Reviews:

Audio Mixer: Chris Shaw .
Liner Note Authors: Murray Lerner; Steven Berkowitz.
Recording information: The East Afton Farm, Isle Of Wight Festival (08/31/1970).
Editor: Mike Nuget.
Photographers: Jim Marshall ; Brian Moody.
On August 31, 1970, Leonard Cohen was scheduled to play the third Isle of Wight Festival. Under chaotic conditions, an unkempt Cohen took the stage without hesitation at 2 a.m in a safari jacket and jeans over his pajamas, along with the Army -- producer Bob Johnson on organ, piano, and guitar; Elkin "Bubba" Fowler on bass and banjo; fiddler Charlie Daniels; guitarist Ron Cornelius; and vocalists Corlynn Hanney, Susan Mussmano, and Donna Washburn. It's all here on CD and DVD from Legacy. Cohen played songs from his first two albums, debuted a few, recited poems, and told stories. The CD captures the entire performance in nearly pristine sound. The hits (of the time) are here, the banter is here, and the entire performance by the band is so special it will leave the listener utterly satisfied. Whether it's "So Long Marianne," the poem "They Locked Up a Man," the stellar reading of "The Partisan," or the chilling version of "Famous Blue Raincoat," this is top-notch Cohen. The DVD is imperfect but is still essential viewing artistically and historically.

Personnel: Leonard Cohen (acoustic guitar); Bob Johnston (guitar, harmonica, piano, organ); Ron Cornelius (guitar); Bubba Fowler (banjo); Charlie Daniels (fiddle, electric bass); Corlynn Hanney, Donna Washburn (background vocals).

Nearly 40 summers ago on August 31, 1970, 35-year-old Leonard Cohen was awakened at 2 a.m. from a nap in his trailer and brought onstage to perform with his band at the third annual Isle Of Wight music festival. The audience of 600,000 was in a fiery and frenzied mood, after turning the festival into a political arena, trampling the fences, setting fire to structures and equipment - and stoked by the most incendiary performance of Jimi Hendrix's career.

As Cohen followed Hendrix's set, onlookers and (fellow festival headliners) Joan Baez, Kris Kristofferson, Judy Collins and others stood sidestage in awe as the Canadian folksinger-songwriter-poet-novelist quietly tamed the crowd. Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Murray Lerner (From Mao To Mozart, Festival, Message To Love), perfectly captured Cohen's performance. Likewise, Columbia Records staff A&R producer Teo Macero did a brilliant job of supervising the live audio recording.

This CD/DVD package contains the new, beautiful film documentary by Lerner featuring interviews with fellow festival performers, as well as Cohen's full performance on CD. All tracks are previously unreleased (sans bits of "Suzanne" which were featured in the documentary Message to Love, also by Lerner). Included are live versions of classic songs from the first two Leonard Cohen LPs: "So Long, Marianne," "The Stranger Song," "Hey, That's No Way To Say Goodbye," "Suzanne," "Bird On The Wire," "You Know Who I Am," and "The Partisan" as well as spoken word and poetry.

Also available on 180-gram Vinyl and Blu-ray