Spanky and our Gang Download
Richie Unterberger tries to say that the best version of is by the Fairport Convetion... Here's the article:
"Suzanne," from Leonard Cohen's debut album, is probably his most well-known composition. Cohen was noted as the first musician to bring heavy credentials as a previously published novelist and poet into rock music, and "Suzanne" is certainly imbued with the qualities of poetry in its lyrics. It is a character sketch, of a mysterious and ethereal woman who lives by the river and serves tea and oranges; in the song's most memorable line, the narrative touches her perfect body with his mind. Although like many Cohen songs, "Suzanne"'s melody is basic, it's attractive and soothing, though as haunting as the words. Though like much of Cohen's early work it's predominantly built around acoustic guitar, the addition of spectral backup female vocals and strings greatly enhances the song's power. The song gets an added dimension, too, from its second verse, where Cohen detours from the narrative about Suzanne to sing in equally mystical terms about Jesus, who touches your perfect body with his mind. It's hard to know exactly what Cohen might have been intended here, but it does seem to intermingle or compare the experiences of sex and romantic attraction with those of a religious experience or revelation. Cohen revealed that "Suzanne" was inspired by a real woman in Montreal, Suzanne Vaillancourt, who did indeed serve him tea with oranges in her loft. As she was married to a friend of his, he has explained, the only opportunity to touch her perfect body was with his mind. "Suzanne" has been covered by many artists, including Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Roberta Flack, Peter Gabriel, Francoise Hardy, Pearls Before Swine, and Nina Simone. The first singer to bring it to wide attention, however, was Judy Collins, who sang it on her 1966 In My Life album, which was released well before Cohen put it out on Songs of Leonard Cohen. Oddly, the first occasion many listeners had to hear the song came in 1967, also before Cohen's first album, when Noel Harrison, better known as an actor, took "Suzanne" to #56 as a single. The best cover of "Suzanne," however, was by Fairport Convention, whose 1968 version featured excellent alternation of male and female lead vocals from Ian Matthews and Sandy Denny, as well as a total musical rearrangement featuring dramatic stuttering tempos. Unfortunately this version, recorded for the BBC and included on their 1960s BBC compilation Heyday, never made it onto their studio albums of the period, though a studio outtake from the time (which is inferior to the BBC version, as it has only Matthews on vocals) did surface in 2003. Joni Mitchell, incidentally, has commented that the character-sketch quality of "Suzanne" was influential on some of her own early compositions built around characters, like "Marcie."
I kinda think he is WRONG. My favorite version is by Spanky and Our Gang. Bruce Eder concurs. Review of Like to Get to Know You by Bruce Eder:
Spanky & Our Gang had been unhappy with various aspects of their self-titled debut album, and as a result they recruited two new producers, Stuart Scharf and Bob Dorough, who were more in sympathy with how the group actually sounded. Recorded somewhat on the fly, Like to Get to Know You was the first album to reflect what the group considered their own sound, and was harder-rocking, bluesier, and more inventive in its folk stylings than anything on their debut album. The mix of sounds was actually quite startling in its own time and is engaging even 30 some years later, with various top New York and Los Angeles-based session musicians and a cadre of Chicago bluesmen adding their talents to the band's core instrumentalists. Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane gives convincing and honest performances, and Lefty Baker acquits himself well as a singer.> The group opens new vocal territory on the six-part harmony "Sunday Morning," and they do arguably the best cover ever of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," which dazzles with its tempo changes and the sheer variety of timbres employed. Side two of the original album was actually a prelude to their next LP, containing elements of conceptual rock and made up of songs that segue thematically from one to another. As an album, Like to Get to Know You was of its time, a conceptual record that was finely executed and fascinating to hear; it was perhaps taken a little less seriously, given the image of Spanky & Our Gang for light pop/rock. It's worth rediscovering, either on the original vinyl or on the 1999 Japanese-imported CD.
I've uploaded it using YouSendIt:
Spanky and Our Gang - Suzanne 3.46 MB .
And as a special bonus, I'm giving you guys they're top ten hit as well:
Spanky and Our Gang's - Like to Get to Know You 3.16 MB (Radio Edit).
If you have trouble downloading, holla. (there's a limit, 25 downloads or 7 days; whatever comes first.
