Basic HTML Version
42
SEPTEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
HEMISPHERES:
You’ve interviewed
everyone from Muddy Waters to Michael
Jackson. What made Leonard Cohen stand
out for you?
SYLVIE SIMMONS:
Leonard’s always been
one of the household gods in Europe and
specifically in Britain, where I’m
from. All these really dark albums
that never bothered the top 200 in
the U.S. were, like, 2 and 3 on the
charts in England. But a er his land-
mark 2008–2010 world tour, his first
in 15 years, it seemed like suddenly
everyone was discovering him and
thinking, “Was he
always
this good?”
All that started nudging me to the
edge of the cliff, where I had to write
the book.
HEMI:
What was Cohen’s role in it?
SS:
He never asked me to write the book,
never asked to read it, but that didn’t stop
him from being supportive. A er about a
three-year process of interviewing people
from his life, I sat down with him too.
HEMI:
He granted you access to his per-
sonal archives, right?
SS:
Yes, and loaned a pile of personal
photos, many from child-
hood—and in every one
he’s beaming ear to ear, the
happiest-looking kid you
could imagine.
HEMI:
Not what you’d
expect for someonewhose
lyrics tend toward “… like a
beast with his horn / I have torn
everyone who reached out for me.”
SS:
The thing is, while Leonard’s work is
certainly deep and o en dark … he’s also
very lighthearted, very funny in a dry way.
If you’re in his presence, mostly he’s smiling
and laughing.
HEMI:
Favorite discovery you made?
SS:
I outed Leonard as a former ukulele
player. No one’s ever done that!
SEPT.
11
PREVIOUS PAGE: ELLEN VON UNWERTH (RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS). THIS PAGE: © ANNIE LEIBOVITZ (
ANNIE LEIBOVITZ, PLANO, ILLINOIS, 2011
;
THE BLUES BROTHERS, HOLLYWOOD, 1979
); MARTIN PHILBEY/REDFERNS (COHEN)
¡Uno!,
Green Day:
These pop-
punk pioneers have more
ambition than most bands,
having recorded, for instance,
an extremely successful punk-
rock opera. But their latest
move puts them on another
level entirely. They’ll be releas-
ing three full albums in the next
five months, starting with the
aptly named
¡Uno!
SEPT. 25
The Odessa Tapes,
The Flatlanders:
Once upon a time, Jimmie Dale
Gilmore, Joe Ely and Butch
Hancock were in a band. They
recorded an album in 1972, it
never saw the light of day, and
they broke up. When each
man later became famous, said
record was released to great
acclaim. Now comes an even
earlier recording, thought
to have been lost forever: a
flawless-sounding collection of
mellow Texas tunes.
OUT NOW
Love This Giant,
David Byrne
& St. Vincent:
Byrne, the
pop-art hero
and former
Talking Heads frontman, has
never shied away from high-
wire projects (he once turned an
entire building into a musical
instrument). Hence his latest,
a dance-y affair with indie
darling St. Vincent and a brass
band, is one of the season’s most
anticipated releases.
SEPT. 11
Record Set
This month’s most
noteworthy releases
culture
||
THEMONTHAHEAD
InHis
Secret Life
At nearly 600 pages, the new
Leonard Cohen bio
I’m Your
Man
is practically a piece of
gym equipment. We caught up
with author Sylvie Simmons to
learn what went into making her
opus on Cohen, 77, the legendary
Canadian singer-songwriter and
erstwhile man of mystery.
Prolific portraitist Annie Leibovitz has said she doesn’t have a
favorite picture, but certainly her “Master Set”—156 images
she assembled in 2009—has a few that she’s taken a shine to.
Examples such as
Elizabeth II
,
Buckingham Palace, London
, and
her famed John Lennon and Yoko Ono shot will be on display
in this month’s gallerywide exhibit at the Wexner Center for
the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. The show also includes photos
from her “Pilgrimage” series, which spotlights places and
objects—think Sigmund Freud’s couch—celebrating famous
historical and cultural figures.
SEPT. 22
Annie
Gets
Her Run
Wexner
Center for
the Arts
clears out the
building for an
oversize exhibit of
Leibovitz photos