Bettie's Books

bookshelves: published-2014, summer-2014, jewish, music, poetry, canada, biography, nonfiction, recreational-drugs

BOTW

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0458063

Description: As Leonard Cohen turns 80, a new biography by Liel Leibovitz explores the life, work and passion of the poet-turned-musician. What makes Cohen such an enduring international figure in the cultural imagination?

Granted extraordinary access to Cohen's personal papers, Leibovitz evokes a complicated, sometimes contradictory figure. Born into a Canadian religious Jewish family, for years a reclusive lyricist on the Greek island of Hydra, known for his bold political commentary, his devotion to Buddhist thought and his later despair over contemporary Zionism, Cohen hardly follows the rules of a conventional rock star.

Read by Julian Barrett, with Leonard Cohen quotes read by Colin Stinton.

Abridged by: Jo Coombs
Producer: Pippa Vaughan
A Loftus Media production for BBC Radio 4.

Episode 1: An intimate look at a man who, despite battles with depression and years spent in hermit-like isolation, is still touring and now seems to be reaching a new peak of popularity. The loss of his father when he was just nine years old shaped the muscician forever.

Episode 2: Despite success as a poet, Cohen feels the need to escape to the Greek island of Hydra



Episode 3: Having altered the course of his life with the decision to start writing music, Cohen faces a creative struggle with those around him in the recording studio. Will the release of Bird on the Wire change his fortunes?

Episode 4: Disasters threaten Cohen's first European tour, but in Buddhism he finds the spiritual solace which enables him to write the groundbreaking Hallelujah.

Episode 5: Cohen begins the 1990s as a hugely successful songwriter, poet and performer. Yet spiritual crises still plague him, and he retreats to the San Gabriel Mountains to spend time with his guru. By 2006, he's forced to start touring again when evidence emerges that a long-time employee and friend may have stolen millions of dollars from him.


The music:

Story of Isaac
Hallelujah
So Long Marianne
Bird On A Wire
Suzanne
You know who I am
Avalanche
Lover, lover, lover
Dance Me to the End Of Love
GOING HOME which I could totally see Roger Waters covering