Chords for Judy Collins On Leonard Cohen Part 1
Tempo:
105.15 bpm
Chords used:
G
Tuning:Standard Tuning (EADGBE)Capo:+0fret
Start Jamming...
[N]
We have a mutual friend who was a good friend of mine, Mary Martin, who was in the music
business in New York.
And she and I in the 60s, oh I don't know, I think I met Mary probably in 63.
And for three years she talked to me about Leonard Cohen and about his poetry and about his books.
And she had gone to McGill I think with him in Canada.
[G] And he sounded very interesting.
He was a published poet and he was also a published novelist.
He'd written by then, I think he'd written Beautiful Losers.
And so she kept saying he thinks he might be writing some songs.
And by this time, it was interesting because I had already had a record contract with a
lecturer since 1961.
I'd started recording traditional songs.
I didn't write my own songs.
So because of that and because I had a contract, a lot of singer-songwriters would come to
me with songs because they didn't have contracts and they would like to get them out into the world.
So I had recorded Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Eric Anderson.
Everybody was bringing me songs.
And some of them were great.
Some of them I recorded immediately.
So I said to Mary, well, why don't you have him come down to New York and we'll meet and
see if there are songs.
Not expecting a lot.
And so I was in New York living with a Welshman as a matter of fact, a Welsh Englishman named Michael Thomas.
And Leonard came over to the house, to the apartment I should say.
And he walked in the door and he was good looking, tall, dangerous looking, of course.
Handsome, quiet, a poetic type, very attractive, lovely man.
We talked a lot that night.
There were some other people there too.
And we talked a lot but no songs.
So I thought, well, I guess he doesn't really write songs.
And the next day he came back.
And this time he brought his guitar.
Maybe he had his guitar with him before but he didn't play it.
But he came back and it was just me and Michael there.
And he sat down and he prefaced by saying, I don't know, I can't play very well and I
can't sing very well and I don't know if this is a song.
And then he sang me three songs.
He sang Dress Rehearsal Rag.
He sang Suzanne.
And he sang The Stranger Song.
And the one that attracted me immediately was Dress Rehearsal Rag primarily because
I was working on an album which was a big shift from the singer-songwriter traditions.
And I had moved into Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
I was recording songs from the Marat Saad, music by Richard Peasley, which were part
of the Peter Brook production of the Marat Saad.
And I was recording Pirate Jenny.
And this song, which really is about a contemplated suicide, seemed to me to fit into this dramatic
framework very well.
So immediately I said, my goodness, I could record that in five minutes.
And then I thought about Suzanne and I said the same thing.
So by the time he left, and it was something that was karmic I'm sure because I recorded
his songs for a long time, starting with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Suzanne.
I've never recorded The Stranger Song, but I will one of these days.
And I've recorded a couple of dozen of Leonard's songs.
And that's how it all began.
No, no, that was someone else.
Joni Mitchell played both sides now to me on the phone.
And that happened after my experience with Leonard.
And of course, Leonard did a great service to me too because he could have gone, Mary
Martin knew everybody.
But not everybody was not a singer-songwriter.
I was not a writer, and that was the key.
So I wasn't recording all my own songs.
There was a window there for him, but also there was a window for me because I needed
We have a mutual friend who was a good friend of mine, Mary Martin, who was in the music
business in New York.
And she and I in the 60s, oh I don't know, I think I met Mary probably in 63.
And for three years she talked to me about Leonard Cohen and about his poetry and about his books.
And she had gone to McGill I think with him in Canada.
[G] And he sounded very interesting.
He was a published poet and he was also a published novelist.
He'd written by then, I think he'd written Beautiful Losers.
And so she kept saying he thinks he might be writing some songs.
And by this time, it was interesting because I had already had a record contract with a
lecturer since 1961.
I'd started recording traditional songs.
I didn't write my own songs.
So because of that and because I had a contract, a lot of singer-songwriters would come to
me with songs because they didn't have contracts and they would like to get them out into the world.
So I had recorded Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, Eric Anderson.
Everybody was bringing me songs.
And some of them were great.
Some of them I recorded immediately.
So I said to Mary, well, why don't you have him come down to New York and we'll meet and
see if there are songs.
