Michael Cohen (1951November 1997) was an American singer-songwriter from New York City. He released three albums in the 1970s which were among the first to deal with explicitly gay themes. Cohen was licensed as a cab driver in New York City in 1972.Liner notes to ''What Did You Expect...? Songs about the Experience of Being Gay'' (New York: Folkways Records FS 8582, LP, 1973), http://media.smithsonianfolkways.org/liner_notes/folkways/FW08582.pdf, accessed January 2014

Work and influences

Cohen self-released his first album, eponymously titled ''Mike Cohen'', in 1972. This was followed by two albums on

Folkways Records Folkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987 and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways. History The Folkways Records & Service ...

, '' What Did You Expect?'' (Folkways Records FS 8582, 1973) and ''Some of Us Had to Live'' (Folkways Records FS 8582, 1976). The latter two are available from

Smithsonian Folkways Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

. Cohen was influenced by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

and

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

. "The Last Angry Young Man", which opens ''What did You Expect?'', deals with the misconceptions around homosexuality of the older generation while "Gone", from the same album, deals sensitively with the death of a gay friend. ''Frieze Magazine'' describes Cohen's "Bitterfeast" from the same album as a "raw and chokingly emotional" ballad based on a poem by Leonard Cohen. After releasing a third album, Cohen "dropped off the radar" until his death in November 1997.

Discography

# ''Mike Cohen'' (1972) # '' What Did You Expect?'' (1973)Discographic details from Smithsonian Institution
/ref> # ''Some of Us Had To Live'' (1976)

References

External links

* ttp://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=Michael+Cohen+Rinzler+Archives Materials from Folkways Records held by Rinzler Folklife Archives at the Smithsonian Institution {{DEFAULTSORT:Cohen, Michael 1951 births 1997 deaths American folk singers Singers from New York City American male singer-songwriters American taxi drivers American LGBT singers American LGBT songwriters American gay musicians Gay singers Gay songwriters LGBT people from New York (state) 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singer-songwriters 20th-century American LGBT people Singer-songwriters from New York (state)