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

Songs of Leonard Cohen

1968 · CBS S 63241 · Stereo · Netherlands (“MADE IN HOLLAND” printed on both labels) · LP · 33 1/3 RPM

Pressing details

Label	CBS
Catalogue number	S 63241
Year	1968
Mono / Stereo	Stereo
Country	Netherlands (“MADE IN HOLLAND” printed on both labels)
Format	LP
Speed	33 1/3 RPM
Genre	Folk Rock
Producer	John Simon; John Hammond (produced the early sessions, uncredited on this jacket)
Composer	Leonard Cohen
Musicians	Leonard Cohen (vocals, guitar), John Simon (piano, organ, kazoo); uncredited on the jacket: Willie Ruff (bass), Nancy Priddy (backing vocals on “Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye”)

Matrix / Runout

Side A:  S63241-AIII ○ H
Side B:  63241-B 1 T

Condition

Cover: EX
Vinyl: NM

Variant chronology

1967 - UK CBS SBPG 63241, stereo
1967 - UK CBS BPG 63241, mono
1968 - US Columbia CS 9533, stereo
1968 - US Columbia CL 2733, mono
1968 - Germany CBS S 63241, stereo
1968 - Netherlands CBS S 63241/CS 9533, stereo, orange-to-yellow sunburst label  <- this copy
1970-73 - Europe CBS S 63241/CS 9533, stereo reissue
1985 or later - Netherlands CBS S 63241, stereo, plain red label with no device above the wordmark
2007 - Columbia 180g import reissue
2016 - Columbia 180g import reissue

This Pressing

1968 Netherlands CBS stereo pressing - orange-to-yellow sunburst label, S 63241/CS 9533, ahead of the plain red label Dutch repress of the same number pressed from 1985 onward.

The Album

Songs of Leonard Cohen was the debut album of a Montreal poet and novelist who had already published several acclaimed books before turning to songwriting in his early thirties. John Hammond signed Cohen to Columbia and began producing the sessions, but Hammond fell ill partway through and John Simon took over, adding orchestral and choral touches that Cohen himself later said he resisted. The record introduced “Suzanne,” a song already circulating in the folk world after Judy Collins had recorded it, alongside “So Long, Marianne” and “Sisters of Mercy,” songs that would become touchstones of Cohen's catalogue. Its spare, literary lyrics and Cohen's plainspoken, half-sung delivery stood apart from the prevailing folk-rock sound of 1967 and helped define a more introspective, poetic strain of singer-songwriter music. The album sold modestly on first release in North America but found a stronger audience in Britain and Europe, establishing the pattern of Cohen's career-long popularity overseas. Over time it came to be regarded as one of the essential debut albums in folk music, its songs covered by dozens of other artists and its melancholic, confessional tone cited as a major influence on generations of singer-songwriters.

Tracklist

Side 1

1. Suzanne
2. Master Song
3. Winter Lady
4. The Stranger Song
5. Sisters of Mercy

Side 2

1. So Long, Marianne
2. Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye
3. Stories of the Street
4. Teachers
5. One of Us Cannot Be Wrong

The Label

The labels are the orange-to-yellow sunburst CBS stereo design: the CBS wordmark in white above the artist name, the circular record-and-needle style CBS trademark box at the top, the catalogue number S 63241 paired with the US-style number CS 9533, a Copyright Control mark and B.I.E.M. box, and rim text ending “MADE IN HOLLAND.” the ℗ 1968 line is printed directly on the label. This sunburst design was CBS Holland's stereo house style through the late 1960s and into the 1970s, well before the plain red CBS label with no device above the wordmark that the Dutch pressing plant adopted from November 1985 onward. On that basis this copy sits in the original 1968-era Dutch stereo pressing run, ahead of the plain-red-label Dutch repress of the same catalogue number seen on later copies.

Fidelity

This Dutch stereo pressing carries the same John Simon-produced stereo mix used across the early CBS/Columbia stereo pressings of the title, cut for the European CBS plant rather than the UK or US facilities. Collectors generally rate the first UK and US pressings of this title as the most sought-after cuts, with contemporaneous European pressings such as this one regarded as solid, period-correct alternatives rather than the top of the fidelity hierarchy. It outranks the later 1970s-onward CBS reissues and the plain red label Dutch repress of the same catalogue number, and sits below the more recent 180g Columbia reissues in overall surface and mastering reputation among collectors, though it retains the appeal of an original-era analogue cut.

Notes

This is a 1968-dated Netherlands CBS stereo pressing of S 63241, with the orange-to-yellow sunburst label bearing the CBS trademark box, the catalogue numbers S 63241 and CS 9533, and rim text ending “MADE IN HOLLAND.” The ℗ 1968 line printed on the label is the record's own evidence that it was not made before that year. The Side A etched runout carries the stamper used on this catalogue number's Dutch stereo pressing; the Side B runout carries a different stamper suffix, an alternate stamper used on this copy. The sunburst label design predates the plain red CBS label (no device above the wordmark) used on Dutch repressings of this catalogue number from 1985 onward, placing this copy ahead of that later repress in the pressing sequence.

Documenting collections

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