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Thread: Johnny Marr...What a great guitarist!

  1. #1

    Johnny Marr...What a great guitarist!

    Listening to The Smiths last night, it really reminded me that Johnny Marr has few equals when it comes to rhythm guitar orchestration. Marr reminds me of Brian May ( the way he tracks his parts and builds little puzzles of woven guitar themes). He is a shining example of a clever , confident guitarist whose vision isn't marred by flashy technique.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TaUUYV7wKos


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyIOOzinM6o

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhby4dlOYOg

  2. #2
    Member Lebofsky's Avatar
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    I am completely unapologetic and feel no shame about my fondness for the Smiths. This is largely due to Marr's contribution to the band. Lots of brilliant stuff in there. Really it was just one revelatory listen to "Headmaster Ritual" which woke me up to him and this band and made me an instant convert.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgNfTx9pGzA

    - Matt

  3. #3
    Member Mythos's Avatar
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    Marr is an awesome guitarman for sure...!

  4. #4
    I've always preferred his work outside of The Smiths but that's probably because I don't like the band. Excellent guitarist for sure!

  5. #5
    Great guitarist, but with a snot nosed personality. Or at least that was the impression I got from an interview he did in Guitar Player back in the late 80's. The thing that I remember was him saying "Guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen should be forgotten as quickly as possible", and the subsequent shitstorm in the letters pages for the next several months (plus the constant stream of Tallahassee jokes that ensued for the next few years once the editors realized many of the letters were coming from that area).

    Actually, nowadays, I understand the point he was trying to make, but he chose a rather snotty way of expressing it. But then what else would you expect from someone associated with a "post-punk" band?!

    Having said that, that 12 string guitar riff he plays on Nothing But Flowers by Talking Heads is pretty cool.

    As for The Smiths, I've always been curious to hear more from them, but I just can't deal with Morrissey.

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    'How Soon Is Now' alone is enough to give him a certain reputation. It's a song I could listen to for hours- a contender for best rock track of its decade, I think. I love the chords he uses in 'Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now' as well. The Smiths' singles were absolutely extraordinary.

    Nobody can 'deal with Morrissey' these days. He's just been dropped by Harvest, mere weeks after they released an album by him! Now he regularly makes the news for his, shall we say, unorthodox comments and behaviour.

  7. #7
    see THE THE "Mindbomb".

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    Member bigjohnwayne's Avatar
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    "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now" is his finest moment to my ears.


    He was the 2nd guitar player for the indie band Modest Mouse for a while--appearing on their album "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank".

    I won't hazard a guess which parts on that record are his and which are Isaac Brock's but the two best tracks on that record are "Missed the Boat" and "Little Motel". The former has a lot of gorgeous rhythm playing. The latter has more than a little of "Soon" by Yes

  9. #9
    Great player/writer. Really love his chord changes. He might be a bit unnoticed only in that the first thing you might notice about The Smiths is Morrissey's strange vocal stylings and lyrics. The bass and drums are pretty straight ahead and don't get in his way but that Morrissey...

  10. #10
    Member progholio's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by GuitarGeek View Post
    Great guitarist, but with a snot nosed personality. Or at least that was the impression I got from an interview he did in Guitar Player back in the late 80's. The thing that I remember was him saying "Guitarists like Yngwie Malmsteen should be forgotten as quickly as possible", and the subsequent shitstorm in the letters pages for the next several months (plus the constant stream of Tallahassee jokes that ensued for the next few years once the editors realized many of the letters were coming from that area).
    I remember reading that Marr interview and it changed the way I looked at shred players.

    For my money I'd much rather own this
    Johnny_Marr_-_The_Messenger.jpg

    over that
    spellbound.jpg

  11. #11
    Member Wounded Land's Avatar
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    Great player, great band.

  12. #12
    cant deny i love the smiths big time. at the end of the day however, it's morrissey's vocals that carry the band

  13. #13
    Absolutely. One of my all time favourites. My way into The Smiths at the time was his guitar playing and I love them and him even more today. Right on Matt about The Headmaster Ritual too, their absolute pinnacle for me and of my favourite songs by anyone. It seems to have this strange quality of sounding neither minor nor major.
    Last edited by Kavus Torabi; 08-19-2014 at 02:26 PM.

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by 3RDegree_Robert View Post
    The bass and drums are pretty straight ahead
    I have to disagree here. While Mike Joyce's drums are the weak link (although not problematic) Andy Rourke's playing and bass lines are absolutely stellar. One of the best, for my money, and a perfect accompaniment to Marr. They have this beautiful, melodic, baroque quality, walking along with Marr's lovely weaving.

  15. #15
    Johnny Marr is unique and brilliant, however to deny Morrissey is to not understand The Smiths at all. They are one of my favourites of any era, and there really isn't a weak link in their run of albums, and the singles were sublime.

    I didn't hear that he had been dropped from his label, but that is a shame as his solo album was pretty damn good. I loved his work on Matt Johnson's "Mind Bomb" and have picked up many of his side projects, always interesting to hear what he is up to.

    I have heard many reports that he is a generous and kind bloke too, I believe he gave Noel Gallagher a guitar quite early on his career, but we won't hold that against him (Caveat - I quite like Noel, my neighbour met him on holiday in South Africa and said he as an absolute gent, unlike his brother!)

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    It's Morrissey who is no longer with Harvest- only now the story is that he's 'left' rather than dropped. This after a week of ever-stranger headlines concerning him- usually labyrinthine rants about some topic or other.

    I've not heard any negative stories about Johnny Marr. Someone I knew met him when he was playing in an indie band a few years back and said he was very pleasant. The Smiths' best work must have been a tonic for those alienated by all that shiny jolly 'New Romantic' stuff. There's a similar void in the mainstream now, I think.

    Oasis' earlier albums are still fine.
    Last edited by JJ88; 08-19-2014 at 05:12 PM.

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