Which Country & Western singers influenced Cohen?

[MCrown]

Hi everyone, longtime LC devotee and reader of this forum, first time poster.

I'm writing a book about the history of Country & Western music (to simplify my subject considerably). Because Leonard is, depending on when I'm asked, either my favorite artist of all time, one of my top 3 favorite artists of all time, and/or my personal Pope, and because it's my book, I'm including a section on the relationship of Country to Cohen's work. One thing I've had considerable difficulty determining, though, is which Country singers have influenced him, particularly during his pre-music-career life. If anyone knows of interviews or writings where Leonard has spoken of this, I'd be much obliged if you could point me toward them or share what you know.

Goes without saying that Hank Williams is a major one. I know he's spoken highly of Willie Nelson too. We could perhaps also include Ray Charles for his Country recordings. The holler in the outro of "Ballad of the Absent Mare" would seem to be a nod toward Bob Wills. But beyond this, I can only guess. The "Leonard Cohen's Lonesome Heroes" makes some suggestions, but does not present any evidence for them.

If this has already been discussed somewhere in the forum, I sincerely apologize- I searched repeatedly but have found nothing.

Oh, and on a related note: On Various Positions, there seems to be a certain continuity between "The Captain", "Hunter's Lullaby", and "Heart With No Companion", beyond the fact that they follow each other, but I have as yet been unable to decipher the nature of any narrative or whatever connects the three. If anyone reading this post has any insights on this or knows of anywhere that it's been discussed, I'd be very thankful for hints on this too.

Thanks for reading and for any suggestions!

[mnkyface]

Hi M,
Sounds like an interesting book. Some things I can think of off the top of my head (which you may already know about) are:
He speaks of listening to country radio as a boy in Canada, in this and other interviews through the years:
http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/jools.htm

JH: Your unusual thing in music in that you are a genuine poet, and a songwriter. What was the first thing that influenced you? Was it literature, or was it music?
LC: Country music. I used to listen to this radio station, Wheeling, West Virginia. You know, under the covers when your parents couldn't hear you, you could get those stations late at night, those country stations.
JH: What sort of artists would you listen to?
LC: Oh, Merle Haggard, Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, all the old country stars.

Also, he mentions George Jones in this interview:
http://www.webheights.net/speakingcohen/q94.htm

What music would you have played at your funeral?
The Grand Tour by George Jones. He's showing somebody round this empty house and he's saying here's the nursery, she left me without mercy.

[MCrown]

Many thanks, mnkyface! I had not seen either of those before, and they are both very helpful. The Jools Holland interview had another unrelated section that happens to fit right into what I'm working on as well. Cheers.

[Kush]

Charlie Daniels music.

[drsing]

Possibly Johnny Cash , who covered Bird on a Wire (American Recordings, 2007)

http://www.last.fm/music/Johnny+Cash/Am ... Recordings

[IMM]

And no one has mentioned Patsy ?

[kalinowt]

Hi

I don't know if this will help you but there is a thread dedicated to looking at some of Cohen's country music connections. Hope you can use some of the information anyway!

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=14959

Hi everyone, longtime LC devotee and reader of this forum, first time poster.

I'm writing a book about the history of Country & Western music (to simplify my subject considerably). Because Leonard is, depending on when I'm asked, either my favorite artist of all time, one of my top 3 favorite artists of all time, and/or my personal Pope, and because it's my book, I'm including a section on the relationship of Country to Cohen's work. One thing I've had considerable difficulty determining, though, is which Country singers have influenced him, particularly during his pre-music-career life. If anyone knows of interviews or writings where Leonard has spoken of this, I'd be much obliged if you could point me toward them or share what you know.

Goes without saying that Hank Williams is a major one. I know he's spoken highly of Willie Nelson too. We could perhaps also include Ray Charles for his Country recordings. The holler in the outro of "Ballad of the Absent Mare" would seem to be a nod toward Bob Wills. But beyond this, I can only guess. The "Leonard Cohen's Lonesome Heroes" makes some suggestions, but does not present any evidence for them.

If this has already been discussed somewhere in the forum, I sincerely apologize- I searched repeatedly but have found nothing.

Oh, and on a related note: On Various Positions, there seems to be a certain continuity between "The Captain", "Hunter's Lullaby", and "Heart With No Companion", beyond the fact that they follow each other, but I have as yet been unable to decipher the nature of any narrative or whatever connects the three. If anyone reading this post has any insights on this or knows of anywhere that it's been discussed, I'd be very thankful for hints on this too.

Thanks for reading and for any suggestions!