When reading about the passing of Leonard Cohen, last Thursday evening, I tweeted how he was one of the most charming, engaging, intelligent, funny, inclusive, warmest celebrities that I was fortunate enough to have met. The year was 1985. He played the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in Vancouver on May 15th, and I was his driver.

Shortly after the tweet, James Kwantes responded by saying, "I sense a CEO.CA contribution..." To which I replied, "You know me well James."

James was in the process of reading a New Yorker piece written in October by David Remnick titled, "LEONARD COHEN MAKES IT DARKER." It's a must read if you have any interest in this Canadian Icon from Montreal.

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/10/17/leonard-cohen-makes-it-darker

If you like the article, then I also recommend reading this great book, "I'm Your Man", by Sylvie Simmons, written in 2012.

November 10 Interview with Simmons:

http://www.npr.org/2016/11/10/501654869/leonard-cohen-dies-at-82-ending-50-year-songwriting-career

Upon learning that Cohen had a concert date at the Save On Foods arena in Victoria on March 3rd, 2013, I purchased a ticket, sensing it would be the last time he would make it here.

Leonard Cohen led dozens of lives, and kept reinventing himself over six decades. There is no way that this piece can do his life justice. Hopefully, it will spark an interest for you to dig deeper, as I finally did four years ago.

I first heard the name from a high school friend in 1968, who's older brother in university was obsessed with his books and poems. Cohen moved to New York a year earlier to pursue a career in singing and songwriting. It was Judy Collins that gave him his first break. He released his debut album "Songs Of Leonard Cohen" in November 67, and "Songs From A Room" in April 69.

It's was "Dress Rehearsal Rag" from the March 1971 album, "Songs of Love and Hate" that did me in. It was the kind of song that would leave you laughing about your so-called problems after a few listens. In my opinion, this was the most depressing song ever written, and it still holds top spot 45 years later. The album was all scratched up by September.

Go ahead. Prove me wrong:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz3lJX92ly0

A Few Good Stories Based on the Simmons Book

How could anyone think such dark thoughts? Could it have something to do with his trip to Cuba, a decade earlier, and a month before (and during) the Bay of Pigs invasion?

He was a cross between Che Guevara and Earnest Hemmingway. Dressing and posing like a revolutionary soldier looking for a war in baggy green pants, khaki shirt, beret and a full beard. He would drink late into the night at one of Hemingway's favorite (La Bodeguita del Medio) haunts.

Cohen had a habit of wandering until sunrise through Old Montreal occasionally taking notes for future books, poetry, and songs. This is how Suzanne and countless other songs were written. He did this in Havana's old town as well as New York, and London for decades.

Mistaken as a Cuban trying to flee the country, Cohen was detained at the airport, before boarding. Luckily, he managed to slip out of an unlocked door and walked calmly onto the plane.

Combining alcohol and drugs in his mid-thirties could sometimes bring out his mischievous side, like the concert in Hamburg, May 1970. As he walked out onstage to a standing ovation, he clicked his heels twice and gave the Nazi salute. The crowd was insulted, and one guy rushed the stage with a gun, before he was detained by security.

This was the exact moment Charlie Daniels (Devil Went Down To Georgia) knew he would soon be leaving the band. As the crowd began to calm down, Cohen started playing an old Yiddish song, dancing on one leg across the stage singing "Ai-eee, ai-eee." Once again the crowd went nuts. He quickly cut into one of his old hits, and they settled down after that. It took the whole band to talk Daniels into staying after that gig.

There are many great stories in the 2012 book, like the time Janis Joplin seduced him at the Chelsea Hotel where he lived for a while. Hendrix, Dylan, and Patti Smith were a few of the other artists that resided there on and off.

The 1978 Phil Spector produced album, Death of A Ladies Man, could have been a book by itself. Vast quantities of alcohol over three weeks turned out about a dozen songs. Things deteriorated quickly when they entered the recording studio.

One night, Spector rubbed a gun up against Cohen's neck and said, "Leonard, I love you.” Cohen replied, “I hope you do, Phil.”

The album was way too busy for me. Cohen's voice and soul, diluted by Spector's signature, "wall of sound."

Finally We Meet

"There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."

As Cohen made his way toward the limo in his well tailored suit, the charming warm smile and eye contact set him apart from anyone before this day, since my first celebrity encounter at the New York Plaza Hotel, as an elevator operator, eleven years earlier. There would be many more. None would make me feel as good as he did.

He was 51, totally approachable, funny, witty, and included me in the conversation every step. Most celebrities were way too preoccupied and silent. I was used to that. That's why he stood out so much. Some of his best songs were yet to be written. He appeared very happy, and at peace.

He was with two female friends who lived in Vancouver. One of them was a local broadcaster, whom I met on two different occasions a year or so earlier. She came from a prominent Canadian political family. I had a good comfort level with her. The other lady was constantly competing for air time. Fair enough. The difference between a natural conversation and a forced one could not have been more palpable.

When he performed, I watched from the side of the stage, and waited for my favorite songs to be played. There were only a few. He neglected to perform Dress rehearsal rag. Perhaps he was too happy. There would be a lot more songs to like over a quarter of a century later. He played Hallelujah that night, and somehow I missed it.

Decades later I learned that it was his life long friend and teacher, poet Irving Layton that influenced Cohen's style at a very young age.

When Cohen was about 16, he took three flamenco guitar lessons from a Spanish man he met by a tennis court in his neighborhood. He was motivated by the cluster of women that gathered around the Spaniard to watch him play. The forth lesson never happened. The teacher committed suicide.

From Mordecai Back To Leonard

In 2011, I made the mistake of reading a book on Mordecai Richler's life by Charles Foran. I was hooked, and read a few more of his novels that year including Barneys Version, St. Urbain's Horseman, Soloman Gursky Was Here, and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.

On a trip to Montreal in July 2012, I spent a couple days walking around Richler's old neighborhood and eating at Schwartz's Deli and Moishe's Steak House. Layton grew up one block away from Richler, while Cohen lived four blocks (Marie-Anne and Clark) away, and one block from Moishe's on St. Lawrence.

Richler was much closer to Pierre Trudeau than he was to Cohen and Layton. Cohen and Trudeau were old friends going back to the now closed Le Bistro -- a Paris style downtown bar -- where he met Suzanne. Cohen was an honorary pallbearer at Trudeau's funeral, along with Fidel Castro and Jimmy Carter.

Rediscovering the Music of Leonard Cohen was Inevitable

It took Cohen five years to complete Hallelujah, working down from 80 verses. Since then, over 100 versions have been recorded, by other artists. Sitting in a cafe in Paris, Cohen asked Bob Dylan how long it took to write "I and I." Dylan said he wrote it in the back of a cab in 15 minutes. When Dylan asked Cohen how long it took him to write Hallelujah, he said "A couple of years," too embarrassed to tell the truth.

Would there be over 100 versions if he wrote it in 15 minutes?

Other Favorites

The Stranger Song (1967)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=J3HTvlDFbm4

Everybody Knows (1988)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Lin-a2lTelg

Closing Time (1992)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0lV5qs1Qw

Tower of Song (1995)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oiAuXRK3Ogk

I'm Your Man (2006)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=vRMWW1KJD5E

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