Artist: LEONARD COHEN
Album: DEATH OF A LADIES MAN (CD)

Year: 1977
Media type: CD

Death of a Ladies' Man is the fifth of Leonard Cohen's albums. Produced and co-written by the storied Phil Spector, it was a surprise to some fans when the voice of typically minimalist Cohen was surrounded, some critics said submerged completely, by Spector's Wall of Sound, which included multiple tracks of instrument overdubs. The album was originally released by Warner Bros., but was later picked up by Cohen's longtime label, Columbia Records.

15 songs were written by the two over a course of three weeks, and Spector described it as "some great fuckin' music". Not everyone agreed with this assessment, preferring Cohen's earlier acoustic folk music to the jazz-, rock- and even funk-influenced arrangements. Among the seven unknown outtakes is probably "Do I Have to Dance All Night". A live recording was released in France as a single in 1976. Bob Dylan and Allen Ginsberg sang backup vocals on the chorus of "Don't Go Home with Your Hard-on".

Death of a Ladies' Man was recorded in Los Angeles, California. Before Cohen had completed his vocals, Spector barred him from the studio (supposedly under armed guard) and mixed the album by himself. For this reason some of the songs only have "guiding vocals" originally meant to be redone later. Interviewed for the 2005 documentary I'm Your Man, Cohen expressed disappointment in the record and felt that the songs "got away" from him; he also noted that it was a favorite among "punksters" as well as his daughter. At the time of the album's release, however, Cohen was much less generous in his public response to the album, calling Spector's production "a 'catastrophe.

All songs written by Leonard Cohen (words) and Phil Spector (music).

TRACKLIST:

1."True Love Leaves No Traces" – 4:26
2."Iodine" – 5:03
3."Paper Thin Hotel" – 5:42
4."Memories" – 5:59 (Outro includes a quotation from The Shields' 1958 single "You Cheated, You Lied" and a reference to classic-era pop singer Frankie Laine.)

5."I Left a Woman Waiting" – 3:28
6."Don't Go Home with Your Hard-On" – 5:36
7."Fingerprints" – 2:58
8."Death of a Ladies' Man" – 9:19

LINE-UP:

Art Blaine – Guitar
Hal Blaine – Drums
Ronee Blakley – Background Vocals, Featured on "True Love Leaves No Traces," "Iodine," and "Memories."
Bobby Bruce – Fiddle, Violin
Brenda Bryant – Background Vocals
John Cabalka – Art Direction
Conte Candoli – Trumpet
Leonard Cohen – Composer, Vocals
Ron Coro – Design
Jesse Ed Davis – Guitar
Billy Diez – Background Vocals
Steve Douglas – Flute, Saxophone, Wind
Oma Drake – Background Vocals
Bob Dylan – Background Vocals
Gene Estes – Percussion
Venetta Fields – Background Vocals
Gerald Garrett – Background Vocals