Marianne Faithfull | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Few stars of the 60s reinvented themselves as successfully as Marianne Faithfull. She began her career as a pop thrush who scored an international hit with her version of "As Tears Go By," which was released well before the Rolling Stones recorded it, and a string of successful singles followed in the U.K. Initially, Faithfull was known as much for her blonde beauty and her relationship with Mick Jagger as she was for her gentle voice and talent as an interpretive vocalist, though she recorded a fine folk album, 1966s North Country Maid, that showed her gifts stretched beyond polished pop. In the late 60s, she stumbled into drug addiction (her experiences would inform the song "Sister Morphine," which she co-wrote with Jagger and Keith Richards), and was little heard until she made a striking comeback with 1979s Broken English, which found her voice rougher and deeper than before but displaying a passion and drama it never had before. The album, edgy yet adult, gave Faithfull a new career, and over the next four decades, she would mix collections of her own material (1981s Dangerous Acquaintances, 1995s A Secret Life) with collections of standards (1987s Strange Weather, 2008s Easy Come Easy Go), interpretations of the work of Kurt Weill (1998s Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins and Other Songs), and collaborations with fans and peers (2005s Before the Poison, which featured songs co-written with Nick Cave, PJ Harvey, and Damon Albarn). Marianne Faithfull was born in Hampstead, London, England on December 29, 1946. Her father was a British Intelligence officer who also taught Italian literature at London University, and her mother was a distant relative of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, the notorious author whose work helped define the concepts of sadism and masochism. In her teens, Faithfull took up singing, appearing at folk clubs, and was introduced to the rarefied atmosphere of the music community in London. Faithfull was coaxed into a singing career by Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham in 1964 after he spotted her at a party, and she had a big hit in both Britain and the U.S. with her debut single, the Jagger/Richards composition "As Tears Go By" (which prefaced the Stones own version by a full year). Considerably more successful in her native land than the States, she had a series of hits in the mid-60s that set her high, fragile voice against delicate orchestral pop arrangements: "Summer Night," "This Little Bird," and Jackie DeShannons "Come and Stay with Me." Not a songwriter at the outset of her career, she owed much of her status as a 60s icon to her long-running romance with Mick Jagger, although she offered a taste of things to come with her compelling 1969 single "Sister Morphine," which she co-wrote (and which the Stones later released themselves on Sticky Fingers). In the early 70s, Faithfull split up with Jagger, developed a serious drug habit, and recorded rarely, with often disappointing results. This occurred until late 1979, when she pulled off an astonishing comeback with Broken English. Displaying a weathered, cutting voice that had lowered a good octave since the mid-60s, Faithfull had also begun to write much of her own material, and addressed sex and despair with wrenching realism. After allowing herself to be framed as a demure chanteuse by songwriters and arrangers throughout most of her career, Faithfull had found her own voice, and suddenly sounded more relevant and contemporary than most of the stars she had rubbed shoulders with in the 60s. Faithfulls recordings in the 80s and 90s were eclectic and generally quite interesting; Strange Weather, a Hal Willner-produced 1987 collection of standards and contemporary compositions that spanned several decades for its sources, was her greatest triumph of the decade. In 1994, she published her self-titled autobiography; the biography As Tears Go By by Mark Hodkinson is an objective and thorough account of her life and times. Faithfull returned to recording in 2002 with Kissin Time, an eclectic collection of songwriting collaborations with Beck, Damon Albarn, Billy Corgan, Jon Brion, and Jarvis Cocker, among others. Before the Poison was released in the U.K. in 2004, making its entrance into the U.S. market in early 2005. This album continued in the vein of its predecessor, with songwriting and production contributions from PJ Harvey, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Brion, and Albarn, but with far more consistent results. In 2008, Faithfull and Willner released Easy Come Easy Go, an all-new collection of typically eclectic covers from the likes of Morrissey, the Decemberists, Billie Holiday, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and Dolly Parton. Faithfull and Willner re-teamed for 2011s Horses and High Heels, a collection of covers and originals recorded at the famed Piety Street studio in New Orleans. The album featured the talents of local musicians, including renowned guitarist John Porter, as well as cameos by Dr. John, Lou Reed, and Wayne Kramer. In 2012, Faithfull appeared in a production of Kurt Weills Seven Deadly Sins at the Linz State Theater in Austria, and in 2013 she appeared at the Yoko Ono-curated Meltdown Festival in duet with guitarist Bill Frisell. Faithfulls recording career resumed in late 2013 when she began writing and recording with a host of friends old and new, penning her own lyrics to each song. Some of her collaborators included Brian Eno, Adrian Utley, Roger Waters, Anna Calvi, and Steve Earle. Give My Love to London was released in the fall of 2014. A live album entitled No Exit included tunes from her previous albums as well as career highlights. It was accompanied by a live DVD documenting a 90-minute concert at the Müpa Budapest, with four bonus songs taken from her 50th anniversary performance at Londons Roundhouse. No Exit was issued in the fall of 2016. Arriving in 2018, Negative Capability was a mix of covers and original material; the compositions included collaborations with Nick Cave and Mark Lanegan, while she also interpreted tunes by Bob Dylan and the Pretty Things, as well as cutting a new version of "As Tears Go By." | ||
 | Album: 1 of 36 Title: "Come My Way" Released: 1965 Tracks: 18 Duration: 47:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Come My Way (02:06) 2 Jaberwock (02:34) 3 Portland Town (02:59) 4 House of the Rising Sun (02:28) 5 Spanish Is a Loving Tongue (02:43) 6 Fare Thee Well (02:52) 7 Lonesome Traveler (02:04) 8 Down in the Salley Garden (02:05) 9 Mary Ann (01:44) 10 Full Fathom Five (01:26) 11 Four Strong Winds (02:59) 12 Black Girl (02:28) 13 Once I Had a Sweetheart (02:07) 14 Bells of Freedom (02:04) 15 Blowin in the Wind (03:07) 16 Et Maintenant (03:28) 17 Thats Right Baby (02:48) 18 Sister Morphine (05:30) |
| "Come My Way" : Allmusic album Review : When Marianne Faithfull released her first two albums for the U.K. market in the spring of 1965, she took the unusual step of issuing them simultaneously. One, simply titled Marianne Faithfull, was the pop-oriented collection that listeners of her hit singles would have expected. The other, Come My Way, by contrast was comprised solely of folk tunes, most of them traditional, the acoustic settings arranged by guitarist Jon Mark. Faithfull at this very early stage in her career still had the tremulous soprano common to many woman folk singers of the era. While her singing here is pleasant and competent, its rather average when stacked against the emotional commitment and personality the best interpreters of such tunes brought to the material at the time. Indeed, Faithfull herself would do the same kind of repertoire, with considerably greater vocal imagination and more forceful musical backing, on her underrated third U.K. album, 1966s North Country Maid. Still, its an OK record, Faithfull putting her pipes to reverent use on folk revival staples like "Portland Town," "House of the Rising Sun," "Once I Had a Sweetheart," and "Black Girl," taking on a contemporary writer with Ian Tysons "Four Strong Winds." Her reading of "Lonesome Traveller" stands out for the propulsive backing, with hasty 12-string guitar strums and what sound like bongos. The CD reissue, available briefly in Britain in the early 90s and then in Japan in the early 2000s, adds four bonus tracks: the 1964 B-side "Blowin in the Wind"; "Et Maintenant," from a 1965 EP; the poppy and bluesy 1966 B-side "Thats Right Baby"; and her classic 1969 single "Sister Morphine," which predated the Rolling Stones version by a couple of years. | ||
