Live At the Isle of Wight 1970

It sounds almost impossible that, after days of unrest and a stage that had been burned during a set from Jimi Hendrix, the Canadian poet Leonard Cohen would take the stage at 2 a.m. and restore order. Yet that’s what’s happened. Cohen’s second album Songs from a Room was climbing the British charts and he began with the album’s single, “Bird On a Wire,” before rummaging through his first two albums and three cuts from what would be his third record, 1971’s Songs of Love and Hate. A peerless backing group (dubbed “The Army”) with producer Bob Johnston on keyboards, guitar and harmonica and Charlie Daniels on electric bass and fiddle gently support Cohen’s dramatic verse. Three female backing singers add their choir-like grace to “So Long, Marianne,” “You Know Who I Am,” and “Seems So Long Ago, Nancy.” “The Stranger Song” has never sounded more like a hypnotist’s trick with its spellbinding verses creating a soothing calm. It has always been said that Cohen’s music makes for the perfect late-night, early morning listening. Here lies your proof.