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| Marianne Faithfull By Heidi Lee (SugarBuzz Michigan) SugarBuzz Magazine |
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Sometimes in the fickle world of pop music, it really is all who you know. But, that can only take you so far. If you don’t have the talent or originality, the likelihood of having staying power in the music industry can look a bit bleak. Marianne Faithfull began her career as someone who knew all the right people, but had something inside her that showed that she could last and remain relevant for many years to come.
It was in 1964, the year that the British Invasion was sweeping the United States and the world, that the young Marianne attended an exclusive party with her soon to be husband, John Dunbar. At that party were many well-knowns in the music industry, including The Rolling Stones. While many tried to accost Marianne with offers of potential fame in one performing vein or another, it was untimately The Stones’ manager, Andrew Oldham, who convinced her to giving singing a try, after telling her that he thought she, “had a face that could sell albums.” The first song Marianne recorded that would be successful was Mick Jagger and Keith Richards’ first composition together, “As Tears Go By”. This song soon developed into a hit, even before The Stones broke through with their own version. Marianne became Britain’s darling, and she was marketed as a sweet, innocent girl who grew up in a convent. Although she did attend a girl’s convent school, Marianne was not as naïve as her public image depicted her. Marianne continued to record throughout the 1960’s, her lilting voice mostly covering songs by well known writers like Jackie Deshannon (“Come and Stay With Me”) and Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin (“Something Better”). She had a string of successful albums in the United Kingdom, but none reached the heights of popularity like “As Tears Go By” in America. |
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| Her fame in the 60’s was also partially due to her much publicized relationship with Mick Jagger, as they were together for most of the late 60’s. It was during this time that Marianne slowly began to find her own voice with writing the song “Sister Morphine” in 1969 with both Jagger and Richards. The song was a striking departure from her earlier work, as it was darker in both tone and lyrics. Jagger and Richards would later record the song themselves on the Stones’ album “Sticky Fingers”.
In the late 60’s Marianne also found she also had a penchant for acting and appeared in a few independent films like 1968’s “Girl On a Motorcycle”. Her love for acting grew from these experiences and the later years would see Marianne taking to the stage as well with a critically acclaimed performance in Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, which would be released on film in 1968. |
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| Due to many personal problems, Marianne’s recordings in the 70’s were very sporadic. Her tumultuous relationship with Jagger ended and she developed a dangerous heroin addiction which took her many years to overcome. It wasn’t until 1979 with the release of her album, “Broken English” that Marianne became noticed again in the public eye. This time, she was back, but her voice was nearly an octave lower than the songstress’ 60’s warble. Her material was even darker, more moody and introspectively honest. The recordings that followed would be some of her most critically acclaimed.
She kept making albums in this sincere voice throughout the 80’s and 90’s, eventually releasing album works filled with old standards (1987’s “Strange Weather”) and collaborations with some of the music world’s newest talents like Beck and Blur’s Damon Alburn (2002’s “Kissin’ Time”). Marianne also returned to both film and stage throughout the decades to follow. |
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| Although she was seamlessly discovered overnight and mixed with all the right crowds in the 1960’s, Marianne Faithfull’s spirit of determination and survival has earned her a spot with history’s most respected women of rock. Breaking free of an image is never easy, and she paid the price of popularity when she returned to recording, not really reinventing herself, but being absolutely honest with who she was and had become. In turn, she gained respect and notoriety as a force to be reckoned with in music. She continues to write, record, act, and perform to this day, proving that a true artist never rests or takes defeat. | |||||||||||||
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