To mark the 40th Anniversary of Leonard Cohen's debut recording, expanded editions of his first three albums were released by Sony BMG Music/Legacy Records in Februay 2007. Each contain previously unreleased bonus material of historical importance to Cohen aficionados, as well as separate newly commissioned liner notes essays written by Rolling Stone contributing editor (and Cohen devotee) Anthony DeCurtis. Each are specially packaged in a hardcover digipak configuration.

"If Leonard Cohen had only recorded this extraordinary debut album," DeCurtis writes of the 1967 LP, "and then disappeared, his stature as one of the most gifted songwriters of our time would still be secure." Fortunately, Leonard Cohen went on to record more than a dozen Columbia albums over the next four decades, constantly reshaping his vision and startling the world with his imagination and courage. But it all begins here, with these three albums.

Songs Of Leonard Cohen

1. Suzanne 2. Master Song 3. Winter Lady 4. The Stranger Song 5. Sisters of Mercy 6. So Long, Marianne 7. Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye 8. Stories of the Street 9. Teachers 10. One of Us Cannot Be Wrong Previously unreleased bonus tracks: 11. Store Room 12. Blessed Is the Memory

- Songs Of Leonard Cohen (Columbia/Legacy 88697 04742 2, originally issued in December 1967, as Columbia 9533). Tracks 1-10 were produced by John Simon. Tracks 11-12 were recorded 1967 and are outtakes from the early sessions for Songs of Leonard Cohen, produced by John Hammond.

Recording sessions for this album began in early 1967 with Columbia A&R staff producer John Hammond, who signed Leonard Cohen to the label. Hammond, famously known for bringing Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Olatunji, Pete Seeger, Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, and others to Columbia, fell ill and was unable to continue on the sessions; they were subsequently completed by A&R staff producer John Simon (the uncredited producer of Big Brother & the Holding Company's Cheap Thrills). "Store Room" and "Blessed Is the Memory" survive from the original Hammond sessions.

Songs From A Room

1. Bird on the Wire 2. Story of Isaac 3. A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes 4. The Partisan 5. Seems So Long Ago, Nancy 6. The Old Revolution 7. The Butcher 8. You Know Who I Am 9. Lady Midnight 10. Tonight Will Be Fine Previously unreleased bonus tracks: 11. Like a Bird (earlier version of Bird on the Wire) 12. Nothing to One (earlier version of You Know Who I Am).

- Songs From A Room (Columbia/Legacy 88697 04740 2, originally issued in 1969, as Columbia 9767). Tracks 1-10 were produced by Bob Johnston. Tracks 11-12 were recorded in May 1968, produced by David Crosby.

Similarly, recording sessions for Leonard Cohen's second LP were begun May 1968 in Hollywood with David Crosby producing. The recently departed member of the Byrds had won acclaim with his first assignment as a producer, Joni Mitchell's debut album, Song to a Seagull (released March 1968). Cohen's album wound up being recorded in Nashville with Columbia A&R staff producer Bob Johnston, known for his work with Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Simon & Garfunkel. Two tracks from the Crosby sessions now make their debut: "Like a Bird," which is an earlier version of "Bird on the Wire"; and "Nothing to One," which is an earlier version of "You Know Who I Am."

Songs Of Love And Hate

1. Avalanche 2. Last Year's Man 3. Dress Rehearsal Rag 4. Diamonds in the Mine 5. Love Calls You by Your Name 6. Famous Blue Raincoat 7. Sing Another Song, Boys 8. Joan of Arc Previously unreleased bonus track: 9. Dress Rehearsal Rag (early version).

- Songs Of Love And Hate by Leonard Cohen (Columbia/Legacy 88697 04741 2, originally issued in 1970, as Columbia 30103). All songs produced by Bob Johnston; track 9 is an outtake recorded during the sessions for Songs from a Room.

For his third album, Leonard Cohen returned to Nashville and Bob Johnston in 1970. One of the songs they recorded was "Dress Rehearsal Rag," heard as a bonus track here in an early version from the second LP sessions of 1969.


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All albums produced for reissue by Bruce Dickinson. Mastered by Mark Wilder.
Project direction: Penny Morgan.

Click here to see the promotional vinyl single & CD sampler!