Leonard Cohen Vs Neil Diamond

[bags123]

Being an American I wasn't really familiar with Leonard Cohen as much as I should have been. After recently listening to an albums worth of a 6 cd set of Cohen's greatest hits collection I see great similarities to Neil Diamonds songs over here on this side of the border. Neil over here still has a rather rabid following of geezer fans, who go to see him perform in Las Vegas. Admittedly,..he did pen some catchy songs which were usually performed much better by someone else.
Am I correct that Leonard Cohen kind of fits the same fan appreciation niche in Canada? Just curious.

[Eternum 1]

Diamond was always a singer and a pop song writer (he wrote I'm a Believer for the Monkees) while Cohen was popular in café circles as a poet. It was Carol King who convinced the older Cohen to try his poem Suzanne on stage and I recall hearing his first album when visiting a girlfriend on campus. There were no big orchestral arrangements; just a somewhat scratchy voice and a six string making it seem kind of urban/folksy but edgy.

Diamond to me at least, is a big band singer in the tradition of others like Barry Manilow and Bobby Darrin while Cohen remains a member of the beat generation.

A Canadian version of Diamond might be crooners like Michael Buble or Paul Anka. I've seen Buble recently and Anka used to eat at a pals parents restaurant (The Nino Rose Cafe) for authentic Italian when he visited Vancouver. My firend would sneak girls into the kitchen to get a peek at Anka in his early days.

Brooklyn, New York or Montreal, Quebec; both have large Jewish communities that influence cantor/singer/writers like Diamond and Cohen. I think both have their place in our mutual history.

Diamond was destined for the big time, while, if not for Carol King popularising Cohen's work he would still be known only in poetry circles. She was also instrumental in helping James Taylor get notice by giving him her song "you've got a friend" before she released her own version. I've seen Carol King live several times and Cohen and Diamond only once. Guess I'm partial to the lady crooners. Used to see Judy Collins ( reminds me very much of Vancouver's Sarah McLaughlin) quite often in the Vietnam era and still follow Canada's Diana Krall (Diana grew up just a few doors down from my Aunt's house) who I'm booked to see for the fifth time this summer. Ladies playing jazz in outdoor concerts on a summer evening; what could be more sweet?

[bags123]

Great response. Thanks ET. That puts it in better clarity for me. Can't say I'm a big fan of one or the other really,...but they're both worth a listen. Diana Krall.... Grrrrr....Woof Woof! That's a one hot little Mama!

[MJPease]

Hello, K.D.Lang does a more than fine job with Leonard Cohen material. Such as "Bird on a Wire" and "Hallelujah" which she included on her "hymms of the 49th parallel album". The album contains is a great collection of material from the likes of Mitchell, Young, Cockburn, Sexsmith, Siberry, Cohen and an original by k.d.Lang that insures her position in good standing with these greats. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Take Care

[gordy]

bird on a wire, great song

[bags123]

Funny,...you never impressed me as a Leonard Cohen type Gordster. I've pictured you as more of an Allman Brothers type dude.

[gordy]

i am very eclectic. i have allman bros, metallica, jewel, jim croce, marilyn manson, led zeppelin, black sabbath, rush, kiss, waylon jennings, pantera, hank williams, megadeth, travis tritt, casting crowns, counting crows, black crowes, old crow medicine show, body count, sarah mclachlan, hootie and the blowfish, tori amos, testament, judas priest, robert johnson, iron maiden, jeff beck, les paul, indiginous, tedusci trucks band, motley crue, mott the hoople, kiss, pink floyd, zz top, robert cray band, deep purple, alice cooper, soundtrack to les miserables, acdc, guns n roses, bee gees, green day, green jelly, fionna apple, amy winehouse, foghat, stevie ray vaughn, stevie nicks, elvis, bruce springsteen, ratt, poison, van halen, journey, robert plant and allison krauss, alex skolnik trio, martina mcbride, les claypool, type o negative, chris cornell, pearl jam, csn, just to name a few that are on my ipod, which has 11,108 songs on it right now......

[bags123]

i am very eclectic. i have allman bros, metallica, jewel, jim croce, marilyn manson, led zeppelin, black sabbath, rush, kiss, waylon jennings, pantera, hank williams, megadeth, travis tritt, casting crowns, counting crows, black crowes, old crow medicine show, body count, sarah mclachlan, hootie and the blowfish, tori amos, testament, judas priest, robert johnson, iron maiden, jeff beck, les paul, indiginous, tedusci trucks band, motley crue, mott the hoople, kiss, pink floyd, zz top, robert cray band, deep purple, alice cooper, soundtrack to les miserables, acdc, guns n roses, bee gees, green day, green jelly, fionna apple, amy winehouse, foghat, stevie ray vaughn, stevie nicks, elvis, bruce springsteen, ratt, poison, van halen, journey, robert plant and allison krauss, alex skolnik trio, martina mcbride, les claypool, type o negative, chris cornell, pearl jam, csn, just to name a few that are on my ipod, which has 11,108 songs on it right now......

Wow! I'm impressed. You're quite the eclectic.

[gordy]

thanks bags! that was only a partial list lol