 | Album: 2 of 36 Title: Marianne Faithfull Released: 1965 Tracks: 12 Duration: 28:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 This Little Bird (02:00) 2 I’m a Loser (02:15) 3 What Have They Done to the Rain (02:53) 4 In My Time of Sorrow (02:20) 5 What Have I Done Wrong (01:50) 6 Come and Stay With Me (02:25) 7 As Tears Go By (02:37) 8 If I Never Get to Love You (02:15) 9 Time Takes Time (01:40) 10 Hell Come Back to Me (02:33) 11 Paris Bells (02:45) 12 Plaisir DAmour (02:34) |
| Marianne Faithfull : Allmusic album Review : Her erratic, self-titled debut features lovely baroque arrangements by Mike Leander and decent tunes like "As Tears Go By," and Jackie DeShannons "Come and Stay With Me" and "In My Time of Sorrow," and Bacharach/Davids "If I Never Get to Love You," as well as fairly crummy covers of hits by the Beatles, Hermans Hermits, and Petula Clark. Look for the Japanese CD reissue: It adds six non-LP bonus tracks from mid-60s singles, including a couple (the girl-groupish "The Sha La La Song," the melancholy "The Morning Sun") that rank among her best 60s recordings. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 36 Title: North Country Maid Released: 1966 Tracks: 12 Duration: 35:17 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Green Are Your Eyes (02:58) 2 Scarborough Fair (03:07) 3 Cockleshells (03:17) 4 The Last Thing on My Mind (02:17) 5 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (03:58) 6 Sally Free and Easy (02:52) 7 Sunny Goodge Street (03:22) 8 How Should I Your True Love Know (01:19) 9 She Moved Thru the Fair (03:10) 10 North Country Maid (02:37) 11 Lullaby (02:42) 12 Wild Mountain Thyme (03:38) |
| North Country Maid : Allmusic album Review : Faithfull was still known primarily as a pop singer when she put out North Country Maid, but this is in fact very close to a pure folk album, with a bit of influence from pop, rock, blues, and jazz. Largely overlooked even by Faithfull fans, its actually a quite respectable effort, and probably her best LP (other than greatest-hits compilations) from the time when her voice was still on the high side. Ably backed by sessionmen including guitarists Jon Mark and Jim Sullivan, she interprets mostly traditional material on this record, including "She Moved Through the Fair," "Wild Mountain Thyme," "Sally Free and Easy," and "Scarborough Fair." There are some mid-60s covers too, though, including Donovans "Sunny Goodge Street" and Tom Paxtons "Last Thing on My Mind." Sometimes, when the bass gets prominent and the arrangements swing, this isnt too far from early Pentangle, as unexpected as that comparison is. The use of sitar on "She Moved Through the Fair" and "Wild Mountain Thyme" is adventurous, and she sings pretty well throughout, with dignity and purity if not utmost imagination or grit. The 1990 CD reissue on Deram U.K. adds three worthwhile bonus tracks: "The Most of What Is Least" (from a 1965 EP) and alternate versions of "Come My Way" and "Mary Anne" (the originals of which had appeared on her 1965 album, Come My Way). | ||
 | Album: 4 of 36 Title: Go Away From My World Released: 1966 Tracks: 12 Duration: 29:05 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Go Away From My World (02:35) 2 Yesterday (02:19) 3 Come My Way (02:25) 4 Last Thing on My Mind (02:12) 5 How Should I Your True Love Know (01:14) 6 Wild Mountain Thyme (03:36) 7 Summer Nights (01:48) 8 Mary Ann (01:51) 9 Scarborough Fair (03:02) 10 Lullabye (02:38) 11 North Country Maid (02:33) 12 Sally Free and Easy (02:52) |
 | Album: 5 of 36 Title: Faithfull Forever… Released: 1966 Tracks: 12 Duration: 05:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Counting (02:54) 2 Tomorrow’s Calling (?) 3 The First Time (?) 4 With You in Mind (?) 5 In the Night Time (?) 6 Ne me quitte pas (Love Theme From Umbrellas of Cherbourg) (?) 7 Monday Monday (?) 8 Some Other Spring (?) 9 That’s Right Baby (02:50) 10 Lucky Girl (?) 11 I’m the Sky (?) 12 I Have a Love (?) |
 | Album: 6 of 36 Title: Faithless Released: 1978 Tracks: 16 Duration: 52:33 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Dreamin My Dreams (03:19) 2 Vanilla OLay (03:57) 3 Wait for Me Down by the River (03:34) 4 Ill Be Your Baby Tonight (03:53) 5 Lady Madelaine (04:22) 6 Somebody Loves You (02:52) 7 All I Wanna Do in Life (02:42) 8 The Way You Want Me to Be (02:06) 9 Wrong Road Again (02:48) 10 That Was the Day (Nashville) (04:15) 11 This Time (03:02) 12 Im Not Lisa (03:18) 13 Fairytale Hero (03:23) 14 (It Wasnt God Who Made) Honky Tonk Angels (04:07) 15 Im Looking for Blue Eyes (01:59) 16 Sweet Little Sixteen (02:48) |
| Faithless : Allmusic album Review : Marianne Faithfulls first new album in a decade revealed the weathered voice she later would put to good, if harrowing, use in a series of albums for Island Records starting with Broken English in 1979. Here, that voice was smoothed out and used for pop and country material including such songs as "Ill Be Your Baby Tonight," "Im Not Lisa," and "It Wasnt God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels." Faithfull had loosened up considerably since the chaste schoolgirl days of "As Tears Go By," and Faithless suggested that her hard life could be analogous to that of a country music star. Faithfull didnt have the accent to match that assertion, but she did have the attitude. (Faithless was a slightly altered version of the January 1977 album Dreaming My Dreams. It was reissued on CD in 1991 with four bonus tracks and as No Regrets in 2008.) | ||
 | Album: 7 of 36 Title: Broken English Released: 1979 Tracks: 8 Duration: 37:40 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Broken English (04:36) 2 Witches’ Song (04:46) 3 Brain Drain (04:15) 4 Guilt (05:11) 5 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (04:12) 6 What’s the Hurry? (03:06) 7 Working Class Hero (04:42) 8 Why D’Ya Do It? (06:47) |
| Broken English : Allmusic album Review : After a lengthy absence, Faithfull resurfaced on this 1979 album, which took the edgy and brittle sound of punk rock and gave it a shot of studio-smooth dance rock. Faithfulls whiskey-worn vocals perfectly match the bitter and biting "Whyd Ya Do It" and revitalize John Lennons "Working Class Hero." | ||
 | Album: 8 of 36 Title: As Tears Go By Released: 1980 Tracks: 12 Duration: 30:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 As Tears Go By (02:34) 2 This Little Bird (02:00) 3 Summer Nights (01:50) 4 Greensleeves (02:41) 5 You Cant Go Where the Roses Go (02:55) 6 Reason to Believe (02:21) 7 Come and Stay With Me (02:19) 8 The Last Thing on My Mind (02:14) 9 Yesterday (02:15) 10 Tomorrows Calling (02:55) 11 North County Maid (02:30) 12 Wild Mountain Thyme (03:30) |
 | Album: 9 of 36 Title: Dangerous Acquaintances Released: 1981 Tracks: 9 Duration: 37:10 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sweetheart (03:17) 2 Intrigue (04:32) 3 Easy In The City (03:19) 4 Strange One (02:56) 5 Tenderness (03:55) 6 For Beautys Sake (03:32) 7 So Sad (04:31) 8 Eye Communication (03:42) 9 Truth, Bitter Truth (07:22) |
| Dangerous Acquaintances : Allmusic album Review : A rather lukewarm, disappointing follow-up to Broken English, on which Marianne Faithfull seemed to be retreating from that albums sonic and lyrical risks. Although Broken English had found most of its audience with the new wave/alternative crowd (songs like "Whyd Ya Do It," after all, were too shocking to get much commercial airplay), Dangerous Acquaintances seemed to be moving back to more mainstream rock territory, particularly in the arrangements. Its always a possible sign of trouble when there are over a dozen session musicians in the credits, and much of the records music has a sort of anonymous feel. The songs, too, are less striking (and less angrily risqué) than those of Broken English, although Faithfull was still carving her own identity with lyrics about romantic duplicity. The most commercially accessible track, "For Beauties Sake," was co-written by Faithfull and Steve Winwood. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 36 Title: A Childs Adventure Released: 1983 Tracks: 8 Duration: 37:26 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Times Square (04:26) 2 The Blue Millionaire (05:38) 3 Falling From Grace (03:57) 4 Morning Come (05:17) 5 Ashes in My Hand (04:50) 6 Running for Our Lives (04:45) 7 Ireland (04:38) 8 Shes Got a Problem (03:53) |
