Faithfull: An Autobiography [Hardcover]

Marianne Faithfull's autobiography (with help from David Dalton) is one of those books about an entertainer who seems so much a part of her time that it would be easy to dismiss her story as being anticlimactic or melodramatic. Fortunately, this is not the case, because Faithfull tells her tale with a refreshing candor and sense of humor, while also remaining very down-to-earth and unimpressed with the trappings of fame and fortune.

By her own account, Faithfull has not always been the most pleasant person to her many fans and friends ... or even her family. However, she comes across in these pages as an exceptional and original artist who probably could not help but break the rules. And considering that Faithfull was still only a teenager when she recorded her first hit, "As Tears Go By," it was perhaps inevitable that too much success, too fast, would have some negative consequences, which is a lesson some of today's young pop stars might do well to heed.

Faithfull appears to have been almost totally unprepared for the pressures of rock and roll celebrity, touring, and the drugs and sex that so often go along with those first two circumstances. Of course, she recounts her experiences with the Rolling Stones (ex-boyfriend Mick Jagger in particular), and describes her meetings/relationships with everyone from Roy Orbison and Bob Dylan to Van Morrison and Jimi Hendrix. This could have deteriorated into mere name-dropping but somehow never does, and Faithfull goes on to sketch colorful scenes of encounters with Gene Pitney, Robert Mitchum, Tom Waits, and a host of others, as well. She clears up a few myths about the infamous Rolling Stones' drug bust (i.e., the ridiculous Mars Bar rumor), and does not shrink from discussing her addiction to heroin and how it fed her tendency toward selfishness in ways that she now regrets.

Mostly, however, Faithfull proves that she is a talented songwriter and a resourceful survivor (early suicide attempts notwithstanding). Her affection for her parents (especially her mother) is quite touching, and her commitment to her music is impressive. When Faithfull details the difficulty of creating her masterpiece, "Broken English," the reader gets a feel for how much of a struggle it really was for her to form a band and fight to ensure that every sound on the album was just right, the way she wanted it. Indeed, one critic has said that even the title of the record could very well apply to Faithfull herself.

Two quotes in this autobigraphy stand out both for what they say about Faithfull's approach to the entertainment industry, and the hard-won wisdom she acquired late in her life. Aspiring rock stars should take note of Faithfull's observation that, "...the law of pop music ...is that you have to give away a lot to get anything. If you're not prepared to surrender almost everything, you won't get anything at all."

In a more general statement that could apply to just about anyone, Faithfull later draws upon the painful experience of losing a close friend to remark: "There's a persistent illusion that love will heal all wounds, but it just isn't so. Love is transcendent, but it can't mend everything."

At 320 pages, Faithfull's bio ends a bit too soon, and you may find yourself wishing that she had included more recent information from the last 10 years of her career. There certainly is no shortage of material for her to cover. Yet that is also a good thing. As every performer knows, it's always best to leave the audience wanting more. Faithfull may be the crazy lady of rock and roll, but she has produced a warm and witty book with enough interesting twists and turns to hold the attention of anyone curious about what's behind "the star-making machinery" of the pop music business. Read and enjoy.

I loved this book. It was shocking what happened to her. I loved her stories about Mick and Keith and Anita. I'll probably read it again.

This riveting biography charts Marianne Faithfull's life from her earliest childhood dream to 1994. Along the way, it also serves as a captivating cultural history of swinging London in the 1960s and the music world in subsequent decades. Marianne describes her family background, dispelling many myths along the way, and provides an interesting account of how she entered the music business.

The recollections of touring with the popular bands of the time are interesting, as is the way she entered the Rolling Stones circle. Her first meeting with Bob Dylan is interestingly described and wonderfully juxtaposed with a much later meeting in the 1980s when she explained every song on Broken English for an admiring Dylan. The glimpses into the interpersonal relations of the Stones are enlightening and poignant, specially the way she describes the decline of the ill-fated Brian Jones.

She talks matter of factly about her relationship with Mick Jagger and the notoriety she gained with various drug busts. Faithfull doesn't spare the reader any of the detail of her long relationship with a breathtaking variety of drugs, but the most interesting parts are when she relates particular events and circumstances to specific compositions by Jagger and by herself.

She discusses all the anarchy and hedonism of the times with a detached air, observing that her generation wanted to see change everywhere, but none of them could quite figure it out and it all ended up as wretched excess. She talks at length about the movie Performance and about her song Sister Morphine. The saddest part of her life was when she spent about 2 years of her life sitting on a wall in Soho, completely spaced out, but notes how kindly people treated her.

The making of her country album Faithless, a big hit in Ireland, is described in detail, as well as her big comeback with Broken English in 1979. I really enjoyed her encounters with various musicians, like the tragic Tim Hardin who co-wrote the song Brain Drain on Broken English with Ben Brierly. There's even an interesting snippet about Cristina Monet, wife of Ze Records founder Michael Zilkha. Why'd Ya Do It, one of the most controversial songs on the Broken English album, was written by poet Heathcote Williams. Marianne had to beg him for hours to allow her to record it, as he wanted Tina Turner to do it!

There is no bitterness in any of Faithfull's writing, but lots of humour and witty observations. She is full of praise for musicians like Barry Reynolds and Van Morrison with whom she has worked. As a great fan of hers and The Stones, I am truly relived that there were no life threatening sexually transmitted diseases in the 1960s and 1970s because then a whole generation of musicians would have been lost, what with all the intercourse between everybody.

This book confirms why Faithfull is a true survivor and has developed into an original artist with growing stature. The text is thoroughly engaging and the scandal is well balanced by observations on the songs, the times, the making of the albums and the films. There are 45 black and white photographs and a thorough index. I highly recommend Faithfull to all her fans, students of the 1960s counterculture and those who enjoy good rock biography. Other great books of the genre include Nico, The Last Bohemian (Songs They Never Play On The Radio) by James Young and Scars Of Sweet Paradise (Janis Joplin) by Alice Echols.