Songs of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was thirty-three years old when this album came out, already an acclaimed poet and novelist who had spent years treating music as a secondary concern. He had written "Suzanne" as a poem in 1966, and when Judy Collins recorded it and it became a small hit, someone at Columbia Records decided Cohen should make an album. The label's legendary A&R man John Hammond signed him and was supposed to produce the record. Then Hammond fell ill and was replaced by John Simon, and the entire recording became a sustained argument.

Cohen had been clear from the beginning about the sound he wanted: sparse, voice and guitar, intimate as someone singing in your room. Simon heard something more commercial, something with strings and horns and production values. When Cohen heard the finished mix he was unhappy with the orchestration on "Suzanne," felt "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" was too soft, and objected to drums appearing on a record where he had specifically said no drums. Some of Simon's additions were embedded so deeply in the four-track master that they could not be removed. Simon eventually left for his Christmas holiday and Cohen was given control of the final mix himself, which is the version the world heard.

Despite the friction, what came out is one of the most quietly devastating debut albums ever made. Cohen was already writing at the full height of his powers: "Suzanne," "Sisters of Mercy," "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye," and "So Long, Marianne" are four songs that have outlasted the decade, the century, and the category of singer-songwriter entirely. His voice was not technically remarkable but was completely singular, and the world has been listening to it ever since.