Some comments from John Simon on Producing Suzanne - Leonard Cohen

At your risk.

After an e-mail communication with the great producer on Suzanne - Leonard Cohen.

A link had been sent by e-mail to John Simon of this euroelectron post:

https://euroelectron.blogspot.com/2026/09/music-and-electronics-molecules-and.html

Below is the reply:

George.

Yes. You found me.

This is a lovely recording.

You are right that the recording of a singer who sings softly enables us to hear a far greater frequency range than that of a “screamer” or “belter” — so there is a level of personal intimacy present.

I was also the arranger for most of this album and I am proud of the use of female voices as a background element. They were all recorded in the same way. The mic in both cases were Neumann U-87s.

I did not produce or record several songs on the album because I had to move on to other projects at the time. For instance I did not record “Stories of The Street” or “Teachers”. But I believe I recorded all the rest.

There is a lot more lore from that era in my book, “Truth, Lies & Hearsay: A Memoir Of A Musical Life In And Out Of Rock And Roll” by John Simon.  Available from Amazon and wherever fine literature is sold.

Thanks for getting in touch.

Warmly,

 js

John,

Yes the girls sound like angels, don't they?

Is the reverb on the voices including Leonard's an echo chamber?

Warmly,

George

An old EMT “box”. About 6 feet long, 4 feet tall and 18” think. It had a plate in it.