by Ethel Smith

Created on: May 25, 2007   Last Updated: March 06, 2011

Leonard Cohen is most commonly known for his music. Cohen's deep, sultry, somewhat depressive but highly sexy voice, tends to be either loved or loathed. The fact that his voice can seem depressing does not mean however that it is depressing to his fans. Leonard Cohen's music has the sort of quality which can relax or lift the listener's mood.

So who is Leonard Cohen.

Leonard Cohen was born on the 21st of September, 1934, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His career began in the late 1960's and he grew into a successful singer / songwriter, who is still going strong in the 21st Century. Cohen's fans come from all generations and walks of life. His music has a timeless feel and he is a fascinating personality. He is often ranked second only to Bob Dylan. Many of Cohen's classic songs, rival Dylan's and in some cases win.

At 17, whilst at university, his writing and poetry took off in a big way. When he graduated in 1955 he, almost immediately, published his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies. As is often the case this book was highly acclaimed but was not a financial success.

In 1961 Leonard Cohen published his second book of poetry. This was called 'The Spice Box of Earth' and it was much more successful, including financially. It became an international success both critically and commercially. This book of poetry established Cohen as a new and major literary figure in the literature art world. He spent much of the early sixties in Greece and published other works from that country.

Much like Bob Dylan, he is more of a poet, who has put his words to music, than just a singer / songwriter. Unlike Dylan however, by the time Cohen began recording and playing his music live, he had successfully written books and poetry. As such he was late starting his musical career, in that he was in his mid-thirties when the essential Cohen album 'Songs from a room' was released. This was the first album many young people heard or bought that was by Leonard Cohen. It still sounds good all these years later.

His first album was very different to other recording artists at the time. In early 1968, when it was released, it did not sit well in any particular style or musical genre. To this day it may be listed under a rock genre but it is more like folk or folk rock .

Cohen's poetry is his written poetry but also his words which have been put to such soulful, melodic and thoughtful music. He influenced a generation with meaningful words which were very much of the day. He characterised the sixties but, unlike many of his contemporaries, has moved on and carried on developing. Cohen's early music was acoustic but today it is often accompanied by more musicians and backing singers. He went on to influence successive generations and has left a lasting legacy .

For many people though Leonard Cohen will always be an influence of the late sixties and early seventies, when he was so much a part of people's youth. 

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