The Smokey Life Tour
| Tour by Leonard Cohen | |
| Associated album | Recent Songs |
|---|---|
| Start date | October 13, 1979 |
| End date | November 24, 1980 |
| Legs | 3 |
| No. of shows | 80 in Europe 7 in Australia 2 in Asia 89 in Total |
| Leonard Cohen concert chronology | |
The Smokey Life Tour was a concert tour by Leonard Cohen, in support of his album Recent Songs, released in 1979. The name of the tour comes from the song "The Smokey Life", taken from the album.
The tour began shortly after the release of the album in October 1979 in Gothenburg, Sweden and would continue until mid December. Most concerts were given in three countries – Germany (24 shows), the United Kingdom (9 shows) and France (8 shows). The tour also made stops in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland and Ireland for one or two concerts.
In March 1980, the tour traveled to Australia for seven shows in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide. After seven months off, the show returned to Europe for concerts on the mainland, giving performances in France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium as well as Austria, the Netherlands and Spain. The tour ended with two performances on November 24, 1980 in Tel Aviv, Israel.
In the seven-month-long break, Cohen (together with The Chambers Brothers and Jennifer Warnes) took part at the "Bread & Roses" Festival in Berkeley, California. It would be the only appearance of Cohen in Northern America during this tour.
Several shows of the tour were professionally recorded, most notably the shows at the Hammersmith Odeon and the Dome Theatre in December 1979. The recordings were officially released 22 years later in 2001 as a live album under the name of Field Commander Cohen: Tour of 1979.
The 1979 concert in Bonn was transmitted on radio. Most of the concerts were taped by fans and privately exchanged.
Accompanying Cohen was the jazz band Passenger from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Steve Meador on drums, Roscoe Beck on bass, Mitch Watkins on guitar, Bill Ginn on keyboards and Paul Ostermayer on sax and flute. Other tour members included violinist Raffi Hakopian, oudist John Bilezikjian, and backup singers Jennifer Warnes and Sharon Robinson.
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