LEONARD COHEN : AT THE BEEB

 

  1. You Know Who I Am
  2. Bird on the Wire
  3. The Stranger Song
  4. So Long Marianne
  5. The Master Song
  6. There's No Reason Why you Should Remember Me
  7. Sisters of Mercy
  8. The Teachers
  9. Dress Rehearsal Rag
  10. Suzanne
  11. Hey, That's no Way to Say Goodbye
  12. The Story of Isaac
  13. One Of us cannot be wrong

Label : Yellow Cat

Time : 62:15

Venue : Paris Theatre, London, UK

Date : Spring 1968 (exact date unknown)

Quality : soundboard recording (A+)

Review : This CD contains almost the complete BBC 2 shows broadcasted on August 31 and September 7, 1968. Only One of us cannot be wrong is not on this recording. So Long Marianne', extended to 8:12, contains an additional verse. There is much interesting banter between songs, especially leading up to `Dress Rehearsal Rag'. The discussion preceeding `The Story of Isaac' is reminiscent of the intro it receives on "Live Songs", suggesting that the versions are contemporary. The sound is not wondersful, certainly it's nowhere near the quality of  "Diamonds in the MIne Field" or "Heart-Housedin ThornBush". `There's No Reason You Should Remember Me' is a rather unremarkable piece, with one verse repeated six or seven times.

Note : My copy comes from a lower generation tape source and sound qaulity is far, far superior to the widely-circulated "At the Beeb" bootleg (Yellow Cat, YC 018), which runs slow, is comparatively "muddy", and omits the final song. This also presents the second show complete ("One of Us Cannot Be Wrong" was left off the bootleg CD). It was probably taped from the broadcast rather than from a BBC master tape, but the clarity suggests the recording must have been made via a line connection from the junction box (as with the improved version of the Dylan 1965 BBC concert) rather than a "mike in front of the telly" setup (no "audio out" sockets on TV sets in those days).