Mike Leander

As a producer for Decca in the mid-'60s, Mike Leander's primary achievements were working on Marianne Faithfull's earliest and most popular records. At the outset of her career, Faithfull's voice was slight, and her professional experience even slighter. Leander sometimes brought out the best in her by cocooning her vocals with light European orchestration, which emphasized their most attractive and tender qualities, while directing attention away from her lack of conventional singing power. Leander had studied orchestration and conducting at the Trinity College of Music, and ...