I'm Your Man (Leonard Cohen album)

Infobox Album |
Name = I'm Your Man
Type = studio
Artist = Leonard Cohen


Released = February 1988 (LP)
1990 (CD)
Recorded = August–November 1987
Genre = Folk-rock
Length = 40:41
Label = Columbia Records
Producer = Leonard Cohen, Roscoe Beck, Jean-Michel Reusser, Michel Robidoux
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:tqjm7i7jg7dr link]
*"Rolling Stone" Rating|4|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/leonardcohen/albums/album/322954/review/5946032/im_your_man link] |
Last album = "Various Positions"
(1984)
This album = "I'm Your Man"
(1988)
Next album = "The Future"
(1992)

"I'm Your Man" is a 1988 album by Leonard Cohen.

It was widely considered Cohen's "comeback" album, after the poorly promoted "Various Positions" in 1984. The album also marked Cohen's further move into modern musical textures, with many songs having a synthpop-style production. "I'm Your Man" reached #1 in Norway.

The song "Everybody Knows" was one of Cohen's first writing collaborations with Sharon Robinson, who would become a frequent collaborator in the future. Most notably, Robinson co-wrote every song on Cohen's 2001 outing "Ten New Songs".

In "Tower of Song", Cohen discusses songwriting and acknowledges the influence of Hank Williams ("a hundred floors above me").

The album is silver in the UK and gold in Canada.

It was ranked 51 on Pitchfork Media's list of the 100 best albums of the 1980s.

Track listing

All songs were written by Cohen, except where noted. All tracks fade out.

#"First We Take Manhattan" – 6:01
#"Ain't No Cure for Love" – 4:50
#"Everybody Knows" (Cohen, Sharon Robinson) – 5:36
#"I'm Your Man" – 4:28
#"Take This Waltz" (Federico García Lorca, Cohen) – 5:59
#"Jazz Police" (Cohen, Jeff Fisher) – 3:53
#"I Can't Forget" – 4:31
#"Tower of Song" – 5:37

Personnel

*Leonard Cohen: keyboards, vocals
*Jude Johnson: vocals
*Anjani Thomas: vocals
*Jennifer Warnes: vocals
*Mayel Assouly: backing vocals
*Evelyine Hebey: backing vocals
*Elisabeth Valletti: backing vocals
*Jeff Fisher: keyboards
*Bob Stanley: guitar
*Sneaky Pete Kleinow: pedal steel guitar
*Peter Kisilenko: bass
*Tom Brechtlein: drums
*Vinnie Colaiuta: drums
*Lenny Castro: percussion
*Michel Robidoux: drums, keyboards
*John Bilezikjian: oud
*Richard Beaudet: saxophone
*Raffi Hakopian: violin

ong covers

*On the soundtrack to "" there are two versions of "Tower of Song". One appears as a sparse live version by Martha Wainwright and the other a more elaborate studio recording by Leonard Cohen and U2. In the latter Bono sings the second last verse while a deep-voiced Cohen does the rest.
*Aaron Neville, who had earlier recorded Cohen's "Bird on a Wire", contributed a cover of "Ain't No Cure for Love" for the tribute album "Tower of Song".
* "Everybody Knows" was covered by Concrete Blonde on the soundtrack to the 1990 film "Pump Up the Volume". The original version was the main theme played on the film, although only the cover by Concrete Blonde was released in the official soundtrack.
* "Everybody Knows" was covered by ex-Eagle Don Henley on "Tower of Song".
* The 1991 indie rock tribute album "I'm Your Fan" takes its name from the pathos-filled love song title track "I'm Your Man".
* R.E.M. contributed "First We Take Manhattan" to "I'm Your Fan". They also released it as an extra track on their 1991 CD single "Drive."
* Bill Pritchard performed the song for the same tribute.
* Pixies covered "I Can't Forget" for "I'm Your Fan".
*In 1986 an early mix of "Take This Waltz" reached #1 in the Spanish charts (as a single off the Federico García Lorca tribute album "Poets in New York"). The words were translated by Cohen from García Lorca's poem "Pequeño vals vienés".
* "Take this Waltz" was also covered by Enrique Morente on his 1996 album "Omega", performed with Lagartija Nick and other musicians. Morente used the original Lorca's poem "Pequeño vals vienés" and new musical arrangements.
* A very abstract cover of "Tower of Song" was recorded by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds for "I'm your Fan".
* "Tower of Song" has also been covered by Robert Forster, Marianne Faithfull, Tom Russell and The Jesus and Mary Chain.
* Michael Bublé covered "I'm Your Man" in 2007 for his album "Call Me Irresponsible".
* Dax Riggs has performed live cover versions of "I'm Your Man" and "Tower of Song".

Movie

*The album's title track appears on the soundtrack of the 2002 film "Secretary."
*A 2006 tribute film and album to Cohen were titled "".