Songs of Love and Hate

Songs of Love and Hate is Canadian singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen's third album. It was mainly recorded in Columbia Studio A, Nashville, from September 22 to 26, 1970. "Sing Another Song, Boys" was recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival on August 30, 1970. Further recording took place at Trident Studios in London. The album reached #145 on the Billboard list, but was his most commercially successful album in many other parts of the world, reaching #4 in the UK and #8 in Australia.^[3]

The album title is descriptive, outlining its main themes. The songs contain emotive language and are frankly personal; "Famous Blue Raincoat" ends with the line "Sincerely, L. Cohen". The back cover of the album bears the lines:

They locked up a man
Who wanted to rule the world
The fools
They locked up the wrong man

A remastered CD was released in 1995. Simply Vinyl issued a short-lived remastered edition on vinyl in 2002, making it the last Cohen album (aside from Ten New Songs, which was pressed in limited quantities) to go out of print on vinyl.

In 2007 Columbia/Legacy released a newly remastered CD with a new book style packaging and a bonus track: a 1968 recording of Dress Rehearsal Rag.

In 2009 the album (including its bonus track) was included in the 8-CD box set Hallelujah - The Essential Leonard Cohen Album Collection, issued by Sony Music in the Netherlands.

It was ranked 74 on Pitchfork Media's list of the 100 best albums of the 1970s.

Track listing

All songs written by Leonard Cohen.

Side one

1. "Avalanche" – 5:07
2. "Last Year's Man" – 6:02
3. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" – 6:12
4. "Diamonds in the Mine" – 3:52

Side two

1. "Love Calls You by Your Name" – 5:44
2. "Famous Blue Raincoat" – 5:15
3. "Sing Another Song, Boys" (live at the Isle of Wight Festival 31 August 1970) – 6:17
4. "Joan of Arc" – 6:29

Bonus track on 2007 remastered edition

1. "Dress Rehearsal Rag" (bonus track, early version, an outtake recorded during the Songs From a Room sessions in 1968) – 5:37

Songs

With the exception of "Last Year's Man", Cohen has performed every song live. Because of its depressing content, Cohen has played "Dress Rehearsal Rag" in concert only on two occasions, two years before Songs of Love and Hate.

Judy Collins recorded "Dress Rehearsal Rag" in 1966 on the album In My Life, years before it would appear on Songs of Love and Hate.

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds recorded a version of "Avalanche" for their 1984 album From Her to Eternity.

"Famous Blue Raincoat" has been covered numerous times, notably by Jennifer Warnes, who once toured as a back-up singer for Cohen, on her 1987 tribute album to Cohen, Famous Blue Raincoat. It has also been covered by Tori Amos on the Leonard Cohen tribute album Tower of Song. Warnes also covered "Joan of Arc" on Famous Blue Raincoat as a duet with Cohen.

Personnel

• Leonard Cohen – acoustic guitar, vocals
• Ron Cornelius – acoustic and electric guitars
• Charlie Daniels – acoustic guitar, bass, fiddle
• Elkin "Bubba" Fowler – acoustic guitar, banjo, bass
• Bob Johnston – piano, production
• Corlynn Hanney – vocals
• Susan Mussmano – vocals
• The Corona Academy, London – children's voices
• Michael Sahl – strings on 3rd verse of "Last Year's Man"
• Paul Buckmaster – string and horn arrangements, conductor

References

1. ^ Dave Everley Q, May 2007, Issue 250.
2. ^ David Cavanagh Uncut, May 2007, Issue 120
3. ^ Kent, David; The Australian Chart Book, 1970-1992. ISBN 0-646-11917-6

External links

• Album lyrics, from The Leonard Cohen Files