''I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen'' is a

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

, released in 1991, produced by the French music magazine ''

Les Inrockuptibles ''Les Inrockuptibles'' (), abbreviated as ''Les Inrocks'', is a French cultural magazine. Started as a monthly in 1986, it became weekly in 1995. As of 2021, it returned to a monthly format. In the beginning, rock music was the magazine's prim ...

''. The album features Cohen's songs interpreted by some of the most respected

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

acts of the time. Its name is a play on the title of Cohen's album '' I'm Your Man''. For the album's American release on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American alternative rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the fir ...

's rendition of " First We Take Manhattan" and House of Love's " Who by Fire" (the lead tracks on each side of the vinyl and cassette versions) were swapped so that R.E.M., one of the most popular American rock bands of the era, led the album. In all other countries where the album was released, however, the R.E.M. track appears on Side Two. In the United Kingdom, the album was distributed by record label

EastWest Records East West Records (stylized as east''west'') is a record label formed in 1955, distributed and owned by Warner Music Group, headquartered in New York City. History After its creation in 1955 by Atlantic Records, the label had its first hit wit ...

, in France by

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), commonly known as Sony Music, is an American multinational music company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony Group Corporation. It is the recording division of Sony Music Group, with the other half being the ...

. The album includes two different covers of "Tower of Song", one by

Robert Forster Robert Wallace Foster Jr. (July 13, 1941 – October 11, 2019), known professionally as Robert Forster, was an American actor. He made his screen debut as Private L.G. Williams in John Huston's '' Reflections in a Golden Eye'' (1967), followed ...

and another by

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are a Rock music, rock band formed in Melbourne in 1983 by lead vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and German guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throug ...

. The latter version is a radical deconstruction of the song, edited from an hour-long

jam session A jam session is a relatively informal musical event, process, or activity where musicians, typically instrumentalists, play improvised solos and vamp over tunes, drones, songs, and chord progressions. To "jam" is to improvise music without ...

held by the band.

Track listing

Main release

#" First We Take Manhattan" –

#" Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" – Ian McCulloch #" I Can't Forget" – Pixies #" Stories of the Street" – That Petrol Emotion #" Bird on the Wire" – The Lilac Time #" Suzanne" – Geoffrey Oryema #" So Long, Marianne" – James #" Avalanche IV" –

Jean-Louis Murat Jean-Louis Bergheaud (28 January 1952 – 25 May 2023), better known by the stage name Jean-Louis Murat, was a French musician. Life Jean-Louis Bergheaud was born in Chamalières, France to a father who was a carpenter and a non-professional ...

#" Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On" – David McComb & Adam Peters #" Who by Fire" – The House of Love #"

Chelsea Hotel The Hotel Chelsea (also known as the Chelsea Hotel and the Chelsea) is a hotel at 222 West 23rd Street (Manhattan), 23rd Street in the Chelsea, Manhattan, Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. Built between 1883 and 1884, the hot ...

" –

Lloyd Cole Lloyd Cole (born 31 January 1961) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He was lead vocalist of Lloyd Cole and the Commotions from 1984 to 1989 and subsequently worked solo. Early life Cole was born in Buxton, Derbyshire, England. He ...

Tower of Song "Tower of Song" is a song written by Leonard Cohen that appears on his 1988 album ''I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen album), I'm Your Man''. In a 2014 reader's poll, ''Rolling Stone'' listed it as the 8th favorite Cohen song. Background The genesis ...

" –

#" Take This Longing" – Peter Astor #" True Love Leaves No Traces" – Dead Famous People #" I'm Your Man" – Bill Pritchard #" A Singer Must Die" – The Fatima Mansions #"Tower of Song" –

Hallelujah ''Hallelujah'' (; , Modern ) is an interjection from the Hebrew language, used as an expression of gratitude to God. The term is used 24 times in the Tanakh (in the book of Psalms), twice in deuterocanonical books, and four times in the Christ ...

" –

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, dr ...

''More Fans''

#" The Queen and Me" – John Cale #" There is a War" – Ian McCulloch #"Suzanne" (instrumental) – Geoffrey Oryema #" Paperthin Hotel" – The Fatima Mansions

Notes

All songs written by

with the exceptions of "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On" and "True Love Leaves No Traces", both co-written with

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (December 26, 1939 – January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter who is best known for pioneering recording practices in the 1960s, followed by his trials and conviction for murder in the 2000s. S ...

. ''More Fans'', a free promotional bonus CD, was released in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Fnac Fnac () is a French multinational retail chain specializing in the sale of entertainment Media (communication), media and consumer electronics. Fnac was founded by André Essel and Max Théret in 1954. Its headquarters is located in ''Le Flavia' ...

along with the main album. On ''More Fans'', the

track " The Queen and Me" covers the Cohen track "Queen Victoria" found on Cohen's album '' Live Songs''.

Cover art

The album cover showing children playing in water spray from a hydrant was taken by Weegee in New York's Lower West Side, in 1937.

References

{{Authority control Leonard Cohen tribute albums 1991 compilation albums Folk rock compilation albums