Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Adam Cohen's music, tours, other news
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jarkko
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Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by jarkko »

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Adam's newsletter with links to samples on YouTube can be found here: http://www.leonardcohenfiles.com/adam-c ... ilout.html
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brightnow
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by brightnow »

Thanks for the update Jarkko. It seems that the CD was released in the UK and in Australia. Do you know if there are plans to release in the US? The UK import version is quite expensive here...
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Mollydog
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by Mollydog »

Hi Avi,

It has been released in Canada too. You can order it on http://www.amazon.ca for C$12.98 (plus tax and shipping).

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bigdee
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by bigdee »

You can get it in the USA for $14.17 plus $0.99 shipping (or free shipping if you order something else at the same time and your order totals more than $15) at the web site http://www.deepdiscount.com I pre-ordered my copy from there and also get most of my Cds/Dvds from them. They usually have just about everything and are often cheaper than anybody else. They also don't make you spend $25 for free shipping like Amazon.
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Mabeanie1
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by Mabeanie1 »

I have had Adam's CD for a week now and have had the opportunity to listen to it a few times. The music is good and the album has a wonderful, intimate feel to it. Forget all the comparisons to Leonard in the various reviews - to my mind Adam is very much his own man but by no longer trying to avoid any comparison with his father's work he has freed himself to create his best work.

If you like the various sound samples, you will love the album. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about how much it costs. It's worth the money any way!

Wendy
holydove
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by holydove »

brightnow wrote:Thanks for the update Jarkko. It seems that the CD was released in the UK and in Australia. Do you know if there are plans to release in the US? The UK import version is quite expensive here...
Hi Avi,

I pre-ordered the album from amazon.com (U.S.), & the cost is $19.99 & it will be released on Oct. 18.
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dick
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by dick »

I'm awaiting my amazon preorder as well. Thanks for suggesting an alternate site Dave. Have not used them before but will give it a try soon. I do like the rewards from Amazon for using my Amazon credit card, and as I'm sure everyone knows, amazon is now offering almost anything you want from expensive electronics to kitchen ware.

The real point of my post now however, is to call attention to great article in the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/ ... sfeed=true

There is a misconception that the children of famous parents have it easier than most, that doors open at the mere mention of their name. "When people find out who my father is, it raises eyebrows certainly, but also expectations," says musician Adam Cohen. "And then, almost inevitably, it brings about disappointment because you are then judged via your parent rather than yourself."

He sighs, but then he has good reason. Cohen has had it particularly hard, for his father is little short of a living legend. Leonard Cohen is the singer-songwriter's singer-songwriter, the artist to whom all introspective singers since owe at least a passing debt. He has written poetry and novels, he paints, and, for five decades now, has made some of the most affectingly miserable (melancholic is a kinder word) songs in the canon. His last UK tour, in 2008, when he was 73, was greeted by fans the way Catholics greet the pope.
His poor son, then, frankly never stood a chance.

He smiles. "Hey, I've never been particularly prickly about it because I'm a fan of my father's as well. I've always had an easy time celebrating him with whoever else wants to celebrate him."

Whatever he may say, there is no doubt that he has struggled to step out of his father's shadow. Adam is in London to promote a new album, his third, called Like a Man. He is proud of it, which is rare for him. It is an acoustic, and rather affecting, set of lovelorn songs that he describes as "the kind of record I wish my father was still making. I've finally found my voice, but only after the collapse of all my other endeavours. It's taken an embarrassingly long time."

The album also comes with his father's seal of approval, and the relief in Adam's voice is clear: "He likes it. He thinks there are some world-class love songs on it." He looks pleased. "I am. It's important to me."

Adam was five when his father separated from his mother, Suzanne Elrod. She took him and his younger sister, and moved to the south of France, but despite the geographical challenges, his father remained a regular presence in his life.

"It was particularly admirable, I think, the way in which he managed to keep in touch with us despite the … the domestic unrest, shall we say, the post-divorce antagonisms."

The paternal influence remained an abiding one, and from a young age Adam seemed intent on carrying on – and attempting to live up to – the family name. But at 17, while roadying for a calypso band, he was involved in a terrible car crash, breaking his neck and nine ribs, puncturing a lung, crushing his abdomen and fracturing his knees, ankles and pelvis. It was during his painfully slow recovery that he made the decision to ditch music in favour of going to university to study political and social sciences.

"But I don't think I ever had any real intention of actually completing the course," he says. "I'm an industrious busybody, sure, but I'm nowhere near as dynamic as I would like to be."

Failing to complete the degree, he muses, set a precedent of sorts: "Most of my subsequent projects didn't exactly come to fruition, either."
In 1998, aged 26, he released his first, eponymously titled solo album, but it made little impact. Six years later, he resurfaced as the frontman of a rock band, Low Millions, that never quite made it, and in 2007 he released an underperforming French-language album, Melancolista. He had also written songs for other artists who turned them down, and produced a record that never saw the light of day.

"All that was pretty much my musical obituary," he says. "I was ready to give up completely, because the way I saw it, a message had been delivered loud and clear: that, despite a lot of encouragement along the way, the gods of fortune had only ever smiled partially on me."

