When I introduced him, he walked onto the stage hesitantly, his guitar slung across his hips, and from the wings I could see his legs shaking inside his trousers. ‘I can’t do it, Judy, I would die from embarrassment.’ ‘Leonard, you are a great writer and a fine singer, people want to hear you.’ He finally agreed, reluctantly. I asked Leonard if he would sing Suzanne there. I was going to appear at a concert for Sane against the Vietnam War at Town Hall, on April 30, 1967.

I knew once he got over his fear, he would be powerful on stage. I suggested he make his debut and sing in public, but he was terribly shy. With the record’s success, Leonard became known as a songwriter. I became immediately devoted to him, and we soon were friends… I recorded ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Dress Rehearsal Rag’ on In My Life in 1966, and it went gold in 1967. There was something very ethereal and at the same time earthy about his voice. I was moved by his singing voice, and by the songs, and by his whole presence. He sang ‘Suzanne’ and ‘Dress Rehearsal Rag’ that night, sitting on the couch, holding the guitar on his knee. He came down from Canada one night, and I listened to his songs in my living room. Leonard had been a published and successful writer and poet for many years, and had recently written his first songs. As she writes in her autobiography Trust Your Heart, “I met Leonard Cohen in 1966, when my Canadian friend Mary Martin arranged for us to meet. Collins was essentially responsible for Cohen’s musical career. Association copy, inscribed by the author to Judy Collins on the front free endpaper, “Dear Judy thank-you for shameless love, as always Leonard Los Angeles 1995” with Cohen’s “Order of the Unified Heart” ink stamp, his embossed stamp, and Collins’ signature above. Thin quarto, original illustrated boards. Item Number: 98477įirst edition of Cohen’s work, a lyrical tribute to love.

Judy collins leonard cohen