New book - Marr's Guitars (Release: October 17, 2023)

 

[Frank Jobsworth]

They're not really old friends, they had a brief, intense working relationship and it nearly did Johnny Marr in, JM seems happy these days, i don't see reaching out to a co-worker from decades ago being worth the bother.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Yeah, would be nice. But it seems a little too late for these two. Maybe.

I just hope they patch things up, at least privately, like all old friends that have once had that kind of deep creative relationship should.

They're not really old friends, they had a brief, intense working relationship and it nearly did Johnny Marr in, JM seems happy these days, i don't see reaching out to a co-worker from decades ago being worth the bother.

yes, you’re right, they weren’t just ‘old friends’.
Because of that shared creative experience, their relationship went deeper than being merely friends.

And as you said.. they had a ‘brief intense working relationship’. So I don’t think many would look at a person they had that kind of relationship with, and simply write them off as a ‘co-worker’ that are not ‘worth the bother’. But I guess you would.

 

[Anonymous]

There's nothing 'brave' about shit-stirring from behind a screen and trying to insert yourself in a disagreement that doesn't concern you and likely started before you were even born. Johnny might have issues with Moz for his own reasons but he could take it up with M privately, he doesn't need his son to fight his battles. And if anybody really did use Moz' name for clickbait it was no-hoper Nile, not Johnny.

Right...did you forget that Moz insulted and marginalized Johnny in a very public manner? As if Johnny couldn't get publicity on his own? Fighting fire with fire, good for Nile, standing up for his dad.

 

[Redacted]

yes, you’re right, they weren’t just ‘old friends’.
Because of that shared creative experience, their relationship went deeper than being merely friends.

And as you said.. they had a ‘brief intense working relationship’. So I don’t think many would look at a person they had that kind of relationship with, and simply write them off as a ‘co-worker’ that are not ‘worth the bother’. But I guess you would.

There isn't any need for you to take peronal shots at people.
In the passion of youth, everything seems more intense. We are experiencing a lot of things for the first time and when you do something extraordinary with another person, that relationship can seem like much more than it is.
For Johnny, it's obvious that once he got some more life experience behind him, this really did not seem like more than a brief but intense working relationship and he moved on. When asked recently, again, if he would go back, he said no. He pretty much said Morrissey was not worth the bother, when he said he had plenty of friends. Morrissey is emotionally stunted and never moves on from anything, he is still pining over Miley Cyrus ffs.
Once Johnny shut his mouth and stopped talking about Morrissey and let Morrissey self destruct, we all got a look at what it must have been like for Johnny and it was a lot easier to understand how he could, or rather had to, leave that friendship.

 

[Amy]

Right...did you forget that Moz insulted and marginalized Johnny in a very public manner? As if Johnny couldn't get publicity on his own? Fighting fire with fire, good for Nile, standing up for his dad.

Nile was goading and insulting Moz long, long before the open letter and the article in Uncut.

 

[Amy]

They're not really old friends, they had a brief, intense working relationship and it nearly did Johnny Marr in, JM seems happy these days, i don't see reaching out to a co-worker from decades ago being worth the bother.

That relationship has defined their whole professional lives, as M rightly said to Johnny. They really don't have the option of just forgetting that 'co-worker' when there is such a shared legacy and they're both still singing those songs, touring, being asked about each other, etc. And being in that situation whilst they're not even on speaking terms is what is leading to a lot of the bad blood, because the press are weaponising every little comment.

No one is saying they ought to be living in each others pockets but a bit of civility, a cessation of the sniping, that would mean a lot. Dismissing their whole complex history as "colleagues from decades ago" is just a bit daft, as if Johnny was Gary Day or something.

 

[Anonymous]

The topic has been done to death, but I think Johnny has long resigned himself to the fact that's it's impossible to reconcile and have an amicable relationship with Morrissey, so there's no point in even trying to engage with him any more. He really is nothing more than an ex-work colleague from decades ago . I always felt this interview was one of the most revealing:

In fact, Marr reveals that while the two former confidantes were meeting up occasionally a few years ago, nowadays they no longer speak at all.

"We don't have any reason to, to be honest," he says, with a touch of glumness. When Marr remastered the Smiths' back catalogue two years ago, he emailed Morrissey (along with all his ex-bandmates) saying he could hear the love in the music, but didn't hear back. "It was a nice way to leave it, I think," he considers, tiptoeing carefully around too much discussion of his former partner. "You can only try and be friendly with someone for so long without getting anything back. You just think: 'Ah, f*ck it.'"

Johnny Marr on the Smiths, Morrissey and putting politics back in pop

With the release of his first solo album The Messenger, the former Smiths guitarist talks to Dave Simpson about finally embracing his old sound, David Cameron and why he and Morrissey don't talk any more

www.theguardian.com

 

[Les Tameside]

The topic has been done to death, but I think Johnny has long resigned himself to the fact that's it's impossible to reconcile and have an amicable relationship with Morrissey, so there's no point in even trying to engage with him any more. He really is nothing more than an ex-work colleague from decades ago . I always felt this interview was one of the most revealing:

Johnny Marr on the Smiths, Morrissey and putting politics back in pop

With the release of his first solo album The Messenger, the former Smiths guitarist talks to Dave Simpson about finally embracing his old sound, David Cameron and why he and Morrissey don't talk any more

www.theguardian.com

There have been bigger lawsuits (Pink Floyd) and much worse insults exchanged (Sex Pistols, Stone Roses, Velvet Underground) within deeply divided bands. Nevertheless, they’ve found reasons to re-unite down the road.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

There have been bigger lawsuits (Pink Floyd) and much worse insults exchanged (Sex Pistols, Stone Roses, Velvet Underground) within deeply divided bands.

