Marianne Faithfull
b. 29 December 1946, Hampstead, London, England. Ex-convent schoolgirl Faithfull began her singing career upon meeting producer Andrew Loog Oldham at a London party. She was thus introduced into the Rolling Stones' circle and a plaintive Jagger/Richard song, As Tears Go By, became her debut single in 1964. This folksy offering reached number 9, the first of four UK Top 10 hits which also included Come And Stay With Me (penned by Jackie DeShannon) and the pounding Summer Nights. Her albums reflected an impressive balance between folk and rock, featuring material by Donovan, Bert Jansch and Tim Hardin, but her doomed relationship with Mick Jagger undermined ambitions as a performer. Marianne also pursed thespian aspirations appearing on stage in Chekhov's Three Sisters and on celluloid in the title role of Girl On A Motorcycle, but withdrew from the public eye following a failed suicide attempt upon her break with Jagger. Drug problems bedeviled her recovery, but Marianne re-emerged in 1976 with DREAMIN’ MY DREAMS, a mild country set on which she was backed by the Grease Band. A further period of seclusion followed but the singer rekindled her career three years later with the impressive BROKEN ENGLISH. The once-virginal voice was now replaced by a husky drawl, particularly effective on the atmospheric title track and her version of Shel Silverstein's The Ballad Of Lucy Jordan, a minor UK hit. Faithfull's later releases followed a similar pattern, but nowhere was the trauma of her personal life more evident than on BLAZING AWAY, a live album on which the singer reclaimed songs from her past. Recorded live in Brooklyn's St. Ann's Cathedral, her weary intonation, although artistically effective, contravened the optimism of those early recordings.