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Famous Blue Raincoat

Jennifer Warnes/Leonard Cohen

Amazon.com
Since Ella Fitzgerald never produced a songbook of Leonard Cohen songs, Jennifer Warnes' plush 1986 tribute is the next best thing. The sleekly seductive "First We Take Manhattan" is gilded by the guitars of Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robben Ford. Warnes doesn't add much to an evergreen like "Bird on a Wire," but she lays claim to the noirish title song with a confidential vocal that complements the chamber-pop arrangement. "Song of Bernadette" is a ripened gem, and the selection where Warnes lets down her refined vocal technique to reveal deep emotions. More often, Warnes is as professionally accomplished on this well-chosen set as her band of studio pros. --John Milward

Product Description
This album's worth of Leonard Cohen tunes was originally released in 1987. It remains as an audiophile's dream, as the recording is generally regarded as one of the best engineered ever. Many cite this disc as a benchmark to really put a stereo system to the test. Not to mention the fact that the performance is brilliant. Features the guitar work of the late Stevie Ray Vaughan & includes the Cohen staples 'Bird on a Wire', 'Joan of Arc (with L.C. on the guest vocal), and seven others.

Very Lovely, A Little Morose 

I like Leonard Cohen, I like Jennifer Warnes...I even like the CD, but it's definitely got problems.

This particular CD was manufactured in Germany, and its poor quality really surprised me. I like playing music a little loud, but to get just a middle line volume (like 50% on most CD's) I had to turn the volume on the player to 100% just to get the mid range on this CD. That was not good.

I was familiar with the material on the CD because I had a cassette version from when "Raincoat" was first released in the late 80's. I remember it got lukewarm reviews at the time. "An artistic success, but commercial failure" was the general tone. Being a dedicated Cohen fan from way back, I thought the reviewers must be crazy.

Having matured a bit since then, I now understand what they were talking about. Leonard Cohen is an interesting, extraordinary artist (it's recently been said that Phil Specter held a loaded gun to his head during a studio session saying, "I love you, man" to which Cohen replied, "I hope so.") Anyway, Cohen is the most successful "sensitive" male singer (I'm using "sensitive" interchangeably with "spiritual" these days) & writer in the contemporary cutthroat commercial scene. He is uncompromising & often swims against the social current.

On one recent song he states "I'm neither left or right," but there is certainly a conservative element in his work that I personally have found just a little bit irksome--but on the other hand, his imagery that Cohen's sexually propelled religious images really touch a fundamental chord of beauty in the heart. Another element I can relate to is that LC's lyrics don't shy away from brutal self-revelation. Cohen never tries to gloss over the many inequalities & unfairness of life. His themes are always adult in nature & delivery.

However, there is a downside too.

Cohen has a tendency to go overboard with social critique & egocentric bitterness. These are not qualities particularly useful in the pop scene, particularly not in today's resurging political conformity. Despite these observations, Leonard Cohen has consistently worked to forge his success & his songs regularly play on the air. If not exactly a "super star," he is just a breath away.

Judy Collins brought both herself and Cohen into the pop mainstream with her beautiful rendition of "Suzanne." From then on Collins' star rose & she often performed her friend's work. In contrast to Collin's light & delicate voice, Cohen has a deep & mournful sounding voice that only accentuates the darkness of his own material. Although Cohen's LP's weren't consistently popular, his music was popularized many other artists, such as Jennifer Warnes.

This CD contains some of Cohen's most lovely songs: "Famous Blue Raincoat," "Song of Bernadette," and "Joan of Arc." Unfortunately these great tunes are sandwiched between more self-pitying sounding songs such as "Came So Far for Beauty" and "The Singer Must die."

Jennifer Warnes has a great voice, but it doesn't convey the light, airy quality of Judy Collin's. Collins can sing morose material without it sounding...well, morose. Warnes' deeper voice & delivery does not overcome the self-involved bitterness that characterizes some of the songs. However, the three songs mentioned are great enough to purchase the CD, particularly if you are a Leonard Cohen and/or Jennifer Warnes fan.

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Review: JEFarrow

Updated 11/07