| A Child's Adventure : Allmusic album Review : Faithfull pegged her comeback to a brutal survivalist persona, but by this fourth album of her second career, she had mellowed at least to the extent of constructing flowing song structures with her collaborators, Barry Reynolds and Wally Badarou, that eased the bitterness still found in many of her lyrics. A Childs Adventure is thus more listenable, but less compelling, than her other albums of the period. | ||
 | Album: 11 of 36 Title: Rich Kid Blues Released: 1985 Tracks: 24 Duration: 1:22:48 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Rich Kid Blues (04:18) 2 Long Black Veil (03:01) 3 Sad Lisa (02:29) 4 Its All Over Now, Baby Blue (03:50) 5 Southern Butterfly (03:16) 6 Chords of Fame (03:46) 7 Visions of Johanna (04:36) 8 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (03:54) 9 Beware of Darkness (03:31) 10 Corrine Corrina (02:32) 11 Mud Slide Slim (03:39) 12 Crazy Lady Blues (02:03) 1 All I Want to Do in Life (02:45) 2 Ill Be Your Baby Tonight (03:55) 3 Wait for Me Down by the River (03:39) 4 That Was the Day (Nashville) (04:18) 5 This Time (03:04) 6 The Way You Want Me to Be (02:06) 7 Dreamin My Dreams (03:19) 8 Wrong Road Again (02:49) 9 Fairytale Hero (03:30) 10 Vanilla OLay (03:59) 11 Lady Madelaine (04:26) 12 Honk Tonk Angels (04:03) |
| Rich Kid Blues : Allmusic album Review : In early 1971, Marianne Faithfull -- whose personal life was not in the best shape and whose commercial prospects were idle as she had released just one single since early 1967 -- recorded an albums worth of material with producer Mike Leander, who had worked with Faithfull in the 1960s. Leander hoped to place the album with Bell Records, but despite some initial positive feedback, Bell rejected the record after it was completed. The 12 songs on this CD were cut at these 1971 sessions and eventually released in the mid-80s on the Castle compilation Rich Kid Blues, which added most of the material from her 1978 album Faithless. Now isolated on a disc of their own, these early-70s performances turn out to be surprisingly worthwhile, even if theyre not among her very best work. Faithfulls voice had now lowered about a full octave (actually it had already done so by her 1969 single "Sister Morphine"), and she gave dignified, knowing interpretations to songs with a folk-rock and country-rock bent, with suitably understated, low-key arrangements. Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, James Taylor, Tim Hardin, and Cat Stevens were among the composers covered, and pure country ("Long Black Veil") and folk ("Corinne, Corinna") tunes were also part of the program. This is best when the arrangements are stripped down to little more than guitar and Faithfulls sensually low voice, as on "Sad Lisa," "Southern Butterfly," and "Visions of Johanna." When a fuller electric band backings employed, theres a more dated early-70s mellow-rock sluggishness. Still, at its best this is actually very good stuff, and even at less than its best, it has its good points. A worthy transition from her 60s pop days into more serious material, its worth finding (and has often been overlooked) by Faithfull fans. | ||
 | Album: 12 of 36 Title: Marianne Faithfulls Greatest Hits Released: 1987 Tracks: 16 Duration: 45:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 As Tears Go By (02:37) 2 Counting (02:58) 3 This Little Bird (02:04) 4 Summer Nights (01:48) 5 Something Better (02:45) 6 Come Stay With Me (02:27) 7 Monday Monday (03:11) 8 With You in Mind (02:29) 9 Yesterday (02:19) 10 Go Away From My World (02:35) 11 Tomorrows Calling (03:02) 12 In My Time of Sorrow (02:22) 13 Is This What I Get for Loving You (03:54) 14 I Have a Love (02:51) 15 Some Other Spring (02:33) 16 Sister Morphine (05:30) |
| Marianne Faithfull's Greatest Hits : Allmusic album Review : While missing a few fine album tracks, this is an excellent 16-song distillation of her 60s recordings. Includes all of her British and American hits -- "As Tears Go By," "This Little Bird," "Summer Nights," and "Come and Stay With Me." Bonuses include "In My Time of Sorrow," an obscure mid-60s folk-rocker co-written by Jackie DeShannon and Jimmy Page, and her 1969 single "Sister Morphine" (co-written with the Rolling Stones), predating the Sticky Fingers version; its easily her most powerful performance of the decade. | ||
 | Album: 13 of 36 Title: Strange Weather Released: 1987 Tracks: 12 Duration: 38:12 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Stranger Intro (00:32) 2 Boulevard of Broken Dreams (03:06) 3 Ain Goin Down to the Well No Mo (01:11) 4 Yesterdays (05:20) 5 Sign of Judgement (02:54) 6 Strange Weather (04:15) 7 Love, Life and Money (04:08) 8 Ill Keep It With Mine (03:48) 9 Hello Stranger (02:31) 10 Penthouse Serenade (When Were Alone) (02:37) 11 As Tears Go By (03:56) 12 A Stranger on Earth (03:48) |
| Strange Weather : Allmusic album Review : Faithfulls 1987 release recast her as a nicotine-stained chanteuse, approaching such standards as "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" and "Penthouse Serenade" with a ravaged, world-weary demeanor that recalls the latter-day recordings of Billie Holiday. She also tackles some blues and jazz material and turns "As Tears Go By" into the gut-wrenching torch ballad neither the Stones nor Faithfull could ever have done in the 60s. A dark, challenging masterpiece. | ||
 | Album: 14 of 36 Title: The Very Best of Marianne Faithfull Released: 1988-07-05 Tracks: 16 Duration: 45:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 As Tears Go By (02:37) 2 Come and Stay With Me (02:28) 3 Scarborough Fair (03:07) 4 Monday Monday (03:11) 5 Yesterday (02:19) 6 The Last Thing on My Mind (02:18) 7 What Have They Done to the Rain (02:57) 8 This Little Bird (02:04) 9 Something Better (02:55) 10 In My Time of Sorrow (02:25) 11 Is This What I Get for Loving You? (03:56) 12 Tomorrows Calling (03:03) 13 Reason to Believe (02:21) 14 Sister Morphine (05:30) 15 Go Away From My World (02:35) 16 Summer Nights (01:51) |
 | Album: 15 of 36 Title: Blazing Away Released: 1990 Tracks: 13 Duration: 1:12:39 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Les Prisons du Roy (06:52) 2 Strange Weather (05:18) 3 Guilt (07:59) 4 Working Class Hero (06:12) 5 Sister Morphine (07:41) 6 As Tears Go By (04:25) 7 Whyd Ya do It? (06:48) 8 When I Find My Life (03:01) 9 Ballad of Lucy Jordan (05:14) 10 Times Square (04:57) 11 Blazing Away (04:12) 12 She Moved Through the Fair (02:16) 13 Broken English (07:37) |
| Blazing Away : Allmusic album Review : Fully established as a dramatic, innovative singer with astonishing appeal and energy thanks to her string of excellent 80s releases, Faithfull concluded her renaissance decade with Blazing Away, an excellent live album recorded in New Yorks St. Annes Cathedral. The crackerjack backing band deserves note in and of itself, including members ranging from the Bands Garth Hudson to Dr. John, plus regular collaborators Marc Ribot, Fernando Saunders, and her key partner Barry Reynolds. Faithfull and the players fit hand in glove track for track, with the emphasis on subtler arrangements and performances suiting the hushed, striking atmosphere of the performance. When the band shows its muscle, as with the snarling strut of "Guilt," theres no question of this being anything like easy listening. In general, though, the sense of cabaret meets modern nightclub dominates, with Faithfulls singing capturing the cracking tug of her vocals just so. The selection of songs ranges from the intriguingly obscure to the familiar enough -- "As Tears Go By" and "Broken English" take unsurprising bows, as does a lengthy brood on "Sister Morphine," "She Moved Through the Fair," and a commanding rip through the harrowing "Whyd Ya Do It?" There are two new numbers as well. The title track is the one song recorded in studio, with Reynolds and Saunders, plus a number of other musicians; its got a nice steel guitar twang to it, and Faithfull tries for the high lonesome sound in her own wonderful way. Other flat-out highlights include a grand take on "Times Square" and a slow crawl through "Working Class Hero" that seethes with fire, both from the musicians and Faithfull. | ||
