- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- After she disappeared from the charts during most of the 1970’s, Marianne Faithfull made a critically acclaimed comeback with Broken English.
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Marianne Faithfull – Broken English (1979): Marianne Faithfull had a worldwide hit song with “As Tears Go By” (1964), one of the very first songs penned by the Rolling Stones songwriting team of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards. She had a series of other hit singles in the U.K., though no others that I can recall in this country. After she disappeared from the charts during most of the 1970’s, Marianne Faithfull made a critically acclaimed comeback with Broken English, showcasing a voice that had become much deeper and rougher than she had shown in her 1960’s records, probably from the many years of drinking and smoking and addictions that had derailed her career.
Highlights from the album include the title song “Broken English”, a cover of the John Lennon song “Working Class Hero”, and “Why D’Ya Do It”, one of the angriest songs I have ever heard. Three of the songs were written or co-written by Barry Reynolds, and I managed to find Reynolds’ album I Scare Myself (1982) that includes his version of “Broken English” plus two other songs that he co-wrote with Marianne Faithfull that are not on Broken English. The title track, “I Scare Myself” introduced me to the quirky stylings of its songwriter, Dan Hicks of the band Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.