 return shows would roll through 2009 and now, here we are, talking at the end of 2010 about a second Australian tour

Do you think that should read a third Australian tour because (in recent years) this current one is the second. Maybe it's just my longing for it, reading her words that way

[Cheshire gal]

I loved this interview with Sharon Robinson, thank you for posting it Linda. Leonard and Sharon make a great team. Let's hope we see a lot more new material from them. Also more touring of course.

[sue7]

Great interview. Thanks, Linda.
Sue