 | Album: 16 of 36 Title: This Little Bird Released: 1993 Tracks: 14 Duration: 43:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 This Little Bird (02:04) 2 Morning Sun (03:09) 3 Monday Monday (03:10) 4 Our Love Has Gone (03:21) 5 Et maintenant (03:33) 6 Blowin in the Wind (03:11) 7 Portland Town (03:02) 8 Is This What I Get for Loving You (03:54) 9 Black Girl (02:31) 10 Oh Look Around (03:05) 11 What Have They Done to the Rain (02:56) 12 Young Girl Blues (03:39) 13 You Cant Go Where the Roses Go (03:00) 14 Come & Stay With Me (02:27) |
| This Little Bird : Allmusic album Review : The first giveaway that this compilation was not put together with the highest of budgets: the artists name is misspelled "Faithful" on the cover. Its a random assortment of 1964-67 cuts, only two of which were hits ("This Little Bird" and "Come and Stay With Me"). In general it illustrates, no doubt inadvertently, the directionlessness of her early career -- folk standards, folk-rock, and covers of Donovan, Phil Spector, and the Mamas and the Papas were all fair game. Some of this stuff isnt easy to come by on reissues, like her flop single cover of "Blowin in the Wind," the Jackie DeShannon song "You Cant Go Where the Roses Go," and the gorgeous B-side "The Morning Sun." And the music as a whole isnt bad, either, so the collection does have some value. Its just that the selection is too haphazard, and the packaging too threadbare, to make it definitive of her 60s work; try ABKCOs Marianne Faithfulls Greatest Hits for that. | ||
 | Album: 17 of 36 Title: Faithfull Released: 1994 Tracks: 11 Duration: 48:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Broken English (04:36) 2 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (04:06) 3 Working Class Hero (04:42) 4 Guilt (05:11) 5 Why D’Ya Do It? (06:47) 6 Ghost Dance (03:45) 7 Trouble in Mind (The Return) (04:22) 8 Times Square (live) (04:41) 9 Strange Weather (04:15) 10 She (03:25) 11 As Tears Go By (02:37) |
 | Album: 18 of 36 Title: A Secret Life Released: 1995 Tracks: 10 Duration: 35:19 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Prologue (02:04) 2 Sleep (03:44) 3 Love in the Afternoon (03:31) 4 Flaming September (05:03) 5 She (03:26) 6 Bored by Dreams (03:09) 7 Losing (03:53) 8 The Wedding (03:19) 9 The Stars Line Up (03:53) 10 Epilogue (03:14) |
| A Secret Life : Allmusic album Review : For her first studio album comprised of mostly original material in over a decade, Faithfull enlisted noted composer Angelo Badalamenti (who collaborated with David Lynch for the Twin Peaks TV soundtrack) to write music for her lyrics and produce. Faithfull is still in rippingly fine voice, and her words still penetrate. But while Badalamentis densely orchestral arrangements can be effectively noirish, they can also create an inappropriately cold and detached ambience, despite standout tracks like "Flaming September" and "She." | ||
 | Album: 19 of 36 Title: Broken English / Strange Weather Released: 1995-08-22 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:16:06 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Broken English (04:36) 2 Witches’ Song (04:46) 3 Brain Drain (04:15) 4 Guilt (05:11) 5 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (04:12) 6 What’s the Hurry? (03:06) 7 Working Class Heroes (04:44) 8 Whyd Ya Do It? (06:55) 9 Stranger Intro (00:32) 10 Boulevard of Broken Dreams (03:06) 11 I Aint Goin Down to the Well No More (01:11) 12 Yesterdays (05:20) 13 Sign of Judgement (02:54) 14 Strange Weather (04:15) 15 Love, Life and Money (04:08) 16 Ill Keep It With Mine (03:48) 17 Hello Stranger (02:31) 18 Penthouse Serenade (02:37) 19 As Tears Go By (03:45) 20 A Stranger on Earth (04:03) |
| Broken English / Strange Weather : Allmusic album Review : Mobile Fidelity reissued Marianne Faithfulls two dark milestones, 1979s Broken English and 1987s Strange Weather, on one CD. Although there were nearly ten years separating these two records, they share a moodiness and faux-torch arrangements that make them a perfect match. The remastering is terrific, as is the packaging, which means this is the way for serious fans to own this music on disc. | ||
 | Album: 20 of 36 Title: 20th Century Blues Released: 1996-09-02 Tracks: 15 Duration: 54:02 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Alabama Song (04:18) 2 Want to Buy Some Illusions (03:57) 3 Pirate Jenny (04:58) 4 Salomon Song (03:43) 5 Boulevard of Broken Dreams (03:34) 6 Complainte de la Seine (04:09) 7 The Ballad of the Soldiers Wife (04:08) 8 Intro (01:12) 9 Mon Ami, My Friend (02:25) 10 Falling in Love Again (02:22) 11 Mack the Knife (03:32) 12 20th Century Blues (03:20) 13 Dont Forget Me (03:40) 14 Surabaya Johnny (05:15) 15 Street Singers Farewell (03:22) |
| 20th Century Blues : Allmusic album Review : As the liner notes to this intriguing release tell, Faithfull had a long-simmering interest in German cabaret, particularly the work of Kurt Weill. It came fully to life via her role as Pirate Jenny in a staging of The Threepenny Opera in Dublin as translated by Frank McGuinness and her attendance at a workshop organized by Allen Ginsburg. After a series of initial performances with pianist Paul Trueblood, Faithfull took her revue of many classic songs from the mid-century, titled "An Evening in the Weimar Republic," to the road. This particular recording is from a performance in Paris in 1996, showcasing both a smart selection of songs to work with and Faithfulls own dramatic, interpretive skills with them. Kicking off with the aggressive-then-smooth bite of the Brecht/Weill standard "Alabama Song," Faithfull and Trueblood show they make a great team -- her distinct vocals seem almost born for the material, while Trueblood is a sure hand on the keys, both playful and polished. Weill remains the centerpiece of the show, in both his various collaborations with Brecht -- standout tracks include withering versions of "Pirate Jenny," "Salomon Song," and "Surabaya Johnny" -- and with other partners, including "Complainte de la Seine" and "Mon Ami, My Friend." Friedrich Hollaender gets the nod twice, with a take on the eternal classic "Falling in Love Again" almost rivaling Marlene Dietrichs original interpretation. The title track, a noted Noel Coward number, gets a fine performance, as does the one nod to more contemporary times, a rendition of Harry Nilssons "Dont Forget Me." One nod to Faithfulls previous recording past appears via a new version of "Boulevard of Broken Dreams," originally covered by her on Strange Weather. Faithfull throughout introduces songs with humor and reflection, a perfect MC for her own performance. | ||
 | Album: 21 of 36 Title: The Seven Deadly Sins Released: 1998-09-29 Tracks: 13 Duration: 50:44 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Prolog (03:50) 2 Faulheit (03:57) 3 Stolz (04:50) 4 Zorn (04:52) 5 Völlerei (03:32) 6 Unzucht (05:21) 7 Habsucht (03:02) 8 Neid (04:31) 9 Epilog (01:30) 10 Alabama Song (02:56) 11 The Ballad of Sexual Dependency (02:38) 12 Bilbao Song (05:05) 13 Pirate Jenny (04:35) |
 | Album: 22 of 36 Title: A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology Released: 1998-10-27 Tracks: 35 Duration: 2:34:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Broken English (04:36) 2 Witches’ Song (04:46) 3 Guilt (05:11) 4 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (04:12) 5 Working Class Hero (04:42) 6 Why D’Ya Do It? (06:47) 7 Sister Morphine (06:07) 8 Sweetheart (03:17) 9 Intrigue (04:32) 10 For Beautys Sake (03:32) 11 So Sad (04:31) 12 Truth, Bitter Truth (07:22) 13 The Blue Millionaire (08:23) 14 Falling From Grace (03:57) 15 Running for Our Lives (04:45) 1 Ballad of the Soldiers Wife (04:25) 2 Trouble in Mind (The Return) (04:22) 3 Boulevard of Broken Dreams (03:06) 4 Yesterdays (05:20) 5 Strange Weather (04:15) 6 Gloomy Sunday (03:13) 7 Hello Stranger (02:31) 8 As Tears Go By (03:47) 9 A Perfect Stranger (04:49) 10 Conversation on a Barstool (04:18) 11 A Waste of Time (05:04) 12 Isolation (03:13) 13 Blazing Away (04:13) 14 When I Find My Life (live) (03:01) 15 Times Square (live) (04:37) 16 Ghost Dance (03:45) 17 Sleep (03:36) 18 Love in the Afternoon (03:31) 19 Bored by Dreams (03:09) 20 She (03:25) |
