Vulture article: Johnny Marr on the Best of the Smiths, His Solo Career, and Fever Dreams Pts 1–4 (February 2, 2022)

Johnny Marr on the Best of the Smiths and His Solo Career

“Sure, there was drama, but what you hear was a result of stone-cold love.”

www.vulture.com

Excerpt:

Something about making The Queen Is Dead you’ve never shared publicly

The Smiths have been pretty much done to death really by everyone who was involved, and plenty of people who weren’t. It’s a shame that so much was said without the benefit of maturity and hindsight and that there were so many agendas going around for so many years. But I guess it’s all part of the band’s kind of complicated story [annotation].

The truth was that there was loads of love in it. So maybe that’s the story that everybody is missing. Maybe that’s a surprise that everybody who is still interested needs to be reminded of: One of the reasons why they liked the sound of it and why it sounds the way it does is because there’s so much love in it. And there was love in the making of it. There was love in the writing of it. And sure, there was drama, but what you hear was a result of stone-cold love.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Because he's got a really stable personal and family life, has come back into the spotlight at a relatively late age after just cracking on with being a musician for years. His politics are the mild and mushy with a sprinkling of spirituality type, he's just happy and a workaholic with a load of energy.

Yeah I agree, he is boring in that regard. But that’s alright, because if Johnny wanted to start a debate, he could just mention someone else.

If he had ended up as a professional footballer then he would be bloody dull to listen to,

but not being a football player, he’s exciting to listen to?

but he's a great musician from one of the best bands ever,

what do you mean by that?

and has worked with some talented and also some slightly crazy people.

 

[CrazyFaceGenes]

but not being a football player, he’s exciting to listen to?

Yeah(for me)

I love his stories about other artists, people he has worked with that you wouldn't expect. his great guitar collection. Or even his stories from when he was first starting out on guitar with other people in Manchester like Billy Duffy.

But i get that might be quite dull for you or other people, horses for courses and all that.

 

[Surface]

Yeah(for me)

I love his stories about other artists, people he has worked with that you wouldn't expect. his great guitar collection. Or even his stories from when he was first starting out on guitar with other people in Manchester like Billy Duffy.

But i get that might be quite dull for you or other people, horses for courses and all that.

Is this the article you are referring to - https://www.billyduffy.com/stories/billy-and-johnny/

It's a great read, Billy's living around here nowadays as he's got engaged to a local girl.

 

[Redacted]

You may dislike him but lot's of people find him charismatic, a natural born guitar legend, confident and entertaining in person, an inspiration for thousands of musicians around the world.

I don't think he's a great lyricist either but he seems well read, loves art, architecture and design, i'm not sure about he "lacks the kind if intellectual curiousity to self educate" to be honest.

I really didn't dislike him personally until recently, his behavior on twitter is what made me dislike him, I never found his solo career interesting but I did follow along hoping to find something there I would like, I wanted to like it.
I just don't see the things you do, so we can agree to disagree.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

Yeah(for me)

I love his stories about other artists, people he has worked with that you wouldn't expect. his great guitar collection. Or even his stories from when he was first starting out on guitar with other people in Manchester like Billy Duffy.

No. I love that stuff. I find it interesting. But I wouldn’t say I get ‘excited’ by Johnny’s stories, at most, they are enjoyable.

But i get that might be quite dull for you or other people, horses for courses and all that.

 

[Vegan Cro Spirit .888]

since is making daily interviews about Moz he wasnt ambling in some faraway ocean, when he took the photo wearing the erotic french knickers

its just like LePep to want to make the weak minded think he is in the ocean in sardinia when
he was over at the Hale lagoon.

 

[Redacted]

since is making daily interviews about Moz he wasnt ambling in some faraway ocean, when he took the photo wearing the erotic french knickers

its just like LePep to want to make the weak minded think he is in the ocean in sardinia when
he was over at the Hale lagoon.

 

[Phranc & Open]

Okay but to me the point is not whichever particular issue they disagree on. It's like someone you knew in high school following you around on Facebook trying to correct your opinions. Those opinions could be right, wrong, whatever but it's still Marr making himself way too involved in Morrissey's public statements.
And because they have this sort of connected identity in the public eye Marr is encouraged to make these comments, but you don't see Morrissey talking about Marr. Now maybe the reason is that Marr hasn't said anything interesting enough for Morrissey to care to comment on, but we can say for sure that he doesn't need to use Marr's name for publicity. On the other hand Marr really gets an awful lot of mileage out of talking about Morrissey. Every time Marr has a new project there he is showing how to play "This Charming Man" on his signature guitar, or talking about his new record while making a few digs at Morrissey.

Yes, Morrissey says things that do not help him or anyone else. But he doesn't need Marr to get publicity whereas I think it's clear that Marr needs to mention Morrissey.

And part of it for me is that I enjoy Morrissey's way with words and these are the sorts of statements I enjoy most, when he talks about other musicians. Aren't you kind of relieved that it's a break from the "subspecies, where were the parents, immigrants are rapists," typical drivel? I am. Please let's hear more like this. Maybe next month he can say something about Adele or something.

I needed a moment. Of course it is more pleasant (than, for example, advertising For Britain) and also his strength to write this bitchy but friendly text against Marr, which hurts him. But I disagree that he has never talked about Marr in the last 35 years. As mentioned above, during the Vauxhall promo (when interviews with him were still a treat) he talked at length about meeting up but investing in a shared allotment on the outskirts of London rather than making music together. So he also flirted with the fact, that he actually had no direct quarrel with Marr any more (at least before the 1996 court case). Knowing that it only made the critics madder (Why no reunion?)

Morrissey was the voice and the figurehead, but why does he still need to be told in the fake interview to BOT, that a track would sound totally like The Smiths? Isn't this again the recourse to the sound of the Smiths as an argument for buying?

I also maintain, that Marr's tone only became more annoyed when Morrissey flirted with the right. And they are his songs too (not his alone, of course). He created the tunes and so he has to play them all the time in the age of Insta, Twitter and the like, and of course he has to promote his solo stuff. That is also legitimate.

It's like you say, you have to deal with a buddy from school (you can't escape it) but it totally goes against your grain because you've developed completely differently. You talk back, he talks back in his own way, but when you inevitably meet, it works out if you both make an effort. Maybe even a little closeness develops. I know these problems as a 71/72 born, who has to go to 50s birthday bashes all the time, where there are not only people you want to see.