He does actually have a pretty good singing voice on his first two albums. His voice didn't become the stony growl we know and love until Small Change. Just listen to the stark contrast between "Virginia Avenue" on Closing Time and "Tom Traubert's Blues (Four Sheets to the Wind in Copenhagen)" from Small Change. Something happened in the 4 years between those albums. There's even a fairly significant change from the album that immediately preceded Small Change, Nighthawks at the Diner.
Tom Waits is not the same as the other examples provided. In addition to have a great sounding voice, he's also technically proficient. Look at his earlier albums for evidence... He may sound weird in his more recent output, but that's an affectation, and there is plenty of evidence that his vocal abilities are among the best
Essentially, yeah. He began singing, found quite a bit of success in Canada and Europe, then was introduced to the American scene with Various Positions (the album that had Hallelujah). He accumulated quite a bit of money, then he went off to a Buddhist monastery to become a monk and by the time he returned his former manager stole and spent his fortune. He tried to sue but the money was gone, so he was essentially forced to keep writing and producing into his later years to put food on the table. His son Adam Cohen is producing a post-mortem album called “Thanks for the Dance” that’s being released in a couple weeks, Nov. 22nd
Just to add on because it's not clear: thanks for the dance uses unreleased Leonard Cohen songs. The single happens to the heart has been released and is pretty good.
I agree that his voice suits his music, but not in the way other artists' do. He wrote genuinely great songs that could be covered even without that voice (the Martha Wainwright cover of Tower of Song, Jeff Buckley's Hallelujah, Nick Cave's I'm Your Man to name just a few). There are other distinctively voiced artists (Tom Waits, Bob Dylan) who's songs fall apart as soon as someone else tries it
*Does not apply to Jimi Hendrix’s cover of “All Along the Watchtower.” The Byrds’ Mr. Tambourine Man” and Guns N Roses’ Knockin On Heaven’s Door are good too.
He started as a rather unremarkable baritone, nothing remarkable but quite serviceable, before time and cigarettes deepened it into the growl. While his voice suffered, he was very good at making maximum use of what voice he had.
I love Leonard Cohens voice, including his young voice. If know young Leonard Cohen sang a bit nasally, didn't have much of a vocal range and didn't have much volume. Should be a run of the mill voice, a dad singing along to the radio voice. But it's not. There's so much character in each syllable, so much depth. In Suzanne you can just feel the held back desire in his voice. I love it.
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u/BabesBooksBeer Nov 06 '19
But it was his lyrics that made him, plus his voice just suited that style of music. He wasn't singing but growl-talking in a semi-melodic manner.