| A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology : Allmusic album Review : Because more than half of the 35 songs on this two-disc retrospective of Marianne Faithfulls 1979-95 output come from her three great albums -- Broken English, Dangerous Acquaintances, and Strange Weather -- or are previously unreleased outtakes or B-sides from them, A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology makes a fine primer to Faithfulls often challenging, always mesmerizing (or would that be always challenging, often mesmerizing?) music. "Ballad of the Soldiers Wife," her solid contribution to 1985s Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill, is also included, giving Faithfulls hauntingly tragic voice the resonance and attention it demands. Weill and Faithfull seem made for each other, as the bulk of the second disc (comprised of songs from her 1990 live album and the underachieving A Secret Life, as well as the career-capping Strange Weather) makes clear. But theres also a strain to some of these tracks, as if Faithfulls aesthetic wandering eventually will bring her to that elusive cabaret of her dreams. On her best recordings, it indeed sounds like shes home. | ||
 | Album: 23 of 36 Title: Vagabond Ways Released: 1999 Tracks: 10 Duration: 43:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Vagabond Ways (03:22) 2 Incarceration of a Flower Child (05:33) 3 File It Under Fun From the Past (04:50) 4 Electra (03:24) 5 Wilder Shores of Love (05:40) 6 Marathon Kiss (04:00) 7 For Wanting You (03:57) 8 Great Expectations (03:13) 9 Tower of Song (04:35) 10 After the Ceasefire (04:22) |
| Vagabond Ways : Allmusic album Review : Following a pair of albums that delved into cabaret and one which paired her with Angelo Badalamenti (an affair that yielded mixed results), the Grande dame of rock & roll returned with her most striking effort in a while. Faithfull, an amazing interpreter of others material, co-wrote most of the songs here, including the haunting title track. In fact, haunting is the best way to describe the first several cuts. "Incarceration of a Flower Child," written by Roger Waters, is emotionally wrenching, and "File It Under Fun From the Past" has an air of wistful resignation. Some of the material wavers a bit ("Marathon Kiss," the somewhat overly dramatic, spoke word "After the Ceasefire"), but Faithfull is never anything less than riveting. For long-time fans, Vagabond Ways is a worthy addition to her body of work. For newcomers, its a suitable introduction to one of the true icons of rock history and one who has become more relevant with age. | ||
 | Album: 24 of 36 Title: It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue: The NEMS Years, Vol. 1 Released: 1999 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:06:09 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Its All Over Now, Baby Blue (03:50) 2 Mud Slide Slim (03:37) 3 Chords of Fame (03:45) 4 Beware of the Darkness (03:29) 5 Visions of Johanna (04:35) 6 Southern Butterfly (03:13) 7 Rich Kid Blues (04:15) 8 Sad Lisa (02:28) 9 It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry (03:49) 10 Long Black Veil (03:00) 11 Corrine, Corrina (02:31) 12 Crazy Lady Blues (01:55) 13 Vanilla OLay (03:58) 14 This Time (03:05) 15 Im Not Lisa (03:20) 16 Dreamin My Dreams (03:18) 17 Lady Madeleine (04:24) 18 Wrong Road Again (02:48) 19 The Way You Want Me to Be (02:07) 20 All I Wanna Do in My Life (02:42) |
 | Album: 25 of 36 Title: A Stranger on Earth: An Introduction to Marianne Faithfull Released: 2001 Tracks: 16 Duration: 56:35 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 As Tears Go By (03:48) 2 Sister Morphine (05:30) 3 Reason to Believe (02:21) 4 Is This What I Get for Loving You? (03:51) 5 Come and Stay With Me (02:25) 6 Strange Weather (04:15) 7 Guilt (05:09) 8 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (04:06) 9 A Stranger on Earth (03:52) 10 This Little Bird (02:02) 11 Monday Monday (03:05) 12 Bored by Dreams (03:07) 13 I’m a Loser (02:15) 14 House of the Rising Sun (04:12) 15 Sweetheart (03:17) 16 Gloomy Sunday (03:13) |
| A Stranger on Earth: An Introduction to Marianne Faithfull : Allmusic album Review : OK, the title is pretentious enough to have been used for a box set, and the songs jump around from decade to decade, but the 16-song collection A Stranger on Earth: An Introduction to Marianne Faithfull has its merits and, equally important, its surprises. The opening track, "As Tears Go By," is not Faithfulls mid-60s hit pop/rock single version but her much darker and more personal 1987 re-recording, which is not only a better record but a perfect record, the artist and the song finally converging together at the formers optimum moment to tackle the latter. Leaping from there through her 1960s rendition of "Sister Morphine," to her classic version of "Reason to Believe," and to her Phil Spector-influenced "Is This What I Get for Loving You?," the disc offers multiple incarnations of Faithfull as a singer and persona and is, indeed, just about the best overview of the singer in under 20 songs (and not one of them "Broken English," which is saved for another anthology). And the sound is excellent. | ||
 | Album: 26 of 36 Title: Kissin Time Released: 2002-03-04 Tracks: 11 Duration: 47:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sex With Strangers (04:21) 2 The Pleasure Song (04:15) 3 Like Being Born (03:51) 4 Im on Fire (05:11) 5 Wherever I Go (04:27) 6 Song for Nico (03:59) 7 Sliding Through Life on Charm (04:00) 8 Love and Money (02:17) 9 Nobodys Fault (06:28) 10 Kissin Time (05:39) 11 Something Good (03:24) |
| Kissin Time : Allmusic album Review : One of the most endearing things about Marianne Faithfull is how well and often she reinvents herself as an artist, all the while remaining true to her rebellious, defiantly independent nature, enduring whatever changes the industry undergoes with her restless, and often reckless, vision intact. Kissin Time has been billed as Ms. Faithfulls collaboration album because of the appearances and production talents of numerous artists, including Beck, Billy Corgan, Jarvis Cocker, Pulp, Dave Stewart, Blur, etc. The truth of the matter is that this is just the latest installment in a series of collaborations, but one that includes far bigger names from the world of postmodern pop. Ms. Faithfulls 1990s recordings with producer Hal Willner, and collaborations with composer and producer Angelo Badalamenti, were just that. Ms. Faithfull was involved in every part of the recording process. Her collaboration with Peter Trueblood on 20th Century Blues, an album of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht songs was in the most literal sense a cooperative arrangement. If anything, this project, her first new material in three years, is closely linked to her last album, the beautiful and moving Vagabond Ways, produced by Daniel Lanois. There Ms. Faithfull co-wrote all the material on the record and helped to choose the players. Here, she co-wrote most of the material and commissioned all the artists to work with her. The sound on Kissin Time is thoroughly contemporary, deconstructive pop. That Ms. Faithfull is able to make this set sound as if it were recorded in one studio with one band is a minor miracle; that she can put such searing soul into sonic constructs that are sometimes only marginally "songs" is a major artistic achievement. Faithfull also deserves kudos for maintaining her various collaborators identities throughout the album. Thus, Beck Hansen signs the dark, frenetic rhythms on "Sex With Strangers" and "Nobodys Fault," with its bluesed out, country lilt. But neither of these songs would have been convincing without Ms. Faithfulls voice carrying them. On "Being Born," another Beck track, the production and pace are pure Leonard Cohen, but Faithfull turns the lyric into something almost sinister, and it lands just this side of perverse. But its Billy Corgan who gets the highest marks here for capturing Faithfulls dominant strengths with "Im On Fire." A large, timberline rhythm, slowed to a crawl, covered in keyboard and synthed strings become a processional for the anthem Faithfull calls forth from the center of her being as her words come hurtling from the depths: "...And love did come but in such disguise/That I could hardly recognize!