Album
New Skin For The Old Ceremony
1974 · Rock
32 collectors on Gatefold own this
New Skin For The Old Ceremony is a Rock album by Leonard Cohen, originally released in 1974. On Gatefold: 87 pressings tracked, owned by 32 collectors.
About
After the generally restrained, often bare arrangements of Leonard Cohen’s first three studio albums, <i>New Skin for the Old Ceremony</i>—Cohen’s fourth studio album—allowed for grander instrumentation. Producer John Lissauer and Cohen broke the spell at just the right moment. The opener, “Is This What You Wanted,” starts with a distinct level of defiance and the sound of drums clearly meant to surprise. “Chelsea Hotel #2”—Cohen’s parable regarding an encounter with Janis Joplin—remains the album’s best-known song and one of Cohen’s all-time finest, written with his guitarist Ron Cornelius. “Who by Fire” and “Take This Longing” further continued Cohen’s streak of writing solemn but spirited songs that felt timeless. “Lover Lover Lover,” “Field Commander Cohen,” and “Leaving Green Sleeves” (based on a reworking of the 15th-century folk song) demonstrated Cohen’s wilder (often humorous) side, which hadn't been overt on previous studio albums.
via Apple Music
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The Clerk knows this whole record — the pressing quirks, the credits, the take.
Tracklist
Side A
- A1Is This What You Wanted4:12
- A2Chelsea Hotel # 23:04
- A3Lover Lover Lover3:18
- A4Field Commander Cohen4:04
- A5Why Don't You Try3:50
Side B
- B1There Is A War2:58
- B2A Singer Must Die3:16
- B3I Tried To Leave You2:36
- B4Who By Fire2:32
- B5Take This Longing4:04
- B6Leaving Green Sleeves2:39
Sound DNA
- Rock
- Folk Rock
- stripped-back
- wistful
- poetic
Fourth studio album. Release Date: August 11, 1974.
The original cover art for this LP was an image sourced from the Alchemist text "Rosarium Philosophorum" the two winged and crowned beings in sexual embrace caused his record label Columbia Records to print a censored version of the album (minus the art image) substituting instead a stock photo of Cohen. Another early manifestation of the cover art saw an additional angel wing collage added to cover the depicted figures, presumably to render the image more "decent".
The image originally came to public attention in C.G. Jung's essay The Psychology of the Transference, where it is held by Jung to depict the union of psychic opposites in the consciousness of the enlightened saint. The sexual embrace as a symbol for this condition of psychic unity is also found frequently in Tibetan Thangkas sacred paintings.
Credits
The people behind it.
Performers
- Armen HalburianMUSICIAN, PERCUSSION PERCUSSION
- Barry LazarowitzDRUMS DRUMS, PERCUSSION MUSICIAN, DRUMS, PERCUSSION
- Don PayneBASS MUSICIAN, BASS
- Emily BindigerMUSICIAN, VOCALS VOCALS
- Erin DickinsMUSICIAN, VOCALS VOCALS
- Gail KantorMUSICIAN, VOCALS VOCALS
- Gerald ChamberlainMUSICIAN, TROMBONE TROMBONE
- Janis IanMUSICIAN, VOCALS VOCALS
- Jeff LaytonBANJO, MANDOLIN, GUITAR, TRUMPET MUSICIAN, BANJO, MANDOLIN, GUITAR, TRUMPET
- John LissauerARRANGED BY, WOODWIND, KEYBOARDS, VOCALS MUSICIAN, WOODWIND , KEYBOARDS, VOCALS MUSICIAN, WOODWIND, KEYBOARDS, VOCALS
- John MillerBASS MUSICIAN, BASS
- Leonard CohenGUITAR, JEW'S HARP , VOCALS, WRITTEN-BY GUITAR, JEW'S HARP, VOCALS GUITAR, VOCALS
- Lewis FureyMUSICIAN, VIOLA VIOLA
- Ralph GibsonGUITAR MUSICIAN, GUITAR
- Ralph GibsonGUITAR
- Roy MarkowitzDRUMS MUSICIAN, DRUMS
32 collectors on Gatefold own this · 87 pressings tracked on Gatefold
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