Here's Johnny: Marr on Morrissey, guitars and whether the Smiths will ever reform

[anonnymouse]

God Marr bores the f***in' living SHITE out of me. Truly a nothing talent with passable playing skills brought to Guitar God level by John Porter's brilliant ability to arrange and mix. Name ONE decent thing he did in the past quarter century! At least Morrissey has f***ing WORKED all those years and not just sat on his arse for most of the time like Marr. No wonder Morrissey is a bit more weathered.

 

[mcrickson]

Truly a nothing talent with passable playing skills brought to Guitar God level by John Porter's brilliant ability to arrange and mix.

Erm, have you HEARD any live Smiths' recordings? Sounds to me like he's a mf'ing guitar god. I didn't see John Porter 'arranging' or 'mixing' anything there. While I (and even HE) agrees that he hasn't done anything as iconic as the Smiths since, I really don't think it's fair to call him "a nothing talent," especially hearing the melody to "Girl Afraid." He made himself a guitar god. Morrissey wasn't the Smiths.

 

[Girl-with-the-Thorn]

Erm, have you HEARD any live Smiths' recordings? Sounds to me like he's a mf'ing guitar god. I didn't see John Porter 'arranging' or 'mixing' anything there. While I (and even HE) agrees that he hasn't done anything as iconic as the Smiths since, I really don't think it's fair to call him "a nothing talent," especially hearing the melody to "Girl Afraid." He made himself a guitar god. Morrissey wasn't the Smiths.

 

[Biggoof009]

UMM - Led Zeppelin did it for free.... not a dime.. yep - makes me proud

How much $$$ do both Plant and Page have? I would assume MUCH MUCH more than all of the Smiths combined? They've sold over 100 million records.

FYI: Zeppelin was offered somewhere in the ballpark of $200-300 million for a year reunion tour last year alone. Plant turned ALL offers down, so he could do a tour w/Allison Krauss.

The gig you're speaking about? was a one off.

Perfect example of what I was talking about is KISS. You can say whatever you'd like about them. No one thought they'd ever reunite and tour w/Ace and Peter, but guess what happened when a promoter dangled the huge carrot(payout) in front of them?

The "I hate Peter and Ace, and they will never again be a member of KISS" bs Gene was spewing was suddenly not spoken about, why? they all made a buttload of dough off the tour.

Why do you think they keep wheeling the Stones old bones onto stages across the country every few years? they make a buttload of $$$$ off them. They've "broken up" a few times. Look @ Van Halen. Notice how "I hate David Lee Roth" wasn't uttered out of Eddie's mouth during this last tour, why? they all made close to $100 mill off it.

$$$$ talks, and replaces any "hate" between all parties.

 

[sistasheila]

Marr got the tattoo on his left inner arm while playing with Modest Mouse. "I recently got my first tattoo. It's of Shiva, the god of destruction and creation, and it's on my left arm. It was either that or Popeye."

Since then, he's gotten ANGIE tattooed on the backside of his right elbow. The newer ones were done in LA this spring, while he was there recording with The Cribs.

where did you find that pic?
or did you visit a tatoo shop the same day johnny was there?or on a convention?

 

[Velvis]

Quote: I can't speak for Morrissey, but I know that I'm too busy right now to get the Smiths on the road again. Is that likely to change? Who knows?


Who Knows???
This sounds to me like Johnny is getting himself ready to reform the Smiths sometime soon!

 

[Amy]

Quote: I can't speak for Morrissey, but I know that I'm too busy right now to get the Smiths on the road again. Is that likely to change? Who knows?


Who Knows???
This sounds to me like Johnny is getting himself ready to reform the Smiths sometime soon!

He's been ready for about 15 years

 

[Hidden By Rags]

"I've mentioned that Cemetry Gates, from their album of that year, The Queen Is Dead, is my favourite Smiths song. Sportingly, Marr decides he must play it for me. Not only that - he'll play it for me on the very guitar on which he wrote the melody all those years ago. He plucks the guitar, a six-string Martin D-35 acoustic, from the studio rack and prepares to play. However, many years have passed since he last performed Cemetry Gates, and the chord sequence is proving elusive. Finally remembering how it goes, Marr launches into a beautiful, note-perfect rendition of the song."

Would love to have heard that...

Agreed! And one of his best guitar 'solos' he's done on 'Getting Away With it'.
That Martin and the Rickenbacker, the only guitars he ever needs.