The problem was that everyone was expecting more of him than he could reasonably deliver. Though he insists that there is "no secret handshake in the 'Sons of …' club", he nevertheless found kinship with other progeny of famous parents: Chris Stills (son of Stephen Stills, of Crosby, Stills and Nash) and Rufus Wainwright (son of Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle).

"And, yeah, I've hung out with Jakob Dylan, Sean Lennon and Ziggy Marley too, but there is nothing that uniquely binds us. We are all very different people, and we've all dealt with our lineage in our own separate ways."

But surely they shared a common bond, each trying, and ultimately failing, to match their fathers' achievements?

He thinks for a while before saying: "Look, although there have been some clear shortcomings and challenges that came with being my father's son, they are far outweighed by a sense of real gratitude, and appreciation, and luck."

Besides, he adds, his father remained a pillar of strength throughout his many musical efforts. "The guy has been tremendously supportive, always, but then that's what characterises my old man. He is abnormally generous, and it's his sutra, his mantra, his practice to anticipate other people's needs and to give them what he thinks they require. In many ways, you want him to take a load off, to relax, but he never did."
Throughout his early career, Adam pointedly avoided playing his father's songs. It wasn't until he was 34 that he finally did so, in public, and the experience was, he says, unexpectedly cathartic. "I think I started to accept, finally, what I had previously categorically denied. Basically, I found an honourable position for myself within the family business."

At the age of 39, he is at last content to play ambassador for his father, accepting invitations for tribute concerts, and helping to organise art exhibitions around the world. Was it humbling to put his own ego aside to do this? He shakes his head slowly. "No, no it wasn't. It simply felt like a long time coming. I wish I'd accepted the role earlier."

Four years ago, Cohen became a father himself. "Once you have kids," he says, "you kind of have to embrace who you are. I am the son of my father, and the father to my son." This realisation compelled him to return to the studio for one last attempt at recording music of lasting worth.

"I had an urgent requirement to produce something of valour because I realised there was a real danger that one day my kid would consult my work and not like it." The fact that Adam himself was never in this position was precisely why he invested such care in his new album, Like a Man.

"I think I've made something beautiful at last, something that Cassius, my little boy, might just like."

Today, he lives with his family in Los Angeles, and already worries that Cassius will grow up wanting to follow in such formidable footsteps.
"In many ways, I wish I'd been more vigourously deterred from a life in music," he says. "Or I wish the support hadn't been quite so readily available. Music is contagious, and the industry is glamorous. But it's also a virus, and I'm not sure I want my son to be affected by it the way I was."

And so he has a ruse, one that he hopes will tempt his son to go off in other directions. "I have a stethoscope at home, and I intend to wrap it around my neck whenever I walk into his room."

He smiles ruefully. "Anything that helps steer him away from what might otherwise be inevitable …"
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mutti
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by mutti »

Thanks Dick
I really enjoyed reading the article from the Guardian.
Cheers
Leslie
I ordered Adam's CD through Amazon a few weeks ago and am looking forward to its arrival.
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jarkko
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by jarkko »

Do you know if there are plans to release in the US?
It will be released, but no date known yet. I have asked Adam and will let you know.
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jarkko
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by jarkko »

If our European members happen to see any reviews of the album (online or in printed media), please send me the links or a scan of the paper. I will forward them to Adam.
Tom Bognø already sent one from Norway (Stavanger Aftenblad, one full page. 5 out of 6 stars).
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holydove
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by holydove »

Dick, I must thank you for posting that great article- really fascinating!!
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by lizzytysh »

And so he has a ruse, one that he hopes will tempt his son to go off in other directions. "I have a stethoscope at home, and I intend to wrap it around my neck whenever I walk into his room."

He smiles ruefully. "Anything that helps steer him away from what might otherwise be inevitable …"
:lol: :lol: :lol: What a delightful response this was for summing things up. Very funny. :lol: :lol: :lol:

A wonderful piece about Adam. I'm glad he's embraced his heritage, too.
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
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Giulia
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by Giulia »

Hello LC lovers
I had a question about Adam, but its answered here, he is the son of Leonard. Nice to hear, and see.
I saw it on youtube and some other places, and wondered, but at least now I know,l ty so very much.

greetz Giulia

Long time no see and read, glad to be back. :D
Leonard 77, 21 of september 78, and still the greatest of all times

In my secret live.
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lizzytysh
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by lizzytysh »

Glad to see you back, too, Giulia.

I love the fedora and the 'raindrops come from heaven' pouring out on Adam.
"Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken."
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Giulia
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Re: Adam Cohen: Like A Man

Post by Giulia »

Lizzy hi, nice to see/read a familiar name, how are you doing?
I go watch and listening Adam some more.
Curious if he sounds like his father, i am not sure yet.
So sorry to hear that Chelsea is Death.
Its a sad day, time is passing, buildings are closing, but Leonard is alive!!!!!
One good thing to hold on.
Love and greetz Giulia
Leonard 77, 21 of september 78, and still the greatest of all times

In my secret live.
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