/So with trust in fate and love of life/Take my chance and roll the dice/And whatever sent me...Ill still be there/Whatever happens, its true/And Im standing still/Try to show the way..." Likewise on "Wherever I go," Corgan captures the pace of her delivery, and the dynamic her lyrics demand -- "You can see Ive come so far/So kiss me quick/I swear upon the stars theyre mine..." -- strings, synths, shimmering drums, warbling guitars, all of them are draped lovingly around Ms. Faithfulls voice. Her collaborations with Dave Stewart in a heartfelt tribute on the "Song for Nico" register as honest and bare of all sentimentality. But in "Love and Money" and "Sliding Through Life on Charm," Ms. Faithfulls sense of irony and Jarvis Cockers sonic architecture dont match; they overstate one another and cancel each other out of the mix, leaving no room for either lyric or pop sensibility to redeem them. The title track, a collaboration with Blur, is in the pocket, with its droopy, dubby texture that threatens to swallow Faithfulls voice, but doesnt get the chance as Damon Albarn slithers in under the guitars to stretch her lyric in the refrain, creating a hypnotic, sexy drone that envelops both singers. The album closes with another collaboration, with Corgan on a cover of a Goffin & King tune called "Something Good." Its sweetness is initially off-putting, until the listener makes the connection that this is Faithfull singing a song that would have been a natural for her 35 years ago. It sounds so alien, so gauzy, like a ghost from memory past coming to illustrate why things change. Its positively tender, not ironic. Ultimately, Kissin Time is another achievement, another raise of the bar, another welcome and necessary addition in the strange and beautiful catalog of Marianne Faithfull. | ||
 | Album: 27 of 36 Title: The Collection Released: 2004 Tracks: 40 Duration: 1:48:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Blowin in the Wind (03:05) 2 Come and Stay With Me (02:27) 3 House of the Rising Sun (04:18) 4 Spanish Is a Loving Tongue (02:45) 5 Fare Thee Well (02:54) 6 Lonesome Traveller (02:07) 7 Down in the Sally Gardens (02:08) 8 Mary Ann (01:47) 9 Full Fathom Five (01:30) 10 Four Strong Winds (03:02) 11 Black Girl (02:30) 12 Once I Had a Sweetheart (02:10) 13 Bells of Freedom (02:07) 14 Yesterday (02:20) 15 This Little Bird (02:05) 16 Summer Nights (01:50) 17 Is This What I Get for Loving You? (03:54) 18 Go Away From My World (02:35) 19 Thats Right Baby (02:51) 20 Morning Sun (03:10) 1 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (03:59) 2 Sunny Goodge Street (03:21) 3 Green Are Your Eyes (02:57) 4 Scarborough Fair (03:07) 5 Coquillages (03:43) 6 Monday, Monday (03:09) 7 Tomorrows Calling (03:02) 8 If I Never Get to Love You (02:19) 9 Time Takes Time (01:42) 10 Hell Come Back to Me (02:37) 11 Down Town (02:48) 12 Plaisir DAmour (02:36) 13 Cant You Hear My Heartbeat (02:25) 14 Paris Bells (02:49) 15 They Never Will Leave You (02:13) 16 Im a Loser (02:18) 17 What Have I Done Wrong (01:57) 18 Sally Free and Easy (02:51) 19 North Country Maid (02:37) 20 Wild Mountain Thyme (03:39) |
| The Collection : Allmusic album Review : Any Marianne Faithfull collection from her Decca years that doesnt include "As Tears Go By" is of special interest, as some listeners have never been convinced of her versions merits, regardless of its chart position. In this case, there are 40 songs here in a distinctly folk and pop/cabaret vein, mastered in state of the art sound, that capture some of Faithfulls best moments on various singles and her LPs, alas not in chronological order -- she became a better, less self-conscious singer as she went on, and the material here, running right up to her 1967 Decca single "Is This What I Get for Loving You," embodies some of her best work, nicely annotated and well mastered, and the price is definitely right as a budget double-CD set. | ||
 | Album: 28 of 36 Title: Before the Poison Released: 2004-09-28 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 The Mystery of Love (03:51) 2 My Friends Have (02:49) 3 Crazy Love (04:04) 4 Last Song (03:19) 5 No Child of Mine (06:15) 6 Before the Poison (04:09) 7 There Is a Ghost (04:33) 8 In the Factory (03:50) 9 Desperanto (04:23) 10 City of Quartz (03:42) |
| Before the Poison : Allmusic album Review : Each time Marianne Faithfull issues a recording, fans and pundits hold their breaths waiting for another outing as iconoclastic as Broken English. Before the Poison isnt it for a number of reasons, quality not being one of them. Simply put, Before the Poison is an album that concerns itself with both sides of love, friendship, and redemption, not desolation or desperation. That said, there is plenty of human shadow in these ten songs. Polly Harvey wrote three songs here, co-wrote a pair with Faithfull, and is present on all of them. Nick Cave co-wrote three with the singer and his Bad Seeds back her on these tracks. She also co-wrote one apiece with Blurs Damon Albarn and composer Jon Brion. Along with Harvey and Cave, Rob Ellis and Hal Willner aided in production. Therefore, Before the Poison, like its predecessor, Kissin Time, is an album of collaborations. But unlike that offering, this one is seamless; its songs are sequenced impeccably and all feel of a piece linked by emotional thematics. Harveys songs are all moving and beautiful. Faithfulls reading of "No Child of Mine," a track that appeared on PJs own last album, Uh Huh Her, has more depth and texture than the original. Harvey is pushing it on, underneath, her signature guitar sound ushering in each line as Faithfull -- in fantastic voice throughout -- does a call and response with herself until the refrain, when Harvey harmonizes and adds dimension to the stark loss and resignation uttered with great empathy and even tenderness. On "The Mystery of Love," which opens the set, Faithfull brings the weight of her life experience to Harveys poetic lyric and opens its fathomless heart. On Caves "Crazy Love," the lyric could have accompanied the footage in Wim Wenders Wings of Desire. As Faithfull paints the skeletal portraits of the songs protagonists who move around the chessboard of life, she gets to the refrain where the tune splits wide and, as Warren Ellis raggedly elegant violin sweeps above the rest, the singers offers a poetic truth from her own life: "Crazy love is all around me/Love is crazy, love is kind/But I know somehow youll find me/Love is crazy, love is blind." On Albarns "Last Song," possibility has passed into memory amid the swell of strings, tambourines, and acoustic pianos. Its a devastating track, and Faithfull sings with an authority that can only be borne by a witness. The disc closes with "City of Quartz," written with Brion. Its a fractured, slightly off-kilter waltz that could have easily appeared on Blazing Away or even as an outtake from 20th Century Blues. The notion of times passage is in the present tense here, as strings enter amid the chimes underscoring longing, and the acceptance of human need. Before the Poison is poetic and unnerving; it stands alone in her catalog in the same way that Broken English did -- but this time, on the other side of the mirror. | ||
