"This Charming Man" played live by Johnny Marr - 9th Dec. London

I think if he REALLY wanted to prove a point he'd play what many guitarist say is the hardest Smiths song to play AND sing the vocals at the same time. That point being, "I can sing all your songs and play my crazy guitar parts."

I'm not surprised he didn't do both. It would be quite a challenge. I don't know a lot of musicians besides Geddy Lee from Rush who will play insanely difficult parts (bass) and sing at the same time. I'm sure there are others but it just isn't common.

That’s interesting. Think you made a good point, that he can’t really do both, singing and playing
them very well at the same time, it’s either one or the other and where he puts his focus, which
is understandable.

Alain did something similar recently in his video, and it doesn’t really work. Why did these
two great guitarists want to drop their guitar and pretend to be frontmen/singers ? Maybe it’s their reaction to Morrissey pretending to play guitar
in the ‘Chain Gang’ video. :lbf:
 
Yeah, it takes all sorts, don’t it? Some like nostalgia acts some don’t.

Maybe some have misread that post, so when I said ‘ Make it new, isn’t that why we like the music we do in the first place?’ I meant, for example, the first time we all heard the Smiths
didn’t it sound fresh and new and original to us?

Which was why I said that I was a little disappointed that the other Smiths songs Morrissey has decided to do sound closer to the original so yes enjoyable but would be more exciting/interesting if he changed them like what he did with Charming Man.

People don’t get it,they try to blame Jesse for the new version of Charming Man when they in fact should be blaming Morrissey ! :lbf:

Actually they should be thanking Morrissey
for not giving them what they predictably want !

Never a dull moment in MOZ land. :thumb:

If it was played back then the way it is played now, it would have been considered as another mediocre song rather the the brilliant song it is.
 
If it was played back then the way it is played now, it would have been considered as another mediocre song rather the the brilliant song it is.

I agree it was at that time especially noticeable
because it was original and new. And it’s fun and enjoyable to hear it played now the same original way, but some find the new version refreshing and cool BECAUSE it doesn’t sound like the original version.

It served it’s purpose then and the new version
serves a different purpose now, if not for you, then for Morrissey.
 
He doesn't put the guitar down because he's feeling confident - it's simply because he can't sing it and play the lead guitar line at the same time, yer flipping great clown.
So why didn't he just swap and play rhythm, you enormous great crashing buffoon? :)
 
It's nice and fun for the audience, but frankly, no one should sing Morrissey's songs, it's a recipe for failure. Even if they themselves wrote the genius music. I can imagine some artists making interesting versions, but not many.. It would actually be interesting to hear Kristeen Young sing some of the songs (I'm not kidding, it just came up to my mind). I think only some of the really big ones could make justice. Elvis singing Morrissey.. would be interesting to hear all of the people he covered in the new album covering him back (alive or dead).
 
Just with the song 'This Charming Man' The Smiths earned a place in The Hall Of Fame if you asked me. Johnny's guitar playing is second to none, he plays his riffs in a way that no guitarist has ever done before. Along with the tormented vocals of the still young Morrissey, something arises in the history of pop music that we do not often experience. The beauty of the harmonies, the text about maturing, about budding sexual homophilic feelings, about loneliness, find great recognition among a large audience.
What made The Smiths great was the guitar playing of Johnny and the vocals of Morrissey. To this day, the Morrissey fans complain about his band, without Johnny's guitar playing it was never as beautiful as it once was. Of course Morrissey made many beautiful songs, songs that hit you deeply but the chemistry between Johnny and Morrissey was something special, something very special. And fortunately that is well documented so that we can still enjoy it after all these years. I can not discover chemistry between Jesse and Morrissey. With pain in my ears and in my heart, I have to hear how Jesse, like a butcher, is killing the music. Where Johnny dances across the scales Jesse kills all subtlety with brute force. I also suspected that Jesse should be somewhat deaf as he plays with such a high and shrill sound. Of course I understand that Morrissey wants to play some tracks a bit rougher like the Ramones for example. But alas, Johnny Ramone died in 2004. And Boz? He sees everything with disbelief, I think.
 
