Marianne Faithfull

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Of his youth, Morrissey has said, "Pop music was all I ever had, and it was completely entwined with the image of the pop star. I remember feeling the person singing was actually with me and understood me and my predicament." He later revealed that the first record he purchased was Marianne Faithfull's 1964 single "Come and Stay With Me" (Morrissey - Wikipedia).

From Mellow Morrissey picks his Desert Island Discs - The Guardian (Nov. 2009): His only upbeat record was Marianne Faithful's 1965 hit, Come and Stay with Me. He revealed he performed the song as a six-year-old standing on a table in the council house he grew up in Manchester. This was, he said, "quite perverted of me if you listen to the lyrics".

See also Under The Influence - Passions Just Like Mine / Marianne Faithfull. Excerpts:

Her song "Sha La La Song" was given by Morrissey to Marr on a tape soon after they met.

It is rumoured that early in their career the Smiths considered, or even attempted, to cover "Summer Nights" or "Sha La La Song".

In an interview for the Brit Girls documentary first broadcast late 1997 (UK, Channel 4), Morrissey said "The first single I ever bought, Marianne Faithfull's 'Come And Stay With Me' [...] it was 1965 and I still love it... it's a great record. I memorised the words and I would sing them very loudly. I thought she was incredible, I'm sure she still is, but then she was great. I was only six, I really didn't know what the words meant, I didn't know what she was singing about, certain lines I couldn't fathom at all. It was just something that was grabbing me in. It was the sound of her voice, the feel, the emotivemess and the freedom, and from that moment I just fell in love with pop music. I never stopped playing pop records. "

In a Q&A published in Mojo in 2004, when asked "What was the first record you bought, and where did you buy it?", Morrissey answered "'Come And Stay With Me' 7" single. I bought it in a shop in Moss Side called Paul Marsh. I didn't understand what she was singing, but I lost myself to it."

"Dear God Please Help Me" cover

Marianne covered Dear God Please Help Me on her 2008 album Easy Come, Easy Go.