''Horses and High Heels'' is the 18th studio album release by British singer

Marianne Faithfull Marianne Evelyn Gabriel Faithfull (born 29 December 1946) is an English singer and actress. She achieved popularity in the 1960s with the release of her hit single " As Tears Go By" and became one of the lead female artists during the British I ...

. The 13-track album was released on 31 January 2011 in continental Europe and on 7 March 2011 in the UK on the

Dramatico Dramatico is a record label founded by Mike Batt in 2000. Artists on the label include Mike Batt, Robert Meadmore, Sarah Blasko, Katie Melua, Leddra Chapman and Alistair Griffin. Dramatico has also established a publishing company in New York ...

record label. It was released in the United States on 28 June 2011 via the French

Naïve Records Naïve Records is a French independent record label based in Paris, specializing in electronic music, pop music, jazz and classical music. Founding and expansion It was founded in 1998 by Patrick Zelnik, former CEO of Virgin France, Gilles Paire ...

label. "Why Did We Have to Part?" was released as a single from the album.

Background and context

Recorded in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

at Piety Street Recording in the Bywater in September and October 2010, the album features cover versions of 1960s classics and seven new songs, four of which were co-written by Faithfull herself. One of the new songs, "The Old House", was specially written for her by Irish playwright

Frank McGuiness Professor Frank McGuinness (born 1953) is an Irish writer. As well as his own plays, which include '' The Factory Girls'', ''Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme'', ''Someone Who'll Watch Over Me'' and ''Dolly West's Kitchen'', ...

. There are two cameo appearances on guitar from

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. ...

with further cameos from

Dr. John Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. (November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019), better known by his stage name Dr. John, was an American singer and songwriter. His music encompassed New Orleans blues, jazz, funk, and R&B. Active as a session musician from t ...

and MC5's Wayne Kramer. The album was produced by long-term collaborator

Hal Willner Hal Willner (April 6, 1956 – April 7, 2020) was an American music producer working in recording, films, television, and live events. He was best known for assembling tribute albums and events featuring a wide variety of artists and musical sty ...

Critical reception

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' gave the album a three-star rating, stating it is "heavy with lost love and Faithfull's honey-over-gravel voice."

Track listing

# "The Stations" (

Greg Dulli Greg Dulli (born May 11, 1965) is an American musician from Hamilton, Ohio. Debuting as a member of the rock band the Afghan Whigs in 1986, Dulli has been a member of the Twilight Singers, Gutter Twins, and in 2020 released his debut solo albu ...

Mark Lanegan Mark William Lanegan (November 25, 1964 – February 22, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the St ...

) – 4:24 # "Why Did We Have To Part" (Laurent Voulzy, Faithfull) – 3:45 # "That’s How Every Empire Falls" (R.B. Morris) – 5:51 # "No Reason" (

Jackie Lomax John Richard Lomax (10 May 1944 – 15 September 2013) was an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. He is best known for his association with George Harrison, who produced Lomax's recordings for the Beatles' Apple record label in the late 1 ...

) – 2:51 # "Prussian Blue" (David Courts, Faithfull) – 5:03 # "Love Song" (

Lesley Duncan Lesley Cox (née Duncan; 12 August 1943 – 12 March 2010) was an English singer-songwriter, best known for her work during the 1970s. She received much airplay on British radio stations such as BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2, but never achieved ...

) – 4:37 # "Gee Baby" (J.J. Johnson, Mary Alma Baker,

Sylvia Robinson Sylvia Robinson (née Vanderpool; May 29, 1935 – September 29, 2011) was an American singer, record producer, and record label executive. Robinson achieved success as a performer on two R&B chart toppers: as half of Mickey & Sylvia with ...

, Tyler T. Texas) – 2:49 # "

Goin' Back "Goin' Back" (also recorded and released as "Going Back") is a song written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King in 1966. It describes the loss of innocence that comes with adulthood, along with an attempt, on the part of the singer, to recapture th ...

" (

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

) – 3:41 # "Past Present and Future" (Arthur Butler, George "Shadow" Morton,

Jerry Leiber Lyricist Jerome Leiber (April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933) were American songwriting and record producing partners. They found success as the writers of such Crossover music, crossover hit songs ...

) – 2:46 # "Horses and High Heels" (

Doug Pettibone Doug Pettibone (born in Los Angeles, California) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and studio musician. Career Doug Pettibone started to play the guitar at the age of eight. His first teacher was Andy Summers, formerly of The Police ...

, Faithfull) – 3:52 # "Back in Baby’s Arms" (

Allen Toussaint Allen Richard Toussaint (; January 14, 1938 – November 10, 2015) was an American musician, songwriter, arranger and record producer. He was an influential figure in New Orleans rhythm and blues from the 1950s to the end of the century, descri ...

) – 4:19 # "Eternity" (Doug Pettibone, Faithfull) – 4:03 # "The Old House" (

, Leo Abrahams) – 4:04 Bonus tracks on the vinyl edition: # "Fragile Weapon" (Devon T. Williams) # "I Don´t Wanna Know" (Rupert Charles Guidy)

Charts

In 2011 it was awarded a double silver certification from the

Independent Music Companies Association The Independent Music Companies Association (IMPALA), originally the Independent Music Publishers and Labels Association, is a non-profit trade association established in 2000 to help European independent record labels represent their agenda a ...

which indicated sales of at least 40,000 copies throughout Europe.

References

{{Authority control 2011 albums Marianne Faithfull albums Albums produced by Hal Willner