"Suzanne," from Leonard Cohen's debut album, is probably his most well-known composition. Cohen was noted as the first musician to bring heavy credentials as a previously published novelist and poet into rock music, and "Suzanne" is certainly imbued with the qualities of poetry in its lyrics. It is a character sketch, of a mysterious and ethereal woman who lives by the river and serves tea and oranges; in the song's most memorable line, the narrative touches her perfect body with his mind. Although like many Cohen songs, "Suzanne"'s melody is basic, it's attractive and soothing, though as haunting as the words. Though like much of Cohen's early work it's predominantly built around acoustic guitar, the addition of spectral backup female vocals and strings greatly enhances the song's power. The song gets an added dimension, too, from its second verse, where Cohen detours from the narrative about Suzanne to sing in equally mystical terms about Jesus, who touches your perfect body with his mind. It's hard to know exactly what Cohen might have been intended here, but it does seem to intermingle or compare the experiences of sex and romantic attraction with those of a religious experience or revelation. Cohen revealed that "Suzanne" was inspired by a real woman in Montreal, Suzanne Vaillancourt, who did indeed serve him tea with oranges in her loft. As she was married to a friend of his, he has explained, the only opportunity to touch her perfect body was with his mind. "Suzanne" has been covered by many artists, including Joan Baez, Neil Diamond, Roberta Flack, Peter Gabriel, Francoise Hardy, Pearls Before Swine, and Nina Simone. The first singer to bring it to wide attention, however, was Judy Collins, who sang it on her 1966 In My Life album, which was released well before Cohen put it out on Songs of Leonard Cohen. Oddly, the first occasion many listeners had to hear the song came in 1967, also before Cohen's first album, when Noel Harrison, better known as an actor, took "Suzanne" to #56 as a single. The best cover of "Suzanne," however, was by Fairport Convention, whose 1968 version featured excellent alternation of male and female lead vocals from Ian Matthews and Sandy Denny, as well as a total musical rearrangement featuring dramatic stuttering tempos. Unfortunately this version, recorded for the BBC and included on their 1960s BBC compilation Heyday, never made it onto their studio albums of the period, though a studio outtake from the time (which is inferior to the BBC version, as it has only Matthews on vocals) did surface in 2003. Joni Mitchell, incidentally, has commented that the character-sketch quality of "Suzanne" was influential on some of her own early compositions built around characters, like "Marcie."
I kinda think he is WRONG. My favorite version is by Spanky and Our Gang. Bruce Eder concurs. Review of Like to Get to Know You by Bruce Eder:
Spanky & Our Gang had been unhappy with various aspects of their self-titled debut album, and as a result they recruited two new producers, Stuart Scharf and Bob Dorough, who were more in sympathy with how the group actually sounded. Recorded somewhat on the fly, Like to Get to Know You was the first album to reflect what the group considered their own sound, and was harder-rocking, bluesier, and more inventive in its folk stylings than anything on their debut album. The mix of sounds was actually quite startling in its own time and is engaging even 30 some years later, with various top New York and Los Angeles-based session musicians and a cadre of Chicago bluesmen adding their talents to the band's core instrumentalists. Elaine "Spanky" McFarlane gives convincing and honest performances, and Lefty Baker acquits himself well as a singer.> The group opens new vocal territory on the six-part harmony "Sunday Morning," and they do arguably the best cover ever of Leonard Cohen's "Suzanne," which dazzles with its tempo changes and the sheer variety of timbres employed. Side two of the original album was actually a prelude to their next LP, containing elements of conceptual rock and made up of songs that segue thematically from one to another. As an album, Like to Get to Know You was of its time, a conceptual record that was finely executed and fascinating to hear; it was perhaps taken a little less seriously, given the image of Spanky & Our Gang for light pop/rock. It's worth rediscovering, either on the original vinyl or on the 1999 Japanese-imported CD.
I've uploaded it using YouSendIt:
Spanky and Our Gang - Suzanne 3.46 MB .
And as a special bonus, I'm giving you guys they're top ten hit as well:
Spanky and Our Gang's - Like to Get to Know You 3.16 MB (Radio Edit).
If you have trouble downloading, holla. (there's a limit, 25 downloads or 7 days; whatever comes first.