I was visiting a friend in his apartment in Northern Virginia about 30 years ago, small-talking about something or other when he stepped to his turntable to introduce me to a new favorite album of his.
Yes, I had heard of Leonard Cohen, I told him. I knew Cohen mostly as the guy who wrote "Bird on the Wire," which several years prior was a staple of Joe Cocker's Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour. I told Tom that I knew Cohen was a respected songwriter and that I did give a quick listen to one of his early albums once. But it didn't interest me enough to pursue Cohen any further -- he was a bit folky and quiet for my tastes.