Not expecting a lot.
And so I was in New York living with a Welshman as a matter of fact, a Welsh Englishman named Michael Thomas.
And Leonard came over to the house, to the apartment I should say.
And he walked in the door and he was good looking, tall, dangerous looking, of course.
Handsome, quiet, a poetic type, very attractive, lovely man.
We talked a lot that night.
There were some other people there too.
And we talked a lot but no songs.
So I thought, well, I guess he doesn't really write songs.
And the next day he came back.
And this time he brought his guitar.
Maybe he had his guitar with him before but he didn't play it.
But he came back and it was just me and Michael there.
And he sat down and he prefaced by saying, I don't know, I can't play very well and I
can't sing very well and I don't know if this is a song.
And then he sang me three songs.
He sang Dress Rehearsal Rag.
He sang Suzanne.
And he sang The Stranger Song.
And the one that attracted me immediately was Dress Rehearsal Rag primarily because
I was working on an album which was a big shift from the singer-songwriter traditions.
And I had moved into Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
I was recording songs from the Marat Saad, music by Richard Peasley, which were part
of the Peter Brook production of the Marat Saad.
And I was recording Pirate Jenny.
And this song, which really is about a contemplated suicide, seemed to me to fit into this dramatic
framework very well.
So immediately I said, my goodness, I could record that in five minutes.
And then I thought about Suzanne and I said the same thing.
So by the time he left, and it was something that was karmic I'm sure because I recorded
his songs for a long time, starting with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Suzanne.
I've never recorded The Stranger Song, but I will one of these days.
And I've recorded a couple of dozen of Leonard's songs.
And that's how it all began.
No, no, that was someone else.
Joni Mitchell played both sides now to me on the phone.
And that happened after my experience with Leonard.
And of course, Leonard did a great service to me too because he could have gone, Mary
Martin knew everybody.
But not everybody was not a singer-songwriter.
I was not a writer, and that was the key.
So I wasn't recording all my own songs.
There was a window there for him, but also there was a window for me because I needed
Key:
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_ _ _ _ [N] _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ We have a mutual friend who was a good friend of mine, Mary Martin, who was in the music
business in New York.
And she and I in the 60s, oh I don't know, I think I met Mary probably in 63.
And for three years she talked to me about Leonard Cohen and about his poetry and about his books.
And she had gone to McGill I think with him in Canada.
[G] And he sounded very interesting.
He was a published poet and he was also a published novelist.
He'd written by then, I think he'd written Beautiful Losers.
And so she kept saying he thinks he might be writing some songs.
And by this time, it was interesting because I had already had a record _ contract with a
lecturer since 1961.
I'd started recording traditional songs.
I didn't write my own songs.
So because of that and because I had a contract, a lot of singer-songwriters would come to
me with songs because they didn't have contracts and they would like to get them out into the world.
So I had recorded Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, _ _ Eric Anderson.
Everybody was bringing me songs.
And some of them were great.
Some of them I recorded immediately.
So I said to Mary, well, why don't you have him come down to New York and we'll meet and
see if there are songs.
Not expecting a lot. _
And so I was in New York living with a Welshman as a matter of fact, a Welsh Englishman named Michael Thomas.
And Leonard came over to the house, to the apartment I should say.
And he walked in the door and he was good looking, tall, dangerous looking, of course.
Handsome, quiet, a poetic type, _ very attractive, lovely man.
We talked a lot that night.
There were some other people there too.
And we talked a lot but no songs.
So I thought, well, I guess he doesn't really write songs.
And the next day he came back.
And this time he brought his guitar.
_ Maybe he had his guitar with him before but he didn't play it.
But he came back and it was just me and Michael there.
And he sat down and he prefaced by saying, I don't know, I can't play very well and I
can't sing very well and I don't know if this is a song.
And then he sang me three songs.
He sang Dress Rehearsal Rag.
He sang Suzanne.
And he sang The Stranger Song. _ _ _
And the one that attracted me immediately was Dress Rehearsal Rag primarily because
I was working on an album which was a big shift from the singer-songwriter traditions.
