Marianne Faithfull – "Come and Stay With Me" (1965)

The promises I made most faithfully 

I'll keep them still should you decide to leave

Monday was truly a red-letter day for 2 or 3 lines.

(FYI, the custom of highlighting especially important calendar dates in red ink goes back to at least to the Fasti Antiates Maiores, the calendar of the Roman Republic.)

That’s when I appeared on Rock Continuum, a WOWD-FM (94.3) radio show hosted by legendary DMV DJ Steven Lorber – a dedicated vintage musicologist if there ever was one.

(FYI, “dedicated vintage musicologist” is how the legendary Niagara – frontwoman of Destroy All Monsters and first-class femme fatale – described 2 or 3 lines after I wrote about her a few years ago.)

I picked a dozen truly great songs from the almost 1500 songs that have been featured on 2 or 3 lines over the nine-plus years of its existence, introducing each with some of the expert commentary and witty repartee that has made 2 or 3 lines such a wildly popular little blog.

(FYI, if you don’t believe me, just ask any of the loyal fans who have visited 2 or 3 lines over one million times since I gave birth to it on November 1, 2009 – which was clearly another red-letter day, n’est-ce pas?)

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I’m a novice when it comes to radio, but Steven held my hand and led me through the minefield that live radio can be.

(FYI, he didn’t literally hold my hand, of course – after all, we’re both married men!)  

That’s not to say the show went off without a hitch.  Somehow I managed to give Steven a numbered playlist that didn’t match up with the order of the songs on the CD I brought for him to play.  So when I talked up what I thought was song #4 on the CD, it turned out to be song #6 on the CD.  

It was an unforgivable rookie mistake, but Steven graciously brushed it off as no big deal.  He even invited me back to do the Rock Continuum show again in the future.

I immediately accepted his offer of a return engagement – which I’m setting down here in black and white for all the world to see in case he comes to his senses and tries to withdraw the invitation.

What’s the next rung on the ladder to fame and fortune for 2 or 3 lines?  Television, no doubt.  After all, it would be a shame to waste yours truly’s  good-looking mug on radio.

Until then, watch this space for more details about my next visit to the Rock Continuum show.

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Before turning the microphone over to me on Monday, Steven opened Rock Continuum by playing an enjoyable set of sunny sixties records – including today’s featured song.

Steven Lorber with a small
part of his record collection

As we were listening to “Come and Stay With Me” in the studio, he asked me if I recognized the singer.  I didn’t, so he told me it was Marianne Faithfull – who met the Rolling Stones at a party when she was not quite 18 years old (if Wikipedia is to be believed) and went on to have a major hit with “As Tears Go By” and a major love affair with Mick Jagger.  

I told him I thought the record sounded a little like Jackie DeShannon.  Later, I found out that Jackie DeShannon had written “Come and Stay With Me” (which was the initial track on her eponymous debut album).

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Marianne Faithfull

Years later, Marianne Faithfull’s manager told an interviewer that DeShannon wrote the song in Los Angeles when she and Led Zeppelin guitar hero Jimmy Page were a couple:

One night I couldn't get into our hotel room because Jimmy and Jackie were shagging.   So I yelled, “When you've finished could you write a song for Marianne”?

Click here to listen to “Come and Stay With Me.”

And click on the link below to buy the song from Amazon.