11 August 2005: Cohn

A correspondent points out the news story that can be found at http://www.kltv.com/Global/story.asp?S=3700203.

This concerns Marc Cohn, singer/songwriter who won a Grammy in 1991 for his debut album ('Marc Cohn') which featured the hit 'Walking in Memphis', later covered disastrously by Cher (and apparently renamed by her 'Walking in Mem-pherrrs'). Cohn is a reluctant performer and even more reluctant recorder: his debut was followed by 'The Rainy Season' in 1993, 'Burning The Daze' in 1998 and we're still waiting for the fourth. We were promised last year, then early this year, then definitely later this year, then perhaps early next year. He does have a new live album out ("Live '04-'05") - his first official live effort, although the bootleg 'The American Landscape' from an early Hamburg concert is made from an official recording. You can find the new one here or on iTunes.

The story is that on Sunday night, after doing a concert in Colorado, Cohn and his band were driving along and suffered an attempted car-jacking. The jacker had a gun, and shot at the car, a bullet hitting Cohn in the head. Astoundingly, he's fine and has gone home after being released from hospital - meantime police have apprehended the shooter, so that's good. In a statement Marc said he felt lucky to be alive, but he's understandably cancelled the remaining dates on his sparse summer tour, at least until he recovers.

The official unofficial Marc Cohn fansite, Move Real Easy, has a forum on which I'm an occasional poster, and that's understandably been flooded with best wishes for Marc and his family. I certainly hope he recovers soon. Partly because I think his music is some of the best mix of the singer/songwriter tradition, gospel, blues, soul and straight-up rock, but also because I've yet to see him live: I missed the 1998 Camden concert, his only in the UK during the last eleven years, and am determined not to miss the next. His music is well-written, well-produced and sounds great recorded; live, he is superb, as you'll discover if you get hold of the new live album or any of the myriad (and actually Cohn-endorsed) bootlegs that are out there.

Anyway, I've not much more to say on this, except that I'm glad he's ok. And if you've still no idea what I'm talking about, here's a clip from Amazon. Happy discovering.