Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Marianne's missed opportunity



In AARP Magazine for May/June 2011 there are several 70th birthday greetings for Bob Dylan. Among them is a tattle-tale anecdote by singer Marianne Faithfull. Faithfull had some hits in the '60s, but is also known for hanging around with groups like the Rolling Stones.

Marianne said [with snarky comments in brackets by me]:
When we met in 1964 I was just 17 , and Bob was a few years older. He had written something for me, but I was pregnant and just about to get married, so I didn't want to go bed with him, and he got cross. There went whatever he was writing. He tore it up in front of me. [Well! That's sort of a kiss-and-tell, without the kiss. I'm sure we're all happy to learn that a Bob Dylan song went undone because of Marianne's charms. I'm sure Bob got over his attack of horniness, and maybe he rewrote the song without telling her about it.]
Marianne goes on to say:
Bob had a big influence on the Rolling Stones. I got ahold of The Basement Tapes and went on holiday with Mick and took it with me. [Did she take her baby with her, and was the husband out of the picture by then?]

. . . I played it ad nauseum [until she got sick from listening to it?]. When we got back, Mick gave it to Keith; I think it affected their writing and moved them into the golden period. "Gimme Shelter" and "Street Fighting Man" and "Sympathy for the Devil"--those are all about big subjects, and what Bob was writing about all during the '60s was big subjects.

So, I give Bob all my love [Does that mean you're ready to go to bed with him now?] and congratulations, and "Well done, man."
Tsk, tsk, Marianne. That's quite a little tribute, which is about you and the Stones and oh, by the way, Bob Dylan.

Marianne sang some pretty good songs, and she certainly was pretty, a desirable and stylish girl. The fact that she was 17 when she met Bob gives me the creepy-crawlies. Where were her parents, letting her run around with horny rock stars?

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