RIP to the singer, poet, sage, survivor, and (of course) style icon who lived a thousand lives with uncompromising flair. Plus: the women who made the Rolling Stones
Listening to it for the first time (after knowing Marianne Faithfull as, you know, the romantic ingenue songbird of her first albums) was jaw-dropping: so surprising and wonderful and strange.
Absolutely! Knowing her originally from her take on, As Tears Go By, and then hearing Broken English, was shocking, frankly, but in a good way. And then hearing Why D’Ya Do It, changed everything about women in music. It was groundbreaking.
Yes indeed, though I’d only read about her, being a bit dependent on the Rolling Stone History of Rock in my early days. Later I subscribed to Creem mag. and after reading a review decided to buy it. Being frequently broke I ended up taping it from a pal who worked in a record store. I still have it. She sounds like nobody else ever did, just walked out of the Tower of London after being unchained from the dungeon after 400 years. Or something like that. The rest of the songs are also good and she shifts gears into different modes and inflections. I think she may have gone clean by the time she recorded it. I know about heroin second- / third- hand at closest, but I’ve also read she’d been strung out for awhile - like many in the Stones’ orbit - and it sounds like it’s in there, at least a big echoing presence. So F’n dangerous. But she stuck around on her own terms for a long time after getting clean and made a good account of herself apparently. I plan on checking out more recent stuff.
“Just walked out of the Tower of London after being unchained from the dungeon after 400 years” — what a great description! Have you read her autobiography? It’s incredible — amazing what she went through and how she survived. And she writes without any self-pity at all.
Good work. It isn’t really possible to say enough about Broken English. The only thing to do is to listen to it.
Listening to it for the first time (after knowing Marianne Faithfull as, you know, the romantic ingenue songbird of her first albums) was jaw-dropping: so surprising and wonderful and strange.
Absolutely! Knowing her originally from her take on, As Tears Go By, and then hearing Broken English, was shocking, frankly, but in a good way. And then hearing Why D’Ya Do It, changed everything about women in music. It was groundbreaking.
Yes indeed, though I’d only read about her, being a bit dependent on the Rolling Stone History of Rock in my early days. Later I subscribed to Creem mag. and after reading a review decided to buy it. Being frequently broke I ended up taping it from a pal who worked in a record store. I still have it. She sounds like nobody else ever did, just walked out of the Tower of London after being unchained from the dungeon after 400 years. Or something like that. The rest of the songs are also good and she shifts gears into different modes and inflections. I think she may have gone clean by the time she recorded it. I know about heroin second- / third- hand at closest, but I’ve also read she’d been strung out for awhile - like many in the Stones’ orbit - and it sounds like it’s in there, at least a big echoing presence. So F’n dangerous. But she stuck around on her own terms for a long time after getting clean and made a good account of herself apparently. I plan on checking out more recent stuff.
“Just walked out of the Tower of London after being unchained from the dungeon after 400 years” — what a great description! Have you read her autobiography? It’s incredible — amazing what she went through and how she survived. And she writes without any self-pity at all.
This was fascinating, thank you! I knew some of this in bits and pieces, but I’ve never heard of Marsha. 💕
Isn’t she amazing?!? I had heard of her but was unfamiliar with her whole story before reading the book.
What a Great Story about strong, interesting, talented and Beautiful women written by another strong, interesting and Beautiful woman!!