 | Album: 29 of 36 Title: The Decca Years 1965–1967 Released: 2007-04-11 Tracks: 70 Duration: 3:11:27 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Come My Way (02:06) 2 Jaberwock (02:34) 3 Portland Town (02:59) 4 House of the Rising Sun (02:28) 5 Spanish Is a Loving Tongue (02:43) 6 Fare Thee Well (02:52) 7 Lonesome Traveler (02:04) 8 Down in the Salley Garden (02:05) 9 Mary Ann (01:44) 10 Full Fathom Five (01:26) 11 Four Strong Winds (02:59) 12 Black Girl (02:28) 13 Once I Had a Sweetheart (02:07) 14 Bells of Freedom (02:04) 15 Blowin in the Wind (03:07) 16 Et Maintenant (03:28) 17 Thats Right Baby (02:48) 18 Sister Morphine (05:30) 1 Come Stay With Me (02:27) 2 If I Never Get to Love You (02:18) 3 Time Takes Time (01:42) 4 Hell Come Back to Me (02:36) 5 Down Town (02:48) 6 Plaisir DAmour (02:35) 7 Cant You Hear My Heartbeat (02:27) 8 As Tears Go By (02:37) 9 Paris Bells (02:49) 10 They Never Will Leave You (02:13) 11 What Have They Done to the Rain (02:57) 12 In My Time of Sorrow (02:22) 13 What Have I Done Wrong (01:56) 14 I’m a Loser (02:15) 15 Morning Sun (03:09) 16 Greensleeves (02:48) 17 House of the Rising Sun - Version 1 (04:17) 18 The Sha La La Song (02:32) 19 Oh Look Around You (03:06) 20 Id Like to Dial Your Number (02:53) 1 Green Are Your Eyes (02:58) 2 Scarborough Fair (03:07) 3 Cockleshells (03:17) 4 The Last Thing on My Mind (02:17) 5 The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (03:58) 6 Sally Free and Easy (02:52) 7 Sunny Goodge Street (03:22) 8 How Should I Your True Love Know (01:19) 9 She Moved Thru the Fair (03:10) 10 North Country Maid (02:37) 11 Lullaby (02:42) 12 Wild Mountain Thyme (03:38) 13 The Most of What Is Least (02:56) 14 Come My Way (version 2) (02:31) 15 Mary Ann (version 2) (01:58) 1 Yesterday (02:19) 2 You Cant Go Where the Roses Go (02:59) 3 Our Love Has Gone (03:21) 4 Dont Make Promises (02:54) 5 In the Night Time (03:04) 6 This Little Bird (02:04) 7 Ne Me Quitte Pas (02:36) 8 Counting (02:55) 9 Reason to Believe (02:21) 10 Coquillages (03:44) 11 With You in My Mind (02:30) 12 Young Girl Blues (03:39) 13 Good Guy (02:49) 14 I Have a Love (02:51) 15 Hang on to a Dream (02:22) 16 Rosie, Rosie (02:37) 17 Monday, Monday (03:09) |
 | Album: 30 of 36 Title: Live at the BBC Released: 2007-08-14 Tracks: 15 Duration: 00:00 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Cant You Hear My Heartbeat (?) 2 Come and Stay With Me (?) 3 In My Time of Sorrow (?) 4 Go Away From My World (?) 5 The Sha La La Song (?) 6 This Little Bird (?) 7 Go Away From My World (?) 8 Paris Bells (?) 9 Summer Nights (?) 10 Lullaby (?) 11 The Last Thing on My Mind (?) 12 Yesterday (?) 13 As Tears Go By (?) 14 Cockleshells (?) 15 Tomorrows Calling (?) |
| Live at the BBC : Allmusic album Review : This compilation -- which boasts fine sound -- features 15 tracks Marianne Faithfull recorded for the BBC in 1965 and 1966 (including two versions of one of the songs, "Go Away from My World"); also included are five brief between-song interviews that give listeners a chance to hear her poshly accented, articulate speech. This was the era, of course, in which Faithfull was still a fairly high-voiced pop-folk singer, and not the far earthier one shed become when she emerged with a much deeper and more gravelly voice upon her late-70s comeback. While its a little disappointing there arent more surprises -- every one of these songs was also recorded on her mid-60s studio releases -- it does, as one would expect, afford listeners the chance to hear her do these songs in somewhat less elaborate arrangements than the versions that found official release at the time. On occasion, this can work to Faithfulls advantage; her cover of the Beatles "Yesterday," not one of the highlights among her 1960s singles releases, is stripped of its too-fussy arrangement so that shes accompanied only by guitar. Thats from a December 1965 session on which guitarist Jon Mark is the only backup musician, and those three songs are by far the folkiest of this lot. Still, the other sessions go down well, too, including not only the hits "As Tears Go By," "Come and Stay with Me," "This Little Bird," and "Summer Nights," but also some relatively unheralded highlights of her early repertoire like the brooding "The Sha La La Song" and "Tomorrows Calling." Faithfulls early British Invasion-era work is generally underrated, and this collection makes for a worthwhile addendum to her discography that some listeners might find more dignified and less dated in some respects than her more gushily produced studio records. | ||
 | Album: 31 of 36 Title: Easy Come, Easy Go Released: 2008-11-10 Tracks: 10 Duration: 49:28 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Down From Dover (04:43) 2 Hold On, Hold On (02:58) 3 Solitude (05:25) 4 The Crane Wife 3 (03:57) 5 Easy Come, Easy Go (03:13) 6 Children of Stone (08:03) 7 How Many Worlds? (03:39) 8 In Germany Before the War (04:07) 9 Ooh Baby Baby (08:16) 10 Sing Me Back Home (05:03) |
| Easy Come, Easy Go : Allmusic album Review : Songstress Marianne Faithfull last collaborated with producer Hal Willner on her iconic Strange Weather album in 1987. Though Faithfull has continued to record sporadically -- and has written and published her memoirs -- its odd to think that she hasnt worked with Willner again until now, because then as now, the match feels effortless and natural. Like Strange Weather, Easy Come Easy Go is a covers collection, featuring Faithfull in different musical settings and interpreting the songs of everyone from Merle Haggard to Smokey Robinson to Duke Ellington to Randy Newman to the Decemberists to Morrissey with a killer guest list including Antony Hegarty, Rufus Wainwright, Teddy Thompson, Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Jarvis Cocker, Jenni Muldaur, Sean Lennon, Warren Ellis, Nick Cave, and Keith Richards. The core band on this set includes old friends like Marc Ribot and Greg Cohen as well as drummer Jim White, Rob Burger, Doug Weiselman, Steve Weisberg, Barry Reynolds, Steven Bernstein, Marty Ehrlich, and Lenny Pickett. The sense of stylistic sprawl on these 12 songs is incredible. The album opener, a cover of Dolly Partons "Down from Dover," features the full band and guests numbering 18 strong! Faithfulls trademark deep-throated, whiskey-and-cigarettes-ravaged voice is in better shape than its been in a decade at least. Its full and expressive, and she brings up a depth of passion for this sad tale that almost soars. The band, arranged by Weisberg, plays with beautiful space and elegant harmonics with nice work by Ribot and Burger. Cave sings backing vocals on the Decemberists "The Crane Wife 3," its lithe rock arrangement shaded by a beautiful British folk-style melody and gorgeous bass work by Cohen, celeste by Burger, and a three-piece string section. While Wainwrights signature backing vocals grace a jazzy arrangement of Espers "Children of Stone," and the chart is eight minutes of pure, nocturnal lounge lizard eros, it does go on a bit too long, emptying it somewhat of its power. Ellingtons "Solitude" works far better, as Faithfulls command of sparse phrases drives the tune, expressing more in the spaces between words than the words themselves -- or even her voice. Other highlights include an excellent version of Judee Sills "The Phoenix," and a deeply emotive, almost startling cover of Morrisseys "Dear God Please Help Me. There is a fantastic--if surreal--faux-soul reading of Robinsons "Ooh Baby Baby," as a duet with AntonyThe disc closes with Richards adding both his guitar (to those of Ribot and Reynolds) and his raggedy croak of a vocal to Faithfulls on Haggards "Sing Me Back Home." Its sad and slow, but feels more contrived than honestly emotional. While this is a long journey with a couple of missteps Ms. Faithfull shows up in excellent form throughout this offering. If you are patient, there is more than enough here to hold your attention and take you on journeys through love, lust, tragedy, and longing and bring you home again.(The British version of this CD, contains an extra CD with six extra tracks--the Morrissey and Judee SIll covers on this version came from the British one--and a bonus DVD with a documentary about the making of the album.) | ||
 | Album: 32 of 36 Title: Horses and High Heels Released: 2011-03-07 Tracks: 13 Duration: 52:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 The Stations (04:25) 2 Why Did We Have to Part (03:45) 3 Thats How Every Empire Falls (05:52) 4 No Reason (02:52) 5 Prussian Blue (05:04) 6 Love Song (04:37) 7 Gee Baby (02:50) 8 Goin Back (03:42) 9 Past, Present and Future (02:47) 10 Horses and High Heels (03:53) 11 Back in Babys Arms (04:20) 12 Eternity (04:03) 13 The Old House (04:04) |
