cohen v. dylan

[panascit]

i visited the site yesterday morning and quickly read some of the threads pertaining to leonard cohen's upcoming show in new york. because i had to go to work i wasn't able to read as many of the comments as i would've liked, but there was one in particular that caught my eye: in the thread in question, a poster wrote that he/she believed cohen to be more generous to his fans than bob dylan is to his, and there seemed to be a dash of hostility in the author's words. (i know the poster wrote about dylan's concerts compared to those of cohen, how he/she preferred the latter over the former for reasons i didn't get to digest, and there were other examples as well.)

since the comments to which i'm referring have been deleted, i wasn't able to devote more time to reading them.

given this, i'm curious to know whether such an opinion about dylan is commonplace among cohen's diehard fans, or if it was exclusive to the writer of the post. the more specific people can be the better.

thanks.

[anunitu]

I do like Dylan's early songs, like "Masters of war", but most of his songs now lack any real social comment.

Leonard Cohen however has always "Spoken" to my soul.

Anunitu

[John Etherington]

Okay, a good excuse to repeat my first (and only) Dylan encounter and my first Leonard encounter. February 1989: A small group of us approach Dylan in the back streets of Mayfair. He's with two people, hooded and looks pretty rough. However, I make reasonable eye contact with him. A girl next to me takes a photo of him. "Aw f--- you all" he mumbles and lunges toward the girl with a newspaper in his hand. Then looking at me he says ("Don't Look Back" style) "Why d'ya let her do that, maan?".. Then scowling, he turns round and walks away. July 1976: I approach Leonard as he's leaving the New Victoria Theatre in London. Like Dylan, he's with two people, is wearing a grey suit and looks pretty much like he does on the cover of "Death of a Ladies Man". I thank him for the show, and extend my hand to shake his hand . He holds my hand firmly, and looks at me intensely, as if he's looking into the depths of my soul. I ask him if he would mind signing my programme. "Sure man" he says, then neatly signs his name on the programme.

All good things, John E

[Yorkshire Lad]

Nice story John but it does not really surprise me listening to the work of these two songwriters over the years . It was obvious back then that lyrically Leonard knew his glass was still full but dylan had a feeling the contents of his glass was half empty

[ascoli]

I'm a huge Dylan fan and have been to countless concerts.
His poetry in music will last forever. However,there is no longer poetry in his concerts.
Words are incomprehensible. The music is deafening.
The beauty of his work is buried in garble and noise.
This I find unfortunate (maybe I'm just greedy)
The records and books are ever Dylan.

Leonard in concert gives us the clarity and beauty of his work.
He always did and (lucky for us)...he still does.

I still say..thank you Bob
thank you Leonard

[Kiwi56]

That`s exactly the difference between Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan what your story tells, John!
Even the way Dylan performs his songs. It always sounds equal, I meen the same song sounds equal, whenever he performs it.
But Leonards songs never are equal. There is sooo much soul and heart in his performing and you can always found something new, whenever he is singing one of his old songs.
Nevertheless the songs of Dylan are good .

[alphaeus1]

I was a Dylan fan long before I even heard of Leonard Cohen. I have seen both of them live twice now,and Leonard shows are so much better. Bob Dylan doesn't care if his fans enjoy his concerts, whilst Leonard does. You come away from Leonard's concerts like he has spoken to you personally. Bob Dylan voice went years ago, although he still sound good on the slower songs and ballads; his voice is lost on the rock songs. Dylan was good up to the album Desire, and than down hill; Leonard on the other hand is getting better all the time. The effort he put into his latest tour was huge, and it was much appreciated by his fans.

[John Etherington]

Despite the difference in my personal encounters, I've always kept track of Dylan's career and have all of his official releases with the exception of "Tell Tale Signs" (I'll pick that up when it gets to maximum discount price, as I haven't got round to playing the last two Bootleg Series CDs, yet!). I liked all of Dylan's singles in the Sixties, and bought all of his albums in the six months after seeing him at the Isle of Wight in August 1969. However, I bought my first Leonard album (Songs From a Room) at the time of its release at the beginning of the year. As much as I love all of Dylan's work from that era, Leonard's music touched my soul on a much deeper level from day one. I like much of Dylan's later work, too - especially "Street Legal" and "Love and Theft". Though, I totally agree on what has been said so far about Dylan's live performances. I've seen Dylan live more than thirty times, and Leonard only twenty times. There have been very few outstanding Dylan concerts, while virtually every Leonard show has been a memorable experience.

All good things, John E

[alphaeus1]

One memorable Bob Dylan concert was on the day of the great storm in the UK (I forget the exact date). It took me hours to get to London with all the trees down. This was not a memorable concert because of the concert it self but because of the storm. With the amount of effort people from the south of the UK put into getting to see him; you would have thought he would have put more into it. He was on stage for no more than 50 minutes. He did have Tom petty and others to make it into a 2 hour show but only 50 minutes himself. It took even longer to get home in the dark around blocked roads due to fallen trees, I wish I never bothered. I have seen him once before which was very good but this time it was rubbish. I don't think he even spoke. I don't think he did an encore: but I don't think people asked for one.

Leonards the man for me.

[John Etherington]

Hi alphaeus1,

That was the "Temples in Flames Tour", on which I aslo saw the London show. I agree... that was one of the weirdest and worst Dylan shows. However Roger McGuinn (who opened the show) and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers were both on great form.

All the best, John E