Bob Cato
Leonard Cohen
The Only True Rock Poet By Jim AllenFolk-rock's Canadian Poet Laureate.
The first singer/songwriter to seriously challenge Bob Dylan for his Poet King crown, moody Montreal balladeer Leonard Cohen came by his lyrical mastery honestly: he was already an acclaimed poet and novelist before he ever recorded a note. Fortunately for us all, he decided music was where the money was and gave songwriting a shot, recording his jaw-dropping debut album in 1967. His heady, symbolic lyrics were as carefully crafted as Dylan's were spontaneously sprouted, and they meshed with his laconic delivery in a marvelously melancholy way. Cohen remained mostly an esteemed cult figure into the ‘70s, but his comeback began with 1988's I'm Your Man, which replaced his former folk-rock settings with a more modern, synth-tinged sound and earned him legions of new fans. Increased sales and multiple tribute albums followed, as did further masterpieces. Cohen continued touring and recording well into the 2000s, becoming more celebrated as a septuagenarian than he had ever been in his early days.
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| Leonard Cohen's Critical Connections | |
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