Rich Kid Blues [Import]

Marianne Faithfull | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 11, 1998)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Diablo Records UK
• ASIN: B000009NQ4
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #185,120 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

1998 reissue on Demon of 1984 compilation comprised of tracks she cut in the early '70s. 12 tracks, including 'LongBlack Veil', 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' and 'Visions Of Johanna'.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet and bluesy, December 19, 1999

By 

Donn Hart (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rich Kid Blues (Audio CD)

Recorded shortly before Marianne found herself living on the streets as a heroin addict, she recorded "Rich Kid Blues." Gone now was that sweet, pretty young girl the world was enamored of. A brutal drug bust she was caught in with the Rolling Stones started a systematic assassination of her character in the tabloids. Her reedy haunting soprano had dropped into a whiskey-soured husky instrument. On this record, you can almost smell the tobacco on her breath.

That aside, though Marianne herself hates this album with a passion, it truly does need to be heard. Her rendition of "The Long Black Veil" is fantastic (her former paramour, Mick Jagger, later did this track with the Chieftains in 1995). The title track is murky and haunting. "Corrine, Corrina" is also murky and multi-layered. Call it art-blues, if you will. "Chords of Fame" and "Sad Lisa" are great. But the real highlight is her cover of Bob Dylan's "Visions of Johanna." Fantastic.

It's definitely worth it to buy this CD. Do not hesitate.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Underrated Halfway House?, January 9, 2005

By 

Ian Burns "Cymru" (Swansea,Wales) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rich Kid Blues (Audio CD)

This album,which is one of my own favourites by any artist,has an air of real melancholy about it.Don't let that put you off,considering the conditions it was apparently made under,it was almost inevitable,but there is also a feeling of real hope apparent throughout the album as well.
Such are the sparsity of most of the arrangements,this album could almost be subtitled,"Marianne Faithfull/Unplugged".For me,this adds to the charm of the thing and it still features the woman with the most gorgeous voice since the advent of sound recording.I've described this release as an underrated halfway house,which it probably is in terms of this lady's career,but also its a stop off point between the two "voices" of Marianne Faithfull.Most people will have heard the choirgirl voiced Marianne of her early pop hits,most will have heard the more lived in version of that same voice during her "Broken English" period.Well this album occasionally features both.Both are wonderful."Rich Kid Blues" features twelve cover versions of songs by the likes of George Harrison,Bob Dylan,Tim Hardin and Cat Stevens.Marianne Faithfull adds something to each and every one of them and for me,her Dylan covers are preferable to the originals.As you can see,I really like this record.In the right mood,if you give this collection a chance,you might too.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Even at Her Worst Moment Marianne Could Still Amaze, August 6, 2002

By 

Randall E. Adams (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rich Kid Blues (Audio CD)

This is certainly a candidate for honors as Marianne Faithfull's single weakest album, cut during a time of extremely heavy drug use when almost nobody who knew her had any use for her. She does not recall this album fondly in her autobiography.

Nonetheless, this very flawed collection earns three or even three and a half stars. This is the first album on which Marianne's now-famous whiskey and cigarettes rasp appeared. Her versions of Dylan's songs are absolutely convincing. In particular "Visions of Johannah" is one of Marianne's truly great moments on record. On "It's All Over Now Baby Blue," it really sounds like it IS all over. Marianne never sounded so junked out.

The material selected draws from some of the typical 70s material including James Taylor's "Mud Slide Slim" which is so-so and George Harrison's "Beware of the Darkness," also so-so. Cat Stevens' "Sad Lisa" doesn't really thrill me either. The unimaginative arrangements are a significant source of the mediocrity on some of these songs. On the other hand Phil Ochs' "Chords of Fame" rings very true and the simple arrangement doesn't interfere while Tim Hardin's "Southern Butterfly" is charming in its gentle fractured way.

For Marianne Faithfull fans, this album is definitely worthwhile. Seriously, "Visions of Johannah" is worth the entire price. For the merely curious, I recommend the Island anthology.