Thank you for buying this record. What follows is its documentation: the pressing identified, the matrix / runout transcribed by hand from the dead wax, and the condition as assessed before it was listed. It is yours to keep with the record.

— Paul, Vinyl Curator

Leonard Cohen

Live Songs

1973 · CBS S 65224 · Stereo · UK · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	CBS
Catalogue number	S 65224
Year	1973
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	UK
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Folk/Singer-Songwriter - Live Album
Producer	Bob Johnston
Composer	Leonard Cohen
Musicians	Leonard Cohen (acoustic guitar, vocals); 1972 touring band: Ron Cornelius (acoustic and electric guitar), Peter Marshall (stand-up and electric bass), David O'Connor (acoustic guitar), Bob Johnston (organ), Donna Washburn (vocals), Jennifer Warren (vocals); 1970 touring band: Ron Cornelius (electric guitar), Charlie Daniels (electric bass and fiddle), Elkin Fowler (banjo and guitar), Bob Johnston (harmonica and guitar), Aileen Fowler (vocals), Corlynn Hanney (vocals)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  S65224A1 A 18
Side B:  S65224B1 A 8

Condition

Cover: NM
Vinyl: NM-

Variant chronology

1973 - UK CBS 65224/S 65224, orange label with boxed CBS eye, A1/B1 stamped runouts  <- this copy
1973 - UK CBS 65224/S 65224, orange label, alternate stamped runout variants (A3/B3, A1∴/B3, A1 IT∴/B1 O∴, A1 5∴/B1 21∴)
1973 - UK CBS CBS 65224, sleeve with different track timings
1973 - US Columbia KC 31724/C 31724, stereo
1973 - Canada Columbia C 31724/KC 31724
1973 - Netherlands CBS S 65224, KC 31724
1973 - Spain CBS S 65224
1973 - Italy CBS 65224, S 65224
1973 - Japan CBS/Sony SOPL 199
1973 - New Zealand CBS SBP 474 110, KC 31724
1973 - South Africa CBS ASF 1759
1973 - Israel Columbia KC 65324
1975 - Yugoslavia Suzy CBS-65224
1976 - Spain CBS S 65224, reissue

This Pressing

1973 UK CBS S 65224 pressing - orange CBS label with boxed eye device, stamped A1/B1 runouts, label dated 1973 so not an earlier issue.

The Album

Live Songs was assembled from recordings made during Leonard Cohen's 1970 and 1972 European tours, stitching together performances from London, Paris, Brussels, Berlin and the Isle of Wight into a single continuous-sounding album rather than a straightforward concert document. It arrived as the follow-up to Songs of Love and Hate, at a point when Cohen's reputation as a brooding troubadour of the counterculture was already established, and it leaned into that persona with a stark, often unsettling tone - most notably on the extended, confrontational "Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)." The album is unusual among live records for favoring mood and atmosphere over polish, with Cohen backed by shifting small ensembles rather than a fixed touring band, lending each piece a different texture. It captured him at a transitional moment, moving away from the hushed intimacy of his debut toward a rawer, more theatrical stage persona. Critical reception at the time was mixed, with some listeners finding it uneven and difficult next to his studio albums, but it has since been reassessed by devoted listeners as a revealing document of Cohen's early live presence and his restless relationship with his own songs. The cover material, including handwritten inserts drawing on the work of Daphne Richardson, reinforced the album's confessional, fragile character. It remains a cult entry in Cohen's catalogue, valued less for hits than for the glimpse it offers into his live artistry in the early 1970s.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Minute Prologue
2. Passing Thru
3. You Know Who I Am
4. Bird on the Wire
5. Nancy
6. Improvisation

Side 2

1. Story of Isaac
2. Please Don't Pass Me By (A Disgrace)
3. Tonight Will Be Fine
4. Queen Victoria

The Label

The label is a plain orange CBS design with black print: a large square box centred on the spindle hole holds the CBS lettering above the single walking-eye device, with the catalogue number, side letter, the ℗ 1973 CBS Inc. line and MADE IN ENGLAND printed around it; the label is flat, without a deep groove. This is the standard UK CBS orange-label design used through the 1970s on this catalogue number, and the ℗ 1973 date printed on the label is the one mark the pressing cannot predate - it places this copy in 1973 or later rather than on any earlier dated line. This copy's stamped runout reads S65224A1/S65224B1 with additional etched suffix marks; other copies of this edition carry different stamper pairings (A3/B3, and A1/B1 combinations with additional etched symbols), and these pairings are not distinguishable as earlier or later pressings from the label design alone.

Fidelity

The album was produced and mixed by Bob Johnston from stage recordings made across several 1970 and 1972 European dates, so fidelity varies song to song depending on the original concert tapes rather than on this particular pressing's cut. UK CBS pressings of this era are generally solidly manufactured and this copy's clean stamped runouts suggest an unworn pressing from early in the stamper's life. Collectors tend to rate the original UK CBS pressing as the standard reference for this title, since no audiophile reissue series has superseded it; this copy sits with the ordinary run of first-era UK pressings rather than at either extreme of the fidelity spectrum.

Notes

This is a UK CBS stereo pressing of Live Songs, catalogue S 65224, with the standard orange CBS label carrying the ℗ 1973 CBS Inc. date. The stamped runouts read S65224A1/S65224B1, one of several stamper pairings found on this catalogue number, none separable into clear first/later tiers from the label alone. Made in England is printed at the foot of both labels, and the jacket and labels both carry the same 65224/S 65224 catalogue number pairing.

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