| Horses and High Heels : Allmusic album Review : Produced by long-term collaborator Hal Willner, Marianne Faithfulls 19th studio album, Horses and High Heels, sees the 60s icon revisit eight classic songs from her heyday on her second consecutive covers-heavy album, following 2009s Easy Come Easy Go. Its 13 tracks include reworkings of the Shangri-Las "Past, Present and Future," Lesley Duncans "Love Song," and Dusty Springfields "Goin Back," alongside several new compositions ("Why Did We Have to Part," "The Old House") and guest appearances from Lou Reed, Dr. John and MC5s Wayne Kramer. | ||
 | Album: 33 of 36 Title: Give My Love to London Released: 2014-09-29 Tracks: 11 Duration: 39:37 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Give My Love to London (03:56) 2 Sparrows Will Sing (03:51) 3 True Lies (02:29) 4 Love More or Less (03:27) 5 Late Victorian Holocaust (04:26) 6 The Price of Love (02:16) 7 Falling Back (03:49) 8 Deep Water (03:07) 9 Mother Wolf (04:06) 10 Going Home (04:22) 11 I Get Along Without You Very Well (03:45) |
| Give My Love to London : Allmusic album Review : Though there is no musical resemblance, the title track of Marianne Faithfulls Give My Love to London looks back at her brilliant reading of Kurt Weills and Bertolt Brechts "Pirate Jenny" on her 20th Century Blues album from 1997, and even mentions her by name. Co-written with Steve Earle, who frames her lyrics in an acoustic, Celtic, country stomp, its a conquerors last laugh: shes survived the best attempts at securing her demise. (Bouts with cancer and a fall that broke her sacrum in four places among them.) Faithfulls previous four albums in the 21st century have all been strong, but this one tops them. Her writing collaborators here include Nick Cave, Anna Calvi, Ed Harcourt, Patrick Leonard, and Tom McRae. Her bandmates are an all-star unit too, and include Harcourt, Adrian Utley, Dimitri Tikovoi, Rob and Warren Ellis, and strings. Cave co-wrote one song with her (the tender "Deep Water") and one for her: the glorious "Late Victorian Holocaust," the albums hinge piece, a frank, poignant, ballad-cum-theatrical chamber work of junkie camaraderie that draws on their separate experiences of drug addiction and establishes a shared intimate language. Roger Waters, who contributed "Incarceration of a Flower Child" to her 1999 album Vagabond Ways, gives her "Sparrows Will Sing," a swirling, angry anthemic rocker. "Falling Back," co-written with Calvi, is among the most directly autobiographical love songs in Faithfulls catalog. "Mother Wolf" competes with "Late Victorian Holocaust" for the finest track on the set. Co-written with Leonard, its pulse-pounding piano, squalling electric guitars, rumbling tom-toms, viola, and layered backing vocals underscore the snarling militancy in Faithfulls words, delivered with feral intensity in a simple verse/chorus/repeat structure: "We are the free people/We do not kill for pleasure/We are like a starry night/We gaze at the world/Through a thousand eyes…."). The reading of Leonard Cohens "Going Home" recalls the half-spoken/half-sung delivery (with Brian Eno on backing vocals no less) and places the singer in the place of the subjects muse, observing him without pity or condemnation. Hoagy Carmichaels "I Get Along Without You Very Well" is reinterpreted through the Weimar Republics cabaret musical vocabulary, too: Shes backed by chamber strings, piano, a harp played like a bouzouki, and bass. Faithfulls not only comfortable in this setting (20th Century Blues/Weill: The Seven Deadly Sins, etc), shes an authority in interpreting it. The intimate yet dramatic sadness in this reading completes a series of bridge constructions from the eras in Faithfulls musical past to her present. Thus, Give My Love to London is as complete a portrait of the artist -- at least from the late 70s on -- as weve ever had. In total, it reveals no abatement in her creative renaissance. | ||
 | Album: 34 of 36 Title: No Exit Released: 2016-09-30 Tracks: 10 Duration: 44:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Intro (02:08) 2 Falling Back (03:53) 3 The Price of Love (02:32) 4 Love More or Less (04:36) 5 As Tears Go By (03:21) 6 Mother Wolf (04:21) 7 Sister Morphine (07:15) 8 Late Victorian Holocaust (06:30) 9 Sparrows Will Sing (04:19) 10 The Ballad of Lucy Jordan (05:52) |
| No Exit : Allmusic album Review : Marianne Faithfull celebrated her 50th anniversary in popular music with 2014’s Give My Love to London. That recording, among her best, revealed a career and life fraught with achievement, tragedy, addiction, illness, and redemption. No Exit documents that albums supporting tour. Issued in various formats, the standard edition contains an audio disc and a DVD. The audio portion contains performances taken from throughout a European tour, backed by a band that included Ed Harcourt on piano and backing vocals, guitarist Rob McVey, musical director and drummer Rob Ellis, and bassist Jonny Ridgewood. Most tracks come from Give My Love to London, but Faithfull delivers them as part and parcel of her catalog. Her now-ravaged, grainy voice continues to possess a power and expressivity that commands lyrics authoritatively and experientially. She can be laconic, as on the Everly Brothers "The Price of Love," where her articulation balances wry humor with brokenness, but thats the exception rather than the rule. By contrast, "Mother Wolf," co-written with Patrick Leonard, is chock-full of fierce, theatrical drama. She introduces her classic Jagger- Richards co-write, "Sister Morphine," with the deadpan introduction: “Now we come to what I call the junkie’s corner…" The performance is anything but. Over seven minutes, it commences slowly, deliberately, adding menace and chaos as McVey and Harcourt add excellent solos until the track explodes in a wail of grief and pain. Its followed by the melancholy reverie of Nick Caves "Late Victorian Holocaust," written especially for her, that comes into being as a near processional. The band builds it -- albeit briefly -- into a moody, brooding swell, before Faithfull reclaims its center. The audio set closes with a gorgeous reading of "The Ballad of Lucy Jordan," where Anglo-Celtic balladry meets anthemic folk-rock in an inevitable cataclysm of Kurt Weill-esque tragedy -- though the audience is almost giddy as they clap along with the increasing tempo. The DVD is taken from the Bela Bartok National Concert House in Budapest. The 16 performances go deeper into her catalog and include fine renditions of "Broken English," "Last Song," and "Come and Stay with Me." Four bonus selections come from a concert at Londons Roundhouse; the highlight is a startling version of Bob Dylans "Its All Over Now, Baby Blue." For fans, this is the other side of the coin that Blazing Away presented in 1990. It sounds as if it were being sung into a dusty mirror. No Exit is immediate; even raw in places. Its committed to the truths inside the songs, not an iconic performance (as 1990s Blazing Away was). For that reason, it belongs on every Faithfull fans shelf. | ||
 | Album: 35 of 36 Title: Come and Stay With Me: The UK 45s 1964–1969 Released: 2018-10-26 Tracks: 22 Duration: 1:04:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 As Tears Go By (02:37) 2 Greensleeves (02:41) 3 Blowin’ in the Wind (03:07) 4 House of the Rising Sun (04:13) 5 Come Stay With Me (02:27) 6 What Have I Done Wrong (01:53) 7 This Little Bird (02:04) 8 Morning Sun (03:05) 9 Go Away From My World (02:35) 10 The Most of What Is Least (02:56) 11 Et maintenant (What Now My Love?) (03:29) 12 The Sha La La Song (02:28) 13 Summer Nights (01:51) 14 Yesterday (02:19) 15 Oh Look Around You (03:01) 16 Tomorrows Calling (03:02) 17 That’s Right Baby (02:50) 18 Counting (02:54) 19 I’d Like to Dial Your Number (02:52) 20 Is This What I Get for Loving You (03:54) 21 Something Better (02:55) 22 Sister Morphine (05:30) |
 | Album: 36 of 36 Title: Negative Capability Released: 2018-11-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 42:34 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples AlbumCover | 1 Misunderstanding (04:05) 2 The Gypsy Faerie Queen (03:40) 3 As Tears Go By (03:52) 4 In My Own Particular Way (04:21) 5 Born to Live (03:39) 6 Witches’ Song (04:57) 7 It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue (05:01) 8 They Come at Night (03:40) 9 Don’t Go (04:20) 10 No Moon in Paris (04:56) |