Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979

Last updated
Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979
Field Commander Cohen.jpg
Live album by
Leonard Cohen
ReleasedFebruary 20, 2001 (copyrighted 2000)
RecordedDecember 4, 5, 6, 1979 at the Hammersmith Odeon, London and December 15, 1979 at the Dome Theatre, Brighton
Genre Contemporary folk
Length63:03
Label Columbia
Producer Leanne Ungar
Leonard Cohen chronology
More Best of Leonard Cohen
(1997)		Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979
(2001)		 Ten New Songs
(2001)

Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 is a live album by Leonard Cohen, released in 2001. [1] Songs were recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, London, on 4, 5, and December 6, 1979, and at the Dome Theatre, Brighton, on December 15, 1979. Cohen considered it his "best tour ever". [2]

Contents

Accompanying Cohen was the jazz band Passenger from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Steve Meador on drums, Roscoe Beck on bass, Mitch Watkins on guitar, Bill Ginn on keyboards and Paul Ostermayer on saxophone and flute. Other tour members included violinist Raffi Hakopian, oudist John Bilezikjian, and backup singers Jennifer Warnes and Sharon Robinson. Beck would become a stalwart of Cohen's studio and live bands for more than a decade afterwards. The album cover portrait was taken by Montreal photographer, Hazel Field.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Robert Christgau Scissors icon black.svg [4]
Pitchfork Media 8.1/10
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]

James Hunter of Rolling Stone called the LP "elaborately, and yet simply, awesome." Mark Deming of AllMusic writes that Field Commander Cohen "presents an especially strong argument for Cohen's gifts as a musician." The New York Observer also praised the album: "Mr. Cohen's voice is warm and strong throughout, and still has some of the high end that is not so evident on his last two studio albums..."

Track listing

  1. "Field Commander Cohen" – 4:25
  2. "The Window" (violin solo by Raffi Hakopian) – 5:51
  3. "The Smokey Life" (duet with Jennifer Warnes) – 5:34
  4. "The Gypsy's Wife" (violin solo by Raffi Hakopian) – 5:20
  5. "Lover Lover Lover" (oud solos by John Bilezikjian) – 6:31
  6. "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" (violin solo by Raffi Hakopian) – 4:04
  7. "The Stranger Song" – 4:55
  8. "The Guests" (violin solo by Raffi Hakopian) – 6:05
  9. "Memories" (sax solo by Paul Ostermayer) – (Cohen, Phil Spector) 4:38
  10. "Why Don't You Try" (duet with Sharon Robinson, solo by Paul Ostermayer) – 3:43
  11. "Bird on the Wire" (guitar solo by Mitch Watkins) – 5:10
  12. "So Long, Marianne" – 6:44

Personnel

Passenger
Production

References

  1. ↑ "Album Review: 'Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979'". EW.com. Archived from the original on 2020-02-17. Retrieved 2020-02-17.
  2. ↑ Reynolds, Anthony (2012-06-26). Leonard Cohen: A Remarkable Life. Omnibus Press. ISBN   978-0-85712-784-6.
  3. ↑ "Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979 - Leonard Cohen | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic.
  4. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: Leonard Cohen". www.robertchristgau.com.
  5. ↑ Hunter, James (April 2, 2001). "Field Commander Cohen Tour Of 1979". Rolling Stone .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.