Opening Credits - Picture of Leonard Cohen, and an audio sample of Leonard Cohen performance of Hallelujah
Introduction speech by Chairman, Jann Wenner
...We'll be celebrating the folk based writing and singing of Leonard Cohen...
Seated with Leonard Cohen at his table: Anjani Thomas, Esther Cohen, Lorca Cohen, Adam Cohen, Lian Lunson, Moses Znaimer, Michelle Rice, Jeanne and Dan Halpren, Leon and Jennifer Wieseltier
The order of Inductions:
01. Gamble & Huff inducted by Jerry Butler; Patti LaBelle performs If You Don't Know Me By Now and Jerry Butler performs Only The Strong Survive
02. Little Walter inducted by Ben Harper; Ben Harper and James Cotton perform Juke and My Babe
03. The Ventures inducted by John Fogerty; The Ventures perform Walk Don't Run and Hawaii 5-O
04. Leonard Cohen inducted by Lou Reed; Damien Rice performs Hallelujah
05. Madonna inducted by Justin Timberlake; The Stooges perform Burning Up and Ray of Light
06. John Mellencamp inducted by Billy Joel; John Mellencamp performs Pink Houses, Small Town, The Authority Song
07. The Dave Clark Five inducted by Tom Hanks; Joan Jett performs Bits and Pieces
The All-Star Jam: The Dave Clark Five music (Glad All Over) performed by Paul Shaffer, Joan Jett, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Billy Joel and James Cotton
The Leonard Cohen Video Biography Package - Producer/Editor - Rick Austin, Package Graphics - Gunslinger
Leonard Cohen inducted by Lou Reed
Lou Reed's Speech:
You know I first met Mr. Leonard Cohen at the Chelsea Hotel at a place called Max's. Outside the Chelsea we were talking and he said--which I thought was really sweet--he said you wrote a song called "I'll Be Your Mirror" and it made me want to continue being a songwriter. Then we were sitting at Max's Kansas City. In the back room there you had to know somebody. So people weren't paying attention to Leonard. I said, this is Leonard Cohen, he wrote Beautiful Losers. So speaking of Beautiful Losers, which I never got a chance to tell Leonard this, and I was in the part of the tour "I'm Your Man" that wasn't filmed, so nobody got to see me except in Dublin, unless you flew there. You get to really appreciate someone's songs when you sing them, when you sing them out loud that's when you can really hear it. But Anyway. Beautiful Losers, Naked Lunch. I started thinking Burrows, Leonard, Allen Ginsgurg, those three, Hubert Selby, maybe four, but Naked Lunch and Beautiful Losers were out more or less kind of the same time, but one got a lot more attention. I was always very surprised by that.
(Reciting lyrics and poems)
He could have stopped there! He just gets better! We are so lucky to be alive at the same time Leonard Cohen is.....It's not our governor....I know, I know! It's New York, right? Do we have free speech or what? Thank you!
Ladies and gentleman I very much want to welcome Leonard Cohen.
Song that played while Leonard Cohen was walking up onto the stage: I'm Your Man
Leonard Cohen's Speech:
Oh thank you so much friends, and Lou thank you so much for reminding me that I wrote a couple of good lines. I inducted you into my own ghostly hall of fame many many years ago. You flourished there from then until this very day. Thank you so much.
This is a very unlikely occassion for me. It is not a distinction that I coveted or even to dare dream about. I am reminded of the prophetic statement of Jon Landau in the early 70s. He said I have seen the future of Rock & Roll and it is not Leonard Cohen. So very pleased to be here. Such an unlikely event. To stand here among the inductees tonight is a great privilege and a great honor.
(Reciting Tower of Song)
Thank you friends.
Damien Rice performed Hallelujah
The All-Star Jam: The Dave Clark Five music performed by Paul Shaffer, Joan Jett, John Mellencamp, John Fogerty, Billy Joel and James Cotton
You can still watch the 2008 Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/rockhall and here
http://www.bestbuy.com/halloffame and here
http://www.vh1classic.com/view/playlist ... ndex.jhtml
LEONARD COHEN | HALLS OF FAME
The Official Halls of Fame Biographies of Leonard Cohen (1991-20??)
http://www.leonardcohenhallsoffame.com
The Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame's Leonard Cohen biography page:
http://www.rockhall.com/inductee/leonard-cohen
The Future Rock Hall's Leonard Cohen Page
http://www.futurerockhall.com/artist.ph ... nard_Cohen
THE FUTURE ROCK HALL IS NOW FUTURE ROCK LEGENDS DUE TO PRESSURE FROM THE REAL ROCK HALL
HERE IS LEONARD COHEN'S PAGE:
http://www.futurerocklegends.com/artist ... nard_Cohen
The Future Rock Hall Website's minute by minute reaction to the ceremony as it was happening:
http://www.futurerockhall.com/blog_file ... remony.php
9:30 - Leonard Cohen is next. Lou Reed will induct him, and Damien Rice will perform in his place. Still no reason given why Cohen and Madonna will not be performing tonight.
