“Guilt” is a Barry Reynolds song originally performed by Marianne Faithfull. Spider and Michael first performed it in their band Red Wedding at a little iconic Los Angeles club called Brave Dog, back in 1981.
The club didn’t normally allow bands to play covers, but they got permission from the owners and knocked it out of the ballpark, making it their own.
Jack Marquette (co-owner of Brave Dog) said this about their performance of ‘Guilt’; “Toward the end of Red Wedding’s set came an unusual pause, silence and darkness, and what was probably a flashlight followed Michael’s face alone in the darkness onto stage center. “I Feel Bad” he softly said. And then again, more lyrically. And then more music gathered behind. By the time he got to “…though I’ve done nobody wrong, I feel bad,” a huge gasp came from many in the audience, as we realized Michael was not just covering Marianne Faithfull’s dark depressing hit: he was performing it!… living it more artfully and more personally that Ms. Faithfull ever had. More than a few left the club dewy-eyed and sparkling that night.”
This version of Guilt was filmed about two weeks before Spider passed away. Michael says he screwed up the lyrics (it’d been years since he sang the song), but due to failing health Spider was only able to film one time.
Yet, so many tears and years later, they still knocked it right out of the ballpark!
