Judy Collins Sings Leonard Cohen- Democracy

Famous Blue Raincoat: 20th Anniversary Edition Since Ella Fitzgerald never produced a songbook of Leonard Cohen songs, Jennifer Warnes's 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 everg...	Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man Already an accomplished poet and novelist before he ambled into the music business in his mid-'30s, Leonard Cohen has remained as musically influential as he is publicly enigmatic for four decades. This celebration of Cohen's songbook began as a free concert that quickly mushroom...	Famous Blue Raincoat Since Ella Fitzgerald never produced a songbook of Leonard Cohen songs, Jennifer Warnes's 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 everg...	Essential Leonard Cohen This two-disc retrospective traces the Canadian bard's musical maturity from poet and novelist who sang a little to multidimensional artist whose oracular vocals and increasingly rich arrangements are every bit as compelling as his verse. Even when Cohen came to prominence throug...	Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen If ever an artist deserved the tribute-album treatment, it's Leonard Cohen, an intermittently fascinating songwriter but perhaps the worst singer to ever release more than one major-label album. Cohen has never written a song which couldn't be improved by someone else singing it,...
Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man Leonard Cohen--songwriter, poet, former monk, ladies man, and sharp dresser--receives a near-hagiographical treatment in I'm Your Man, a part concert-part documentary in which his work is interpreted by an array of singers. Cohen tributes are nothing new, what with Jennifer Warne...	I'm Your Fan	Bird on the Wire/the Songs of Leonard Cohen Leonard Cohen’s gruff voice has kept many from properly appreciating the brilliance and utter romanticism of his songs. Perla Batalla here lovingly wraps her warm voice around 10 of them to glorious results. The best are the ones where she takes the most liberties: “Famous Blue...	Judy Sings Dylan...Just Like a Woman	The Very Best of Judy Collins This definitive 16-track collection gathers signature singles and album cuts from her nine Elektra albums spanning 1964 to 1975. Co-produced by Judy Collins and featuring backing performances by Stephen Stills, Van Dyke Parks, Ray Baretto, and more.

I'll Raise the Ante
"What better singer to interpret the dark, enigmatic songs of Canadian bard Leonard Cohen than the equally enigmatic Judy Collins?"asked one reviewer. I'll respond: Jennifer Warnes. Check out the 20th anniversary release of Famous Blue Raincoat with four new songs on it and most will agree with me . . . except of course the truly die hard Judy Collins fans (which in most cases I am but not when it comes to Cohen and Warnes). Sorry.

Judy Collins gets better with age
Like a fine wine, Judy Collins has only gotten better with age. Her golden voice echos beauty with every note. If you are a Leonard Cohen fan or not you will turn up your player and listen how Judy has made these songs her own. My wife and I have listened to this collection over and over again as she waves her magic with Cohens best songs.As Great as Judy has been through the years, this collection reaches new levels. I can only hope she makes another one.

an excellent overview
This CD is an outstanding compilation of Leonard Cohen songs sung by the premier interpreter of his works. It showcases the uniqueness of Cohen's composing as well as the versatility and beauty of Judy Collins' voice.

A great "Suzanne" but others fall short
Judy Collins has a voice and style that shines on the lilting ballads. She owns "Suzanne" and "Sisters of Mercy", but doesn't have the depth, range or emotion to carry "Joan of Arc" or "Famous Blue Raincoat". If you want to hear, according to Cohen himself, the best interpretations of his songs, get the "Famous Blue Raincoat" CD by Jennifer Warnes...also a master disc recording you can use to demo the best stereo systems available.

Painful
I like Judy Collins and I like Leonard Cohen, so I thought this album was a no-brainer for me. Boy was I wrong. Judy's gimmick of recording everything as though she's in an echo-chamber is getting tired. And all her interpretations of the songs are *painfully* slow. I enjoyed "Democracy" (the first song on the album), but the rest was a total wash. I almost didn't listen to the entire thing, but I thought it would be unfair to write a review without giving the whole album one full hearing. But I'm listening to "Song of Bernadette" as I write this review, so I can now say that the entire album, with the exception of "Democracy," as stated above, is just slow, tired, echo-y, and painful. Barely a step above elevator music--not at all what I expected from Judy Collins with such great material! If you like Leonard Cohen, I highly recommend the "Tower of Song" tribute album from a number of different artists, rather than this one.