This is the most exciting music related news I’ve heard in quite awhile.

A 1972 Leonard Cohen documentary, that was long thought to be lost, has been re-discovered and restored. Bird On A Wire, directed by Tony Palmer, follows Cohen during his 1972 tour of Europe. It was last screened in 1974 and then disappeared. A year ago, Bird On A Wire footage was found in 290 rusting film cans in a warehouse in Hollywood. Frank Zappa’s manager, who knew Palmer from his work on 200 Motels, sent him the film. Palmer painstakingly reconstructed the movie.

Palmer on the restoration of Bird On A Wire:

It has been a joy — although an exceedingly expensive one — to slowly but surely restore the original film. My admiration for Leonard’s music and the group of highly skilled musicians who accompanied him on that European tour has again been rekindled. Above all, my love for the man: a good man and a great songwriter.

Bird On A Wire includes 17 performances of Cohen classics and is being released on DVD on August 21. It will include a limited edition tour poster.