{"product_id":"various-artists-im-your-fan-the-songs-of-leonard-cohen-9781501355066","title":"Various Artists' I'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003ci\u003eI'm Your Fan: The Songs of Leonard Cohen \u003c\/i\u003ehit stores in 1991, Leonard Cohen's career had plummeted from its revered 1960s high. Cohen's record label had refused to release his 1984 album \u003ci\u003eVarious Positions\u003c\/i\u003e--including the song \"Hallelujah\"--in the United States. Luckily, Velvet Underground founder John Cale was one of the few who \u003ci\u003edid\u003c\/i\u003e hear \"Hallelujah,\" and he covered it for \u003ci\u003eI'm Your Fan\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of Cohen's songs produced by a French fanzine. Jeff Buckley adored the tribute album and covered Cale's cover in 1994, never having heard Cohen's still-obscure original version. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 2016, \u003ci\u003eStereogum\u003c\/i\u003e labeled the tribute album \"possibly the most universally derided format in pop music.\" However, without a tribute album, you wouldn't know the song \"Hallelujah.\" Through Buckley through Cale, \"Hallelujah\" is now one of the most often-performed songs in the world--and it wouldn't be without this tribute album. \u003ci\u003eI'm Your Fan \u003c\/i\u003ethus offers a particularly notable example of a much broader truth: Despite all the eye-rolling they inspire, tribute albums matter. They can resuscitate legends' fading careers, or expose obscure artists who never had much of a career to begin with.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eRay Padgett\u003c\/b\u003e is the founder of \u003ci\u003eCover Me\u003c\/i\u003e, the largest blog devoted to cover songs on the web, and author of \u003ci\u003eCover Me: The Stories Behind the Greatest Cover Songs of All Time \u003c\/i\u003e(2017). His writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSPIN\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe AV Club\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVice, \u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eMOJO\u003c\/i\u003e, and he's been interviewed as an expert on cover songs by \u003ci\u003eNPR, The Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e, SiriusXM, and dozens more. He lives in Burlington, Vermont and also works as a publicist for Shore Fire Media\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50369058832658,"sku":"9781501355066","price":10.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_f29e0941-ab6c-47ee-ae7d-8af76ae353e0.jpg?v=1728519543","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/various-artists-im-your-fan-the-songs-of-leonard-cohen-9781501355066","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}