9:33 - Reed in a sweet leather suit with pink shirt. Lots of "Looooouuu-ing" when he's introduced.
9:36 - The crowd seems puzzled by Lou Reed's speech. Probably not the first time.
9:37 - "We're so lucky to be alive the same time Leonard Cohen is."
9:40 - The crowd is getting restless as Reed delivers passages from Cohen's latest book.
9:41 - Cohen is introduced to a standing ovation.
9:44 - Cohen's speech is well done and given in verse. The crowd is eating it up.
9:46 - Rice starts out with an acoustic guitar performance of "Hallelujah" -- so much for having it end the night.
9:50 - Just one Cohen song? Must be, since the annual "In Memoriam" video begins.
9:54 - The video ends with Denis Payton and Mike Smith from the DC5. Very sad.
9:41 - Cohen is introduced to a standing ovation.
9:44 - Cohen's speech is well done and given in verse. The crowd is eating it up.
given in verse
http://pinotblack.livejournal.com/
Before the ceremony, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame CEO Joel Peresman said Cohen is "not someone who sold 100 million albums, but who had a profound effect" on music.
Access Atlanta Slideshow
http://projects.accessatlanta.com/galle ... knoms1213/
Loved: Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen (left), Burlesque Girl and Bono in the concert documentary 'Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man.' Cohen is the man, indeed, as fall as the 2008 Hall of Fame is concerned. The annual induction ceremony will be held March 10 in New York.
AOL SLIDESHOW
http://news.aol.com/entertainment/music ... 1809990001
Canadian folk singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen wrote 'Suzanne,' which became a hit for Judy Collins, and recorded 11 studio albums, three live albums and four other compilations.
The ABC SLIDESHOW
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Entertainment ... lse&page=1
Leonard Cohen may not be as enigmatic a performer as the other nominees, but the literate songwriter's songs have been featured in countless films. Although Cohen began his music career in the '60s, going on to work with other influential aritists such as Phil Spector in the late '70s, he seeped onto the scene, gaining widespread notoriety when his "Everybody Knows" was used in 1990s' "Pump Up the Volume."
The MSNBC SLIDESHOW
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21085510/di ... enumber/1/
Canadian writer-turned-singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen was well into his 30s when his debut album, "Songs of Leonard Cohen," was released in 1967. It included hits such as "Suzanne" and "Sisters of Mercy." He has since released 16 more albums and received numerous awards.
THE MSNBC POLL
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21115485/?l ... halloffame
SPINNER SLIDESHOW
http://www.spinner.com/2007/12/13/madon ... l-of-fame/
Leonard Cohen: The Canadian singer-songwriter made a career of crafting brooding folk songs that often proved too dark for the pop charts, but made him a critics' darling.
CNN VIDEO - The 2008 Rock Hall Inductees discussed
http://www.cnn.com/2008/SHOWBIZ/Music/0 ... nnSTCVideo
TIME MAGAZINE SLIDESHOW AND AUDIO BIO - THE BEST OF THE BUNCH - MUST SEE!!
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/20 ... 8/?cnn=yes
Dour artist Leonard Cohen - If the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame were the Baseball Hall of Fame, I think the induction of Leonard Cohen would be similar to the induction of a lefty reliever. He's very much a specialist. Never sold that many records, but he's one of those people whose influence over other people is out there. He's really a poet, and that's a word that I loathe to say anytime in connection to Rock and Roll, but it's true, both technically because his first volume of poetry Let Us Compare Mythologies came out more than forty years ago and artistically. If you listen to songs like Bird on the Wire and Songs of Love and Hate, they really boil down to where each word carries a multitude of meaning and they have to because frankly I don't think his voice ever did that much for people.
--Josh Tyrangiel
The Clay Cole Show - News on the 2008 Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame
http://www.claycoleshow.com/Oscars.html
VH1 SWEEPSTAKES FOR THE 2008 ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME
http://www.vh1.com/interact/sweepstakes ... fame_2008/