And I had moved into Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
I was recording songs from _ the Marat Saad, music by Richard Peasley, which were part
of the Peter Brook production of the Marat Saad.
And I was recording Pirate Jenny.
And this song, which really is about a contemplated suicide, seemed to me to fit into this dramatic
_ _ framework very well.
So immediately I said, my goodness, I could record that in five minutes.
And then I thought about Suzanne and I said the same thing.
So by the time he left, _ and _ it was something that was karmic I'm sure because I recorded
his songs for a long time, starting with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Suzanne.
I've never recorded The Stranger Song, but I will one of these days.
And I've recorded a couple of dozen of Leonard's songs. _
And that's how it all began. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ No, no, that was someone else.
Joni Mitchell played _ both sides now to me on the phone.
And that happened after my _ experience with Leonard.
And of course, Leonard did a great service to me too because he could have gone, Mary
Martin knew everybody. _
But not everybody was not a singer-songwriter.
I was not a writer, and that was the key.
So I wasn't recording all my own songs.
There was a window there for him, but also there was a window for me because I needed
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ We have a mutual friend who was a good friend of mine, Mary Martin, who was in the music
business in New York.
And she and I in the 60s, oh I don't know, I think I met Mary probably in 63.
And for three years she talked to me about Leonard Cohen and about his poetry and about his books.
And she had gone to McGill I think with him in Canada.
[G] And he sounded very interesting.
He was a published poet and he was also a published novelist.
He'd written by then, I think he'd written Beautiful Losers.
And so she kept saying he thinks he might be writing some songs.
And by this time, it was interesting because I had already had a record _ contract with a
lecturer since 1961.
I'd started recording traditional songs.
I didn't write my own songs.
So because of that and because I had a contract, a lot of singer-songwriters would come to
me with songs because they didn't have contracts and they would like to get them out into the world.
So I had recorded Tom Paxton, Pete Seeger, _ _ Eric Anderson.
Everybody was bringing me songs.
And some of them were great.
Some of them I recorded immediately.
So I said to Mary, well, why don't you have him come down to New York and we'll meet and
see if there are songs.
Not expecting a lot. _
And so I was in New York living with a Welshman as a matter of fact, a Welsh Englishman named Michael Thomas.
And Leonard came over to the house, to the apartment I should say.
And he walked in the door and he was good looking, tall, dangerous looking, of course.
Handsome, quiet, a poetic type, _ very attractive, lovely man.
We talked a lot that night.
There were some other people there too.
And we talked a lot but no songs.
So I thought, well, I guess he doesn't really write songs.
And the next day he came back.
And this time he brought his guitar.
_ Maybe he had his guitar with him before but he didn't play it.
But he came back and it was just me and Michael there.
And he sat down and he prefaced by saying, I don't know, I can't play very well and I
can't sing very well and I don't know if this is a song.
And then he sang me three songs.
He sang Dress Rehearsal Rag.
He sang Suzanne.
And he sang The Stranger Song. _ _ _
And the one that attracted me immediately was Dress Rehearsal Rag primarily because
I was working on an album which was a big shift from the singer-songwriter traditions.
And I had moved into Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht.
I was recording songs from _ the Marat Saad, music by Richard Peasley, which were part
of the Peter Brook production of the Marat Saad.
And I was recording Pirate Jenny.
And this song, which really is about a contemplated suicide, seemed to me to fit into this dramatic
_ _ framework very well.
So immediately I said, my goodness, I could record that in five minutes.
And then I thought about Suzanne and I said the same thing.
So by the time he left, _ and _ it was something that was karmic I'm sure because I recorded
his songs for a long time, starting with Dress Rehearsal Rag and Suzanne.
I've never recorded The Stranger Song, but I will one of these days.
And I've recorded a couple of dozen of Leonard's songs. _
And that's how it all began. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ No, no, that was someone else.
Joni Mitchell played _ both sides now to me on the phone.
And that happened after my _ experience with Leonard.
And of course, Leonard did a great service to me too because he could have gone, Mary
Martin knew everybody. _
But not everybody was not a singer-songwriter.
I was not a writer, and that was the key.
So I wasn't recording all my own songs.
There was a window there for him, but also there was a window for me because I needed