Cohen article in The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, 14th June

[Born With The Gift Of A G]

I've just had the weekly arts email from The Daily Telegraph (UK) and it featured a photograph of LC, under which the following caption appeared:

Neil McCormick celebrates a remarkable song (Hallelujah) and a remarkable man, only in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph Review.

[theotherside]

i know it is feted as really good but why? It is rather like Liverpool really.

[Born With The Gift Of A G]

And here's the article in question:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jh ... hen114.xml

[jim devlin]

I enjoyed the DT article; but to keep the record straight:the photo on page 2 is not from 1984 - it's from Leonard's 1972 tour; the give-aways include the guitar, the shirt, the hairstyle, the microphones ... oh, and that he looks closer to 38, and not 50!

[John Etherington]

Hi Jim,

I too enjoyed the article, but it irritates me that John Cale's namely rarely gets mentioned in association with "Hallelujah" these days. For me, Cale's version is second only to Leonard's. His "welsh-hymnal" style is perfectly suited to the song, and it was he who first recorded the verses that we had previously only heard live from Leonard. Also, Cale regularly closed his concerts with the song before all the others had latched onto it.

All the best, John E

[Born With The Gift Of A G]

John E,

Your observations pertaining to John Cale's rendition of Hallelujah are spot on.

Contender for the worst version of that song:
Bono's atrocity on the Tower Of Song tribute album, perhaps?

[John Etherington]

Thanks BWTGOAGV - and you don't need to put the word "perhaps" after your reference to Bono! After his attrrocious version of "Hallelujah", I'm amazed that he had the nerve to pose onstage with Leonard for "Tower of Song".

All good things, John E

[The detainee]

John E,

Your observations pertaining to John Cale's rendition of Hallelujah are spot on.

Contender for the worst version of that song:
Bono's atrocity on the Tower Of Song tribute album, perhaps?

Yep, agree with both assertations - Cale's version was an utter revelation and remained in my opinion the best version, up until I witnessed LC performing it in Dublin 15/06/08.