Monday, November 27, 2023

Leonard Cohen - BBC Sessions, Volume 3: In Concert, Birmingham Odeon, Birmingham, Britain, 12-8-1979

I just posted a Beck concert that was edited way down by the BBC, and this is a similar situation for Leonard Cohen. I don't know the full set list, but I'm guessing a lot of it was cut out, including some of the banter between songs. Still, these BBC concerts are great due to the sound quality, and that's the case here.

An official album of Cohen's 1979-1980 tour has been released, called "Field Commander Cohen." It's a few minutes longer than this one. Luckily though, the set lists are drastically different. There are only two songs shared between that and this, "The Smokey Life" and "The Gypsy's Wife."

But what really makes this concert special is the song "Billy Sunday," also known as "Blues for the Jews." (I don't think there's a firm title, since the song has never been officially released.) According to setlist.fm, Cohen only ever performed this original song six times, all on this tour, and this was the very first public performance. It's quite a song, because it's fifteen minutes long.

This concert is 57 minutes long.

01 talk (Leonard Cohen)
02 Sisters of Mercy (Leonard Cohen)
03 Diamonds in the Mine (Leonard Cohen)
04 talk (Leonard Cohen)
05 The Smokey Life (Leonard Cohen)
06 The Gypsy's Wife (Leonard Cohen)
07 talk (Leonard Cohen)
08 Two Quatrains (Leonard Cohen)
09 Chelsea Hotel No. 2 (Leonard Cohen)
10 A Singer Must Die (Leonard Cohen)
11 The Partisan (Leonard Cohen)
12 Famous Blue Raincoat (Leonard Cohen)
13 Our Lady of Solitude (Leonard Cohen)
14 talk (Leonard Cohen)
15 Billy Sunday [Blues for the Jews] (Leonard Cohen)

https://www.upload.ee/files/15990930/LeonardC_1979_BBSessonsVolum3InConcrtBrminghmOdeonBrminghmBrtain__12-8-1979_atse.zip.html

The cover photo was taken at the Hammersmith Odeon in London in 1979.

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