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Marianne Faithfull

April 2009 | Pop

”Easy Come, Easy Go”, the 22nd album from Marianne Faithfull, was recorded in December 2007 in NYC at the famous Sear Sound recording studio. The album features guest appearances by an array of fellow artists including Keith Richards, Antony Hegarty, Rufus Wainwright, Jarvis Cocker and Nick Cave. Easy Come Easy Go is the third album of Marianne’s to be produced by Hal Willner (the others being ”Strange Weather’ and ‘Blazing Away”). Marianne and Hal have been close friends since they met, back in 1982, and have worked together on many, many different projects over the years. To discuss the new album, We7 spoke to Marianne...

How are you today?

I’m very well thank you

Can you tell us about the collaborations on the new album, Easy Come Easy Go”? There are a lot of collaborations on the album, with contemporary artists and older ones as well.

Hal Willner, my producer, did all that. He’s great friends with a lot of the artists. And I am too, so I know them very well, which made it a pleasure to work with them.

Tell me about your song with Keith Richards...

I contacted Keith, we still keep in close contact.

He was the person, with Mick Jagger, who wrote your very first single all those years ago...

And we wrote together before, in Ireland. I asked him to produce some Patti Smith stuff, called “Ghost Dance”. Him and Don Was. They did a wonderful job.

What is it like to work with Keith, was it a special moment?

It was wonderful. You know, I do keep in contact, but I don’t see him as much as I would like. And to do this it was just a wonderful experience. I don’t really do nostalgia. But I have to admit that was a nostalgic moment.

How did you approach him? Did you sit down with him?

My manager contacted Jane Rose, Keith’s manager. And Jane asked Keith, he sent me a fax, a really sweet fax, saying ‘I’ll do It for you babe if you do it for me’ which is the lyric from Sing Me Back Home. And then Hal sent him the music - I would have called it a tape, but its mp3s now. And he listened to it, and really liked the track and he liked my voice. And then he put it on the guitar and vocals.

Is that your favourite collaboration?

It is one of my favourites, but you know I really like them all. I love "Ooh Baby Baby", I love "Children Of Stone". I love the one with Kate McGarrigle.

You also have a separate career as an actor – do you want to do more film and theatre work?

I really hope so. I have to wait for the right part. Well I mean my real job is to make records and songs in front of the public. But I love acting. I hope that next year something will come along. I couldn’t do anything now. I suppose if it was Stephan Frears, or someone like that. But I know Stephan isn’t going to do anything for a while. He wants a bit of a break.

Going back to the new record, it has been compared to 1979 album “Broken English”, in terms of how it has brought you back into the public consciousness...

Yes, in the effect it has had. It sounds nothing like "Broken English". That record came out of the punk era.

Was the intention to have a comeback style album?

No, it was just another album. For me, every time I go into the recording studio it’s very important – I pay enormous amounts of attention to it. I’ve made a lot of very good records; it’s just one of those things. I do hope that people will go back to the other records – like “Broken English”.

How did the making of “Broken English” compare to “Easy Come Easy Go”?

It was made very naturally, just like this one – so maybe that’s a similarity. At the time it was just about the work, that is what its always about. Compared with “Easy Come Easy Go”, it took quite a long time to record. With “Easy Come Easy Go” we took breaks, listened to the tracks over and over again... we worked out what was needed. There was a lot of work. And I did a lot of a work, in pre –production and that’s how I can prepare these days. It becomes part of me. Hal made me a CD of all the original versions of songs with all the lyrics printed up and it was almost like a script. And by the time I got to New York, there was chemistry there, an alchemical process – somehow the songs had become part of me. And with “Broken English” it all felt very natural.

What are your personal memories of making “Broken English”?

I kind of knew as well that we were working on a great record. But at the same time I had so little faith, I thought well I’m going to do one great record before I die. And it sort of focussed my energies. I don’t need that now. I’ve learned to focus my energy and my talent very well. So I don’t have to pretend I’m going to die! It just felt really right. And we did it very differently, very fast. It took 9-10 days to record. I didn’t know until I got the mixes that it had worked. I felt I was flying without a safety net.