Leonard Cohen's 1980 "Do I Have To Dance All Night" (Amsterdam Concert)

The music for this video is the never released (and, as far as I can determine, never before on YouTube) arrangement of "Do I Have To Dance All Night" performed by Leonard Cohen in Amsterdam on his 1980 tour.


I recently created and posted a video for the quasi-funky version of "Do I Have To Dance All Night" Cohen, with backup vocals by Laura Brannigan, sang, sometimes twice in the same concert, during his 1976 tour: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqzdk6NhAs4


Compared to the 1976 renditions, the 1980 version of "Do I Have To Dance All Night" has a distinctly different tempo and sound which utilizes the style and talents of Passenger, the jazz fusion band co-founded by Roscoe Beck that featured oriental instruments (John Bilezikjian on oud and mandolin and Raffi Hakopian on gypsy violin) and began backing Cohen on his 1979 tour. Sharon Robinson was the backup singer for the 1980 tour (she and Jennifer Warnes were the backkup vocalists on the 1979 tour).

Neither version of "Do I Have To Dance All Night" has an "official video" or a performance video. Because "Do I Have To Dance All Night," one of my favorite Cohen songs, is largely unknown (the 1976 version was released only in as a 7" single for sale in Europe), I have now cobbled together, as I did for the 1976 rendition, a pastiche of Cohen-associated photos and clips that kinda sorta fits the music. As I did with the earlier "Do I Have To Dance All Night" video, I suggest that the optimal viewer mindset is thinking of this not as a music video but rather something to watch while listening to an impressive and especially enjoyable Leonard Cohen tune. As a bonus, Leonard Cohen fans may garner a modicum of entertainment by figuring out the origins of the clips and the identities of the various characters on the video.

A key identifying the sources from which this montage is composed is available at http://1heckofaguy.com/2009/06/08/do-i-have-to-dance-all-night-1980-version-v...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Leonard
• Cohen
• Do
• Have
• To
• Dance
• All
• Night
• Sharon
• Robinson
• Passenger

[violinmke]

They both have their charms Thanks. Amazing My job dropped at both of them as I bought every album and cd even obscure. I wonder what else is in the vault somewhere

[DrHGuy]

@violinmke I've put together two collections of unreleased Leonard Cohen renditions called "The Other Leonard Cohen Album" and "Another Other Leonard Cohen Album," that can be downloaded without cost. See the heading "The Other Leonard Cohen Album Is #24 On Uncut’s Greatest Bootlegs on the right sidebar of my site: 1HeckOfAGuy.

[messalina79]

I prefer the 'quasi-funky' version myself, much better for dancing ;) But this one has a certain charm, and an older and wiser feel to it.

[Af12007]

Aw DrHGuy this is so sweet. Why, why oh why wasn't "DIHTDAL" every put on an album and released! Why!!