First We Take Manhattan


My recent acquisition of the glorious double live album of Leonard Cohen Live in London recorded at the O2 Arena, reminded me of the genius of Canada's finest ever singer songwriter. With a world tour coming up, it's a good time to be a Cohen fan. There's also a DVD version of the concert, but with an alleged Blue Ray version in the pipeline I think I'll hold fire till it's out.

Trawling the web in search of all things Cohenesque I came across this video of Jennifer Warnes superb version of Leonard's First We Take Manhattan. I first got into Jennifer Warnes through her Leonard Cohen tribute album Famous Blue Raincoat. In the 70's she was a backing singer in Cohen's band and won a Grammy in '88 for her duet with Bill Medley on the Dirty Dancing song (I've Had) The Time of My Life. My last purchase of hers was The Well which was an excellent album too. She's one hell of a talent.



Then there's always the original version.




Enjoy !!!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pop Quiz

What happens if you take a touch of Free, throw in a dash of Led Zeppelin and stir in some Guns and Roses for good measure? Has anyone got the answer?
Read more

Summer Love - The Narcotic Daffodils 🌞❤

Image
1.  Summer Love 2. Naturally High 3.  Guardians 4. Hypnotized 5. You can't get 6. Bruxelles 7.  Atomic 53 It's been three years since the band's last album, Cellex, was released, and there have been a number of personnel changes since then, with Luna taking up vocal duties, Arne the drums and Maria the Guitar. I remember hearing Maria playing with an all-girl band many years ago and they blew me away, so the prospect of her joining the Narcotic Daffodils  was exciting. As before, the bass is supplied by the inimitable Flupke with Simon providing Sitar and keyboard licks on the Hammond. 1. Summer Love Any fears that the new lineup have lost the spirit of the old are quickly dispelled by the opening and title track of the album, Summer Love. Gilly Smythe, Gong # style, whisper-voices draw you in before Flupke's bass kicks in with the Hammond, underpinning, proceedings. The song ends with a melange of Sitar and synth, underlining the fact that the ...
Read more

Daffodils & Crêpes

Image
I wandered lonely as a cloud, That floats on high o'er vales and hills, When all at once I saw a crepe eating crowd, A host, of narcotic daffodils. L'amuse Gueule crêperie, a strange venue for music, but in psychedelia strange is good. The last pancakes were munched, the diners departed and the strains of a sitar filled the air. Cue guitar, bass & drums and some hypnotic, pulsating music from The Narcotic Daffodils . At times reminiscent of Hawkwind in their prime, the band produced a wall of sound that had me in head banging heaven. They did however vary their sound quite a bit, with two covers thrown into the mix for good measure. Personally I'd like to hear them do more psychedelic material, but speaking to keyboardist and Sitar maestro Simon Rigot after the show, they want to keep their music varied. But hey, a heady cocktail of rock and mind expanding melodies is OK by me. I'd also like to hear more Sitar, but as Simon also plays keyboards that would be a tad ...
Read more