I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen album)
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I'm Your Man | |||||
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Studio album by Leonard Cohen | |||||
Released | February 1988 (LP) 1990 (CD) |
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Recorded | August–November 1987 | ||||
Genre | Folk-rock | ||||
Length | 40:41 | ||||
Label | Columbia Records | ||||
Producer | Leonard Cohen, Roscoe Beck, Jean-Michel Reusser, Michel Robidoux | ||||
Professional reviews | |||||
Leonard Cohen chronology | |||||
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I'm Your Man is a 1988 album by Leonard Cohen.
It was widely considered Cohen's "comeback" album, after the poorly promoted Various Positions in 1984. The album also marked Cohen's further move into modern musical textures, with many songs having a synthpop-style production. I'm Your Man reached #1 in Norway.
The song "Everybody Knows" was one of Cohen's first writing collaborations with Sharon Robinson, who would become a frequent collaborator in the future. Most notably, Robinson co-wrote every song on Cohen's 2001 outing Ten New Songs.
In "Tower of Song", Cohen discusses songwriting and acknowledges the influence of Hank Williams ("a hundred floors above me").
The album is silver in the UK.
It was ranked 51 on Pitchfork Media's list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.
Contents |
[edit] Track listing
All songs were written by Cohen, except where noted. All tracks faded out.
- "First We Take Manhattan" – 6:01
- "Ain't No Cure for Love" – 4:50
- "Everybody Knows" (Cohen, Sharon Robinson) – 5:36
- "I'm Your Man" – 4:28
- "Take This Waltz" (Federico García Lorca, Cohen) – 5:59
- "Jazz Police" (Cohen, Jeff Fisher) – 3:53
- "I Can't Forget" – 4:31
- "Tower of Song" – 5:37
[edit] Personnel
- Leonard Cohen: keyboards, vocals
- Jude Johnson: vocals
- Anjani Thomas: vocals
- Jennifer Warnes: vocals
- Mayel Assouly: backing vocals
- Evelyine Hebey: backing vocals
- Elisabeth Valletti: backing vocals
- Jeff Fisher: keyboards
- Bob Stanley: guitar
- Sneaky Pete Kleinow: pedal steel guitar
- Peter Kisilenko: bass
- Tom Brechtlein: drums
- Vinnie Colaiuta: drums
- Lenny Castro: percussion
- Michel Robidoux: drums, keyboards
- John Bilezikjian: oud
- Richard Beaudet: saxophone
- Raffi Hakopian: violin
[edit] Song covers
- On the soundtrack to Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man there are two versions of "Tower of Song". One appears as a sparse live version by Martha Wainwright and the other a more elaborate studio recording by Leonard Cohen and U2. In the latter Bono sings the second last verse while a deep-voiced Cohen does the rest.
- Aaron Neville, who had earlier recorded Cohen's "Bird on a Wire", contributed a cover of "Ain't No Cure for Love" for the tribute album Tower of Song.
- "Everybody Knows" was covered by Concrete Blonde on the soundtrack to the 1990 film Pump Up the Volume. The original version was the main theme played on the film, although only the cover by Concrete Blonde was released in the official soundtrack.
- "Everybody Knows" was covered by ex-Eagle Don Henley on Tower of Song.
- The 1991 indie rock tribute album I'm Your Fan takes its name from the pathos-filled love song title track "I'm Your Man".
- R.E.M. contributed "First We Take Manhattan" to I'm Your Fan. They also released it as an extra track on their 1991 CD single "Drive."
- Bill Pritchard performed the song for the same tribute.
- Pixies covered "I Can't Forget" for I'm Your Fan.
- In 1986 an early mix of "Take This Waltz" reached #1 in the Spanish charts (as a single off the Federico García Lorca tribute album Poets in New York). The words were translated by Cohen from García Lorca's poem "Pequeño vals vienés".
- "Take this Waltz" was also covered by Enrique Morente on his 1996 album Omega, performed with Lagartija Nick and other musicians. Morente used the original Lorca's poem "Pequeño vals vienés" and new musical arrangements.
- A very abstract cover of "Tower of Song" was recorded by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for I'm your Fan.
- "Tower of Song" was also covered by Robert Forster.
- Marianne Faithfull, Tom Russell and The Jesus and Mary Chain also did covers.
- Michael Bublé covered "I'm Your Man" in 2007 for his album "Call Me Irresponsible".
[edit] Movie
- The album's title track appears on the soundtrack of the 2002 film "Secretary."
- A 2006 tribute film and album to Cohen were titled Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.
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