Videos by American Songwriter
Various Artists
The Faithful-A Tribute to Marianne Faithfull
(In The Q Records)
4 1/2 out of 5 stars
Musical career arcs don’t get much more complex and even bizarre than what Marianne Faithfull has experienced. Introduced to the world in 1964 as an ethereal chanteuse, warbling twee chamber music pop such as Jagger/Richards’ “As Tears Go By” (before the Stones released it), “Summer Nights” and “This Little Bird,” she reinvented herself a little over a decade later as an edgy, husky-voiced songwriter and interpreter. Her riveting cover of Lennon’s “Working Class Hero” and the sexually charged takedown of an ex with the still goose-bump-raising “Why D’Ya Do It” made it clear this was no longer the shy singer we once knew.
Faithfull’s biography reads like a noir movie waiting to be made with ups and downs that would have sidelined lesser talented and determined artists. Those include years of drug and alcohol addiction, homelessness, and a not-so-private life dogged by divorces, high-profile breakups (with Jagger and others), and general romantic havoc. But she turned those life lemons into bitter lemonade with a series of albums as harrowing as her life, capturing personal turmoil in poetry and songs not for the timid.
And sadly her challenges are not over yet. This superb hour-long collection of 19 Faithfull sung and/or penned songs, performed by an all-female cast, is a benefit to raise money for the icon now experiencing a bout of long COVID that has stripped away her ability to sing. None of these acts got paid for their exemplary work, showing how committed they are to assisting Faithfull by paying tribute to her artistic career.
The diversity of the participants mirrors Faithfull’s eclectic output. The opening three tracks capture her mid-late ’60s chamber pop work adequately, with the rest dedicated to her increasingly more tense approach. Highlights include Shirley Manson and Peach’s powerful if NSFW “Why D’Ya Do It,” Lydia Lunch growling her way through “Love, Life and Money” like a tiger before feeding time, Feminine Aggression’s Gun Club-styled take on the title track of “Before the Poison” and Iggy Pop teaming with Cat Power” for a terse “Working Class Hero.” Tammy Faye Starlight and Barry Reynolds tackle the mid-life crisis of “The Ballad of Lucy Jordan,” (penned by Shel Silverstein), one of Faithfull’s better-known recordings. The Stones are associated with the chilling “Sister Morphine,” but Faithfull co-penned it and indie art-rocker Sylvia Black does it justice with a vivid, horn-injected interpretation.
These performers, many far from recognizable names, mine Faithfull’s recorded legacy, finding and dusting off obscurities such as “Over Here (No Time for Justice,” a non-album B-side given a stark garage rock reading, without drums, by Honeychild Coleman. Adele Bertei’s keyboard-washed “Times Square” is another gem, bringing sultry soul to the windswept, devastating, should-have-been classic.
Considering the often inconsistent nature of other multi-artist compilations, this one unfailingly succeeds, in large part due to the dedication of its contributors who interpret the material with the gravity and passion it deserves.
Those new to this music will find the album an impressive introduction. But more importantly, these versions should inspire listeners to search out the originals and experience Faithfull’s spellbinding intensity and creativity from the source.
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/French Select/Getty Images
