I'm having a Johnny Marr love-in this weekend

cruxiform

I'm loving his playing and The Smiths entire back catalogue. He's a fucking genius. 

HAL9000

It's just the miserable whiney singer that puts me off.

I must admit to quite liking guitarists like Johnny Marr, The Edge, Keef, who see their role as supporting the singer rather than playing extended solos.

mudslide73

I had a phase of watching that clip over and over about six months ago. I've been listening to The The recently too. Properly brilliant player.

MagicPigDetective

Yes yes yes, I've been having one too, I'm almost at the end of his autobiography which has given me newfound appreciation of his career and contribution to the Smiths. I fucking love The Smiths, yes even the vocals. I've had their whole back catalogue for a few years, every once in a while will listen to it all and will fall for a song which hadn't made an impression before. As it happens the most recent is Please Please Please..., love Marr's playing in that vid, showing his combination of rhythm and lead style. A capo is they key; I used to think that Bigmouth was impossibly hard to play using barre chords. The use of a capo makes it easily playable. He is a genius as far as I'm concerned. 

RocknRollDave

Smiths, tick, The The, tick. Electronic, tick. Healers and solo stuff......Nooooo thank you 

fob

Placidcasual79

I know its not ok not to like Johnny Marr/the Smiths but I have a friend who has yet to discover the what everyone else can see is the genius of this much loved band/guitarist. 

Where would be a good place for me to advise my friend to start?

digitalkettle

Hatful of Hollow!

John_A

cruxiform said:

I'm loving his playing and The Smiths entire back catalogue. He's a fucking genius. 

Lovely - He really sings the old Smith's songs well too.  Saw him in Nottingham and at Reading a few years ago, really good show,  Agree he's a miserable git though

chrisj1602

I've been really enjoying his Adrenalin Baby live album, it's a nice mix of his two solo albums with a few Smiths songs. Also has a great version of Getting Away With It.

richardhomer

John_A said:
Agree he's a miserable git though

Heaven knows he's miserable now....

BintyTwanger77

My guitar hero.

Simple as that. A genius.

camoflamingo

How is he miserable, is it during interviews being asked about the smiths incessantly?

lustycourtier

Miserable? He's one of the nicest artists I've ever met. Has time for everyone. He replies to tweets and remembers conversations and where he's met fans before. 

BintyTwanger77

His autobiography is by all accounts very good. He had a relatively poor upbringing, but not a sign of bitterness about it, just a lovely, decent bloke.

MagicPigDetective

BintyTwanger77 said:

His autobiography is by all accounts very good. He had a relatively poor upbringing, but not a sign of bitterness about it, just a lovely, decent bloke.

His autobio is a good read, he comes across as a happy, positive person and a positive influence on those around him. It would easy to be bitter about what happened with the Smiths (and if there is, he does not dwell on it) but he has always looked to the future and the next project. Mozza is the man for negative vibes (planning to read his autobiog next; I expect much bitterness)

UnclePsychosis

Mozza's autobiography is hilarious. Sometimes deliberately ("my mother had a difficult birth with me. Naturally I had a big head") and sometimes just because it's hilarious to see a grown man refuse to accept any kind of responsibility for the things that have happened to him. The assassination piece on Mike Joyce goes from "interesting to get Morrissey's perspective" to full on "fake news, Stephen..." in no time at all. 

It's a very interesting read if you're a fan but absolutely has to be read in conjunction with some more factual/balanced accounts. 

mudslide73

Johnny's book goes a bit "then Talking Heads called me" and "then The Pretenders called me" after the Smiths years. It struck me how interested in fashion he was/is working in clothes shops. 

MagicPigDetective

UnclePsychosis said:

Mozza's autobiography is hilarious. Sometimes deliberately ("my mother had a difficult birth with me. Naturally I had a big head") and sometimes just because it's hilarious to see a grown man refuse to accept any kind of responsibility for the things that have happened to him. The assassination piece on Mike Joyce goes from "interesting to get Morrissey's perspective" to full on "fake news, Stephen..." in no time at all. 

It's a very interesting read if you're a fan but absolutely has to be read in conjunction with some more factual/balanced accounts. 

Good call, I'm in the middle of this now, to get a balanced account before tackling Morrissey's account.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-That-Never-Goes-Out/dp/0099537923

It's extremely detailed and an excellent read. The background of their Manchester upbringing and the local music scene is fascinating.

UnclePsychosis

My favourite smiths book is "the songs that saved your life" --- it's the story of the writing and recording of every Smiths song. The author admits that he lifted the concept from "Revolution In The Head" which is a great Beatles book.