# Looking for an alternative version of Leonard Cohen's Suzanne **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888 "2009-03-09T23:22:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/1 "2009-03-09T23:22:36Z")
I have a faint but persistent memory there was a version of Leonard Cohen’s _Suzanne_, sung by (I think) a woman, but stylistically more like acid music than Judy Collin’s folk version. This would have been back in the early 1970’s. I tried to find it on Amazon, but failed. I can’t afford to buy very version on itunes looking for it. Does anyone else remember the name of the group or singer? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/2 "2009-03-09T23:38:05Z")
Is it mentioned [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_(Leonard_Cohen_song)#Cover_versions)? ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2009, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/3 "2009-03-09T23:44:51Z")
I believe Melanie(Safka) sang a version. However, I believe it is out of print. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/4 "2009-03-10T17:20:51Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Is it mentioned [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_(Leonard_Cohen_song)#Cover_versions)? I hope so. I’m trying to find samples of everything on that list, and **ouryL** ’s suggestion. Sadly, I have no idea of the name of the singer or the group, I just have an echo in my head. I suspect my parents must have had the version I remember on vinyl, I’ll check their collection (if they still have it) next time I visit. ---
**Author:** ![Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e68b1a/32.png) [@Abby\_Emma\_Sasha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abby_Emma_Sasha)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/5 "2009-03-10T17:32:23Z")
I have a Joan Baez album that was recorded live in which she sings _Suzanne_. She covers a lot of Dylan songs on it as well. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/6 "2009-03-10T19:22:42Z")
Napter has versions by Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin…though I wouldn’t call either of them acid both are edgier than Judy Collins. I’m really enjoying Aretha’s version right now. It’s from a compilation called Rare & Unreleased Recordings From the Golden Reign of the Queen of Soul. ---
**Author:** ![Stormcrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/0ea827/32.png) [@Stormcrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stormcrow)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/7 "2009-03-10T19:52:38Z")
> [@gwendee](#): > > Napter has versions by Nina Simone, and Aretha Franklin…though I wouldn’t call either of them acid both are edgier than Judy Collins. _Balloons_ are edgier than Joan Baez. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/8 "2009-03-10T21:50:41Z")
In my mental memory vault, _Spanky & Our Gang_ recorded a tasty version of it, but I can’t find what album it was on. It would have been pre-1970. It isn’t in that list Khadaji linked to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/9 "2009-03-10T22:21:30Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > In my mental memory vault, _Spanky & Our Gang_ recorded a tasty version of it, but I can’t find what album it was on. It would have been pre-1970. It isn’t in that list Khadaji linked to. I’m sorry, I wasn’t clear. My \*memory \*of the song dates to the early/mid '70s, the song could have been recorded much earlier. I’ll do some searching for the _Spanky & Our Gang_ version. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/10 "2009-03-11T00:10:40Z")
Many singers covered the song: > **[Suzanne (Leonard Cohen song)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzanne_(Leonard_Cohen_song))** > > "Suzanne" is a song written by Canadian poet and musician Leonard Cohen in the 1960s. First published as a poem in 1966, it was recorded as a song by Judy Collins in the same year, and Cohen performed it as his debut single, from his 1967 album Songs of Leonard Cohen. Many other artists have recorded versions, and it has become one of the most covered songs in Cohen's catalogue. > Far Out and American Songwriter ranked the song number four and number two, respectively, on their lists of the 10 g... ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/11 "2009-03-11T02:17:52Z")
It’s not by a woman, and I don’t know if you’d call it “acid,” but the first time I ever heard the song was in 1967. I was a junior in high school, and Noel Harrison (son of Rex Harrison, and at the time starring as the male lead in “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E” (!!!) released “Suzanne.” I had no idea who Leonard Cohen was, but some google-fu reveals he recorded this _before_ Leonard Cohen released his first record, so old Noel had to have been somewhat hip. All I remember is that when I heard this record on the radio it blew my sixteen year-old mind, so in that respect it WAS acid. Next year Harrison had a smash hit with “The Windmills of Your Mind” from the _The Thomas Crown Affair._ It may be worth checking out. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/looking-for-an-alternative-version-of-leonard-cohens-suzanne/488888/12 "2009-03-11T12:21:45Z")
> [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](#): > > I’ll do some searching for the _Spanky & Our Gang_ version. Thanks! Amazon has it as a single-song download. I can’t easily link directly to it, but look in the Spanky & Our Gang song list.