 

[dothewatusi]

Agreed! And one of his best guitar 'solos' he's done on 'Getting Away With it'.
That Martin and the Rickenbacker, the only guitars he ever needs.

About two and a half minutes in, right? Very nice.

Here's something I'd like to hear more of. It's Johnny playing part of Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others in between songs at a Healers show in 2003. Very Bert Jansch-like. Wonderful.

(And then, he goes into Dylan's Don't Think Twice It's Alright...)

 

[Dave]

Just a suggestion

 

[lilikoi]

very nice guitars..rickenbacker...fender jazzmaster...

 

[Raphael Lambach]

I had on fender...

 

[Uncleskinny]

About two and a half minutes in, right? Very nice.

Here's something I'd like to hear more of. It's Johnny playing part of Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others in between songs at a Healers show in 2003. Very Bert Jansch-like. Wonderful.

(And then, he goes into Dylan's Don't Think Twice It's Alright...)

I'm not disagreeing, because it's all down to individual ears and such, but to me it sounds very much like Back To The Old House at the beginning there. I'd chop off something to be able to be present when Marr plays that and Moz sings it.

Peter

 

[Mars_Rover]

Here's something I'd like to hear more of. It's Johnny playing part of Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others in between songs at a Healers show in 2003. Very Bert Jansch-like. Wonderful.

(And then, he goes into Dylan's Don't Think Twice It's Alright...)

May you live a long and deliriously happy life, Dot - ta. I love it when Johnny sings. I may be in the minority there, but I ain't bovvered.

I'm enjoying the Daily Mail interview too, cool kids be darned. Mrs. Maher sounds impressive:

The biggest musical influence on me was my mum. We were both enraptured by music. When I was a young kid, she'd put an Everly Brothers single on the Dansette and we'd listen to it 15 times, figuring out how they'd nailed a guitar part or a harmony. She taught me how to analyse music properly, to see how it worked. From that point I saw the whole world through music and I never doubted for a moment that I was going to be a musician.

 

[ADAM]

If the Smiths reform, I will slit my own throat from ear to ear. (Morrissey might take that as an incentive.) The Smiths is very much dead.

When Morrissey plays a smattering of Smiths songs for the elderly and decrepit in the audience, I simply tune out. No hand stretching out. No smile.

The next reporter who brings this up should be drowned in a plastic childrens' pool filled up at the local abortion clinic.

 

[JD93]

A Smiths reformation would be awful, dreadful, abhorent, abominable. And it won't happen anyway if you're talking about all four members. BUT why does no journalist ever ask Marr or Morrissey whether they would ever play together again or create new material WITHOUT mentioning The Smiths?! I'm sure you'd get a more interesting answer.

 

[Maurice E]

A Smiths reformation would be awful, dreadful, abhorent, abominable. And it won't happen anyway if you're talking about all four members. BUT why does no journalist ever ask Marr or Morrissey whether they would ever play together again or create new material WITHOUT mentioning The Smiths?! I'm sure you'd get a more interesting answer.

a very good question.
it's not as if a Smiths tour would exert much of a commercial pull. they were a middlingly successful indie pop band in terms of record sales.
it's not like getting Abba or the Led Zeppelins to reform...

 

[Anaesthesine]

a very good question.
it's not as if a Smiths tour would exert much of a commercial pull. they were a middlingly successful indie pop band in terms of record sales.
it's not like getting Abba or the Led Zeppelins to reform...

A Smiths reunion would resemble an indie Lourdes: they might not attract the biggest crowds, but they would attract the most awestruck and devout (of all ages).

 

[dothewatusi]

I'm not disagreeing, because it's all down to individual ears and such, but to me it sounds very much like Back To The Old House at the beginning there.
Peter

Agree.

A Smiths reunion would resemble an indie Lourdes: they might not attract the biggest crowds, but they would attract the most awestruck and devout (of all ages).

But what is this one on his right forearm?
Dave

Looks like it's some kind of bird perched on a branch.

 

[Qvist]

If the Smiths reform, I will slit my own throat from ear to ear. (Morrissey might take that as an incentive.) The Smiths is very much dead.

When Morrissey plays a smattering of Smiths songs for the elderly and decrepit in the audience, I simply tune out. No hand stretching out. No smile.

The next reporter who brings this up should be drowned in a plastic childrens' pool filled up at the local abortion clinic.

Idiot.