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Strange Weather (Marianne Faithfull album)

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Released
  
July 1987

Strange Weather (1987)
  
Blazing Away (1990)

Producer
  
Hal Willner

Length
  
38:44

Release date
  
1 July 1987

Label
  
MCA Records

Strange Weather (Marianne Faithfull album) httpsuploadwikimediaorgwikipediaenaaaStr

Recorded
  
1987 A&R Recording Studios, New York City; Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY; Record Plant Studios, New York City

Artists
  
Glenn Frey, Marianne Faithfull

Genres
  
Rock music, Soft rock, Blues, Dark cabaret

Similar
  
Glenn Frey albums, Rock music albums

Marianne faithfull strange weather


Strange Weather is a 1987 studio album by British singer Marianne Faithfull.

Contents

This album is the first complete studio work recorded by Marianne Faithfull after recovering from a 17-year addiction to heroin in 1986. The album's 3 predecessors on Island Records were all recorded while Faithfull confronted various personal struggles and contained a majority of lyrics and some music penned by Faithfull herself. In contrast, Strange Weather is a striking mix of rock, blues and dark cabaret, and though none of the songs were written by Faithfull all are tied together by the spare and nuanced production of Hal Willner along with a notable group of contributing musicians. The title track has since become a Faithfull concert staple and has appeared live in three additional recordings.

Marianne faithfull strange weather 1989


Overview

In 1985 Faithfull contributed a single track, "Ballad of the Soldier's Wife", to Lost In The Stars, a tribute to the music of Kurt Weill by various contemporary artists. In response to the success of the project and to favourable reviews for Faithfull's contribution, producer Hal Willner suggested the potential of an expanded project of classic compositions, but, according to Willner in Strange Weather's liner notes, he believed it was "one of those projects which usually never comes to fruition."

Just prior to her recovery, Faithfull began work on a new album of rock songs, but Island Records scrapped the project though five of the songs would later appear on the 1990s releases Blazing Away and A Perfect Stranger: The Island Anthology. Instead, Willner re-entered the picture and the concept of the album of classic standards was expanded to include not only material contemporary to Weill's Weimar Republic era, but a more recent song by Bob Dylan, two early folk-era spirituals, traditional piano blues with accompaniment by Dr. John (credited as Mac Rebennack), and all new material written specifically for the project. The album’s title track was written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and "Hello Stranger" was written by Rebennack and Doc Pomus. Faithfull also re-recorded her 1964 hit, "As Tears Go By," in a markedly different arrangement using a slower time signature, and sung a full octave lower than the original.

Strange Weather failed to make it to the US Album charts (it did chart in both the UK and Australia), and never charted its only single "As Tears Go By".

Track listing

  1. "Stranger Intro" (Bill Frisell) – 0:31
  2. "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" (Al Dubin, Harry Warren) – 3:04
  3. "I Ain't Goin' Down To The Well No More"(Huddie Ledbetter, Alan Lomax, John Lomax) – 1:07
  4. "Yesterdays" (Otto Harbach, Jerome Kern) – 2:53
  5. "Sign of Judgement" (Kid Prince Moore) – 4:09
  6. "Strange Weather" (Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan) – 4:05
  7. "Love, Life and Money" (Julius Dixon, Henry Glover) – 4:40
  8. "I'll Keep It With Mine" (Bob Dylan) – 4:13
  9. "Hello Stranger" (Doc Pomus, Dr. John credited as Mac Rebennack) – 2:30
  10. "Penthouse Serenade" (Will Jason, Val Burton) – 2:34
  11. "As Tears Go By" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Andrew Loog Oldham) – 3:42
  12. "A Stranger On Earth" (Sid Feller, Rick Ward) – 3:56

Personnel

  • Marianne Faithfull - vocals
  • Bill Frisell - guitars
  • Michael Levine - violin
  • Sharon Freeman - piano
  • Fernando Saunders - bass
  • Chris Hunter - alto saxophone, flute
  • Garth Hudson - accordion
  • Dr. John - (credited as Mac Rebennack) - piano
  • Robert Quine - guitar
  • J.T. Lewis - drums
  • Steve Slagle - alto saxophone
  • William Schimmel - accordion
  • Lew Soloff - trumpet
  • Strings arranged by Michael Gibbs
  • Horns arranged by J.T. Lewis
  • Hal Willner - producer
  • Joe Ferla - recording, mixing
  • Tony Wright - cover and sleeve photography
  • Songs

    1Silent Spring (Instrumental Prelude)0:41
    2Long Hot Summer5:18
    3Strange Weather5:04

    References

    Strange Weather (Marianne Faithfull album) Wikipedia