Strange Weather (Marianne Faithfull album)

Infobox Album

Name = Strange Weather
Type = Album
Artist = Marianne Faithfull


Released = 1987
Recorded = 1987
A&R Recording Studios, New York City; Bearsville Studios, Bearsville, NY; Record Plant Studios, New York City
Genre = Blues, Dark Cabaret, Rock
Length = 38:44
Label = Island Records
Producer = Hal Willner
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 "A dark, challenging masterpiece." [http://wm03.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gifoxqy5ld6e]

Last album = A Child's Adventure
(1983)
This album = "Strange Weather"
(1987)
Next album = "Blazing Away"
(1990)

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

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 musciains. The title track has since become a Faithfull concert staple and has appeared live in 3 additional recordings.

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 and Bertholt Brecht by various contemporary artists. In response to the success of the project and to favorable 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 [Faithfull, Marianne. "Faithfull: An Autobiography" Boston: Little, Brown; 1994. ISBN 0-316-27324-4] though in total five of the songs would later appear between the 1990's 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 and Brecht's Weimar Republic era, but a more recent song by Bob Dylan, two early folk-era spirituals, traditional piano blues wth accompaniment by Dr. John (credited as Mac Rebennac), and all new material written specifically for the album. The album’s title track was written by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan, and Hello Stranger was written by Rebennac 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.

Though "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 - the updated version of As Tears Go By, it still remains a critical favorite.

Track listing

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

Personnel

* Marianne Faithfull: vocals
* Bill Frisell - Guitars
* Michael Levine - Violin
* Sharon Freeman - Piano
* Fernando Saunders - Bass
* Chris Hunter - Flute
* Garth Hudson - Accordions
* Dr. John - (credited as Mac Rebennac) - Piano
* Robert Quine - Guitar
* J.T. Lewis - Drums
* Chris Hunter - Alto Saxophone
* Steve Slagile - Alto Saxophone
* William Schimmel - Accordion
* Strings Arranged by Michael Gibbs
* Horns Arranged by J.T. Lewis
* Hal Willner - Producer
* Assistant Engineers - Various
* Tony Wright: cover and sleeve photography

Notes

References