Guitar.com: "THE SMITHS’ 20 GREATEST GUITAR MOMENTS, RANKED" by Andy Price (August 17, 2021)

THE SMITHS’ 20 GREATEST GUITAR MOMENTS, RANKED

"There’s not many who can compete with the intensity of devotion that The Smiths generated in their all-too-brief five year lifespan. It all began that fateful day when the young Mancunian John Maher (later to be reborn as Johnny Marr) knocked on the door of local unemployed New York Dolls and Coronation Street aficionado – and sometime local punk band frontman – Stephen Patrick Morrissey, with an idea to create a new kind of band. The pair’s respective gifts for guitar and lyricism soon forged a chemistry that would result in some of the decade’s most life-affirming music."

The Smiths’ 20 greatest guitar moments, ranked

Johnny Marr’s unparalleled ability for weaving some of the most emotionally-charged, melodically sumptuous guitar parts in the history of pop continues to captivate.

guitar.com

Emphasis on the guitar side of things.
Regards,
FWD.

 

[Mozmar]

'ph'?

 

[Gregor Samsa]

I've said it before, but Marr is equally as brilliant at guitar and composing as Morrissey is at lyrics and singing - and they are both jaw-droppingly brilliant. As the cliché goes, that really was a match made in heaven. No wonder The Smiths was a perfect band.

My number one in terms of guitar is probably Paint a Vulgar Picture. If there'll ever come a time when I don't get goosebumps from that solo, it's probably because I have died.

 

[BookishBoy]

That's a well researched and nicely written article, which a certain Ms Dodwell could learn a thing or two from.

(It doesn't, of course, address the number of middling Marr compositions that Morrissey transformed into pure gold...)

 

[Gregor Samsa]

(It doesn't, of course, address the number of middling Marr compositions that Morrissey transformed into pure gold...)

Interesting! Which ones would those be?

 

[BookishBoy]

Interesting! Which ones would those be?

Ha! Good discussions to be had when we do the Smiths A-Z, right?!

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Ha! Good discussions to be had when we do the Smiths A-Z, right?!

Dear God, yes!

 

[rivum]

My number one in terms of guitar is probably Paint a Vulgar Picture. If there'll ever come a time when I don't get goosebumps from that solo, it's probably because I have died.

indeed. that solo is all the more appreciated when you consider that JM rarely did solos...

 

[rivum]

this is cool (regarding stop me):

Did you know?​

Suede’s Bernard Butler is now the proud owner of the Gibson ES-335 which Marr used to build this, and much of the Strangeways… material with.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

One of Johnny’s accounts of first day meeting with Morrissey .....

“I sat on the bed and Pommy sat on a chair on the other side of the room, and then Morrissey, who was stood by his record player, said, ‘Would you like to play a record?’ I walked over to a box of 7-inch singles that was on a dresser and inspected all the Decca and Pye labels until I came to a Tamla record by The Marvelettes which I liked, called ‘Paper Boy’. I took it out and Morrissey said, ‘Good choice,’ then I flipped it over and put on the B-side, which was called ‘You’re the One’.”


👨‍❤️‍👨

 

[Bulbous Salutation]

Thank you for pointing us to the article. Very well researched and I learned something new.

 

[The Tormentor]

indeed. that solo is all the more appreciated when you consider that JM rarely did solos...

Guys it's an incredible track ... The vocal so heartbreaking/heartfelt ... But a quick look at mozemporium (or wtf it's called) ... It's truly beyond irony ... Guess just fwd 3 decades things change but this one fairly sticks ... The Bona Drag t-shirt reissue u couldn't make up ... Is he so unaware ?? Or money (pursuit by a millionaire) truly changes everything ...

 

[Mayfly]

Thoroughly enjoyed listening to these 20 songs.
I always associate Marr’s signature guitar sound with the stripped down accoustics and of course the jangly guitar sound, but he has displayed an incredible versatility in the 70 or so Smiths songs he compose.
And talking about the accoustic songs, I am quite astonished not to see Well I Wonder in that list: it is so pure and breakable that it always gives me shivers.

 

[Simon stuart]

That's a well researched and nicely written article, which a certain Ms Dodwell could learn a thing or two from.

(It doesn't, of course, address the number of middling Marr compositions that Morrissey transformed into pure gold...)

Middling Marr compositions? Obviously not fully appreciative of what it was to be in Manchester in the 80’s. There isn’t a guitarist from Manchester in that period that didn’t eat, sleep and drink Johnny Marr. I know, I’m one of hundreds.

 

[Banbury Moz Army]

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THE SMITHS’ 20 GREATEST GUITAR MOMENTS, RANKED

"There’s not many who can compete with the intensity of devotion that The Smiths generated in their all-too-brief five year lifespan. It all began that fateful day when the young Mancunian John Maher (later to be reborn as Johnny Marr) knocked on the door of local unemployed New York Dolls and Coronation Street aficionado – and sometime local punk band frontman – Stephen Patrick Morrissey, with an idea to create a new kind of band. The pair’s respective gifts for guitar and lyricism soon forged a chemistry that would result in some of the decade’s most life-affirming music."

The Smiths’ 20 greatest guitar moments, ranked

Johnny Marr’s unparalleled ability for weaving some of the most emotionally-charged, melodically sumptuous guitar parts in the history of pop continues to captivate.

guitar.com

Emphasis on the guitar side of things.
Regards,
FWD.

For me "Still Ill " is the Smiths. Perfect.
The outro of "Girl Afraid" also .....

 

[anonymous]

this is cool (regarding stop me):

Did you know?​

Suede’s Bernard Butler is now the proud owner of the Gibson ES-335 which Marr used to build this, and much of the Strangeways… material with.

Actually, Stop Me Amdahl the majority of Strangeways was written on “Bertha No. 3,” Marr’s 1963 Cadillac Green Gretch Country Club.

 

[BrummieBoy]

An analysis of the guitar contribution to 'The Smiths ' which omits discussing Rory Gallagher simply isn't worth reading.

BB