Nevertheless, they’ve found reasons to re-unite down the road.

rea$on$

 

[Famous when dead]

Nile was still posting petty stuff a year after the open letter (January 25, 2022).
Book covering example (February 25, 2023):
Post in thread 'Strange/unexpected Moz references?' https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/strange-unexpected-moz-references.83338/post-1987506497
That said, there's only really been a couple of Smiths comments since that post and the Morrissey stuff has pretty much ceased.
FWD.

 

[Grilled Chicken]

Nile was still posting petty stuff a year after the open letter (January 25, 2022).
Book covering example (February 25, 2023):
Post in thread 'Strange/unexpected Moz references?' https://www.morrissey-solo.com/threads/strange-unexpected-moz-references.83338/post-1987506497
That said, there's only really been a couple of Smiths comments since that post and the Morrissey stuff has pretty much ceased.
FWD.

I think Moz has become too pathetic to make fun of now.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

I think Moz has become too pathetic to make fun of now.

Ok, Nile. Now run along.

 

[Surface]

Scary to think that Nile and Sam may be in charge of the legacy after their Dad/Uncle have gone.

 

[Anonymous]

Scary to think that Nile and Sam may be in charge of the legacy after their Dad/Uncle have gone.

This is my main concern. I'm long past hoping that Morrissey and Marr will reunite for a show/tour/new LP etc, but the relationship seems so frozen that even archive releases seem to be off the table now. Where are all our lavish Smiths archival boxsets, stuffed with unreleased recordings, demos and live goodies? The last thing we need is Nile and Sam carrying the grudge on to the next generation and stopping anything ever getting released.

 

[Famous when dead]

Johnny Marr Loves his Axes

In his new book, “Marr’s Guitars,” the co-founder of the Smiths describes how each of his hundred and thirty-two instruments turned his daydreams into sound.

https://archive.is/0bZBj

New Yorker Magazine, minus subscription gate.

 

[Gray Fruit]

Variety's The Best Music Books of 2023 includes Marr's Guitars.

The Best Music Books of 2023: Lou Reed, Britney Spears, Sly Stone, Girls Groups and More

Lou Reed, Sly Stone, girl groups, Britney Spears' memoir, Johnny Marr's guitars and more are the subjects of our favorite music books of 2023.

variety.com

“Marr’s Guitars” Johnny Marr— Guitar porn of the highest order, this massive and lavishly illustrated coffee-table book is a beautifully and imaginatively rendered coffee table book centered around the legendary Smiths/ The The/ Modest Mouse guitarist’s fanatical guitar collection. Marr remembers not only when and where he acquired nearly each of his hundred-plus guitars, but which songs he wrote on them, and although he doesn’t always connect these dots, it’s clear that the tremolo bar on the gorgeous Gibson ES-355 that Sire Records chief Seymour Stein bought him played a huge role in the sound of “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now” and “Girl Afraid” (the first two songs he wrote on it), and the beautiful Gibson electric 12-string almost definitely spawned such janglefests as “Paint a Vulgar Picture” and “You Just Haven’t Earned It Yet Baby.” Non guitar geeks will be fascinated by the memoir and the period photos of Marr through the years — he changed his look as often as his guitars — but photographer Pat Graham has taken a refreshing approach, combining guitar-porn-satisfying full-body shots of the decades-old instruments with close-ups of their rustic details: cracked varnish, tarnished metal hardware, worn wood. What’s almost as striking is Marr’s generosity with his near-priceless collection: While gifting guitars is a traditional act of respect between musicians, he’s loaned out or given away some of the most mouth-watering instruments in his arsenal, including a couple that figure heavily in Smiths lore.

 

[Gray Fruit]

From Johnny Marr's guitars to A History of Women in 101 Objects​

For lovers of fashion, interior design and music, the 10 poshest coffee table books

There is nothing wrong with asking for the new Lee Child book for Christmas. If you want to spend the time between Christmas and New Year tackling…

www.heraldscotland.com

Marr’s Guitars, Johnny Marr, Thames & Hudson, £45

As one of the music papers told its readers back in the 1980s, The Smiths were “our Beatles”. A bit of a stretch perhaps, but then it is maybe difficult now to recall the band’s cultural importance in the middle of that decade. And whilst Morrissey has alienated some of his original fans in recent years guitarist Johnny Marr remains worshipped. This photographic exploration of the guitars he owns (well over 100, though he’s not sure himself of the exact number) works as a gorgeous example of guitar porn. But in passing it also offers a little glimpse into Marr’s creative approach. The first decent acoustic guitar Marr owned was the Gibson J-160E. “This guitar inspired me to write ‘Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want’, ‘William, It Was Really Nothing’ and ‘Well I Wonder’. It brought a bit of a beat group sensibility to my writing,” Marr writes.

 

[Famous when dead]

 

[Famous when dead]

 

[Famous when dead]