It's absolutely awful. I hate to say it but I'm sick of Marr now. He's been riding the Moz coat tail for too long now. I'm tired of seeing him.
 
It's absolutely awful. I hate to say it but I'm sick of Marr now. He's been riding the Moz coat tail for too long now. I'm tired of seeing him.

Why do you think he's been riding on Morrissey's coat tail? For years he played with other bands and now tours as Johnny Marr and like Morrissey plays some of the songs he helped create when they were The Smiths.
 
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It's absolutely awful. I hate to say it but I'm sick of Marr now. He's been riding the Moz coat tail for too long now. I'm tired of seeing him.

Amen. But whenever Moz is on tour or releasing material he is bound on those tv shows as a premier class D celebrity, so they can ask him about Moz. you dont see anyone ask him "well, DramaJ what sucky album are you working on?" Nobody cares.:lbf:
Poor wretch.:alien:
 
I agree it was at that time especially noticeable
because it was original and new. And it’s fun and enjoyable to hear it played now the same original way, but some find the new version refreshing and cool BECAUSE it doesn’t sound like the original version.

It served it’s purpose then and the new version
serves a different purpose now, if not for you, then for Morrissey.

Just with the song 'This Charming Man' The Smiths earned a place in The Hall Of Fame if you asked me. Johnny's guitar playing is second to none, he plays his riffs in a way that no guitarist has ever done before. Along with the tormented vocals of the still young Morrissey, something arises in the history of pop music that we do not often experience. The beauty of the harmonies, the text about maturing, about budding sexual homophilic feelings, about loneliness, find great recognition among a large audience.
What made The Smiths great was the guitar playing of Johnny and the vocals of Morrissey. To this day, the Morrissey fans complain about his band, without Johnny's guitar playing it was never as beautiful as it once was. Of course Morrissey made many beautiful songs, songs that hit you deeply but the chemistry between Johnny and Morrissey was something special, something very special. And fortunately that is well documented so that we can still enjoy it after all these years. I can not discover chemistry between Jesse and Morrissey. With pain in my ears and in my heart, I have to hear how Jesse, like a butcher, is killing the music. Where Johnny dances across the scales Jesse kills all subtlety with brute force. I also suspected that Jesse should be somewhat deaf as he plays with such a high and shrill sound. Of course I understand that Morrissey wants to play some tracks a bit rougher like the Ramones for example. But alas, Johnny Ramone died in 2004. And Boz? He sees everything with disbelief, I think.
 
Why do you think he's been riding on Morrissey's coat tail? For years he played with other bands and now tours as Johnny Marr and like Morrissey plays some of the songs he helped create when they were The Smiths.

Exactly, the songs of the Smiths are just as much Johnny's as they are Morrissey's! In fact they are more Johnny's because in the songwriting process, he came up with the music first and then Morrissey added his parts. And not only did Johnny play multiple instruments on the recordings, he also arranged and helped produce the songs.
 
I assume you’re joking.

That chug-a-chug pub band version Morrissey’s band were playing a decade or so ago was truly abysmal. I recall being excited to see him perform it on The Jonathan Ross show but was instantly disappointed. Marr’s Riff is the back bone of that song, as well as the spring in it's step. Without it, it’s not half the era-defining song that the original is.

Hands down, the worst Morrissey cover of a Smiths song.
Great analogy. I can imagine Moz being interviewed about playing Smiths songs and he says: "Well they are MY songs. I just tore the springs out and snapped the backbone. Cruelty with beauty. Because we must." [Interviewer scratches head and glances at watch].
 
Exactly, the songs of the Smiths are just as much Johnny's as they are Morrissey's! In fact they are more Johnny's because in the songwriting process, he came up with the music first and then Morrissey added his parts. And not only did Johnny play multiple instruments on the recordings, he also arranged and helped produce the songs.
Maybe. But who would you prefer to hear singing Smiths songs: Moz or Marr? That's a no brainer.
 
I was at this gig and Johnny played about 8 Smiths songs. And even despite inexplicably putting his guitar down during This Charming Man, every single Smiths song he played made me not want to ever see Morrissey's band butchering them any more. They were sonically superior in every conceivable way. You might miss Moz's vocals but to put any claims about his band is a joke.
 

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