Who has read "Set The Boy Free" yet? What does it say about Moz?
- Thread starter butley
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Anonymous
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Sorry in advance if you've already seen this but on the second page of general discussion is a thread titled johnnys book in which flibberty says he's read the smiths section so he'd be the one to ask. He had this to say at the time in one post
"I basically skipped forward to the section about The Smiths and have read most of that, including the chapter about the court case. It has one or two points of interest but nothing immediately startling (Johnny has talked about this period so many times before after all). It is noticeable that he talks far less about his friendship with Morrissey than most of his other friendships of that time."
Amy
from the Ice Age to the dole age
I got the feeling he rather avoided talking about Morrissey, at least in any detail, for whatever reason. He does talk a lot about Andy Berry and various other friends and acquaintances he had in the early days. Even other elements of his life, like meeting Angie or his children being born - it's there but it's very much surface detail, over and done within a couple of pages. Perhaps he is holding back because he doesn't want to ruffle any feathers, or wants some things to remain private - who knows. But you come away from it not knowing much more than you did before.
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Anonymous
Guest
Well he said he wanted to focus on the positive so maybe that only amounts to a few pages. Could have also just wanted his bio to focus on himself and not his story filtered through his relationship to morrissey. He probably gets enough of that as it is. I guess Andy or Joyce are next if the trend holds. Probably get more dirt from them if anywhere. Has street ever written a bio. Bet he's got a bunch of stories and he seems like a really sweet guy and with the people he's worked with I could imagine a lot of stories. Morrissey and the smiths, suede, the cranberries, the promise ring, Pete Doherty, blur, massive attack, the ordinary boys, Stephen duff. I'd read that
This would be pretty much my take on it too.
Maybe Johnny just isn't the kind of person to dwell on his feelings too much (not ideal for an autobiography), but he doesn't really seem to dig deep and get too emotional about most periods of his life. He factually describes what went on, rather than giving much real insider insight.
One example that immediately hit me yesterday was a moment when Johnny talks about how the band inspired hate and love in equal measure. You feel that there must be an anecdote coming up but, instead, nothing. He skips over lots of things very quickly and then dwells on certain trivial points more than he should imo.
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Anonymous
Guest
Would you say it's still worth buying. Have you read any of the other parts yet and is it the same approach regarding them as well
tyronepowebottom
Member
i feel the same way. I feel like a huge part of his relationship with moz has very dark and negative moments. At least, in the last years it became sort of a toxic relationship
I would say that it is worth buying, but I am a big fan of Johnny.
It is the same approach behind the rest of his career, but those stories have been told a little less. He basically devotes a chapter or two to each of his later projects.
There is a chapter about The Healers, for example, and he mentions his hopes for that band but I was disappointed that he didn't really talk about whether he was disappointed with the album not selling or how he found the experience of playing as a support act to disinterested crowds. I really wish that the publisher/editor had forced him to dig a bit deeper.
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Anonymous
Guest
Cool. I'm a fan as well and will end up getting it but im glad to know what to expect and maybe learn some new things however superficial. I appreciate his direct down to earth nice guy quality.
Yeah it does seem like his personal relationship got tense with morrissey pretty quickly and just got worse at the end. I mean he abruptly left the band partly because of him. I'm sure morrissey can be a hard person for some people to deal with, I mean he's obviously got a reputation, but I always to some extent thought that marr was getting a bit resentful that it was turning into the morrissey show by the way morrissey seemed to try and dictate some things and by way of the press interest. Didn't marr mention something about cocaine use as well. That cant have been helpful in dealing with a person like morrissey. of course id be interested in a tell all book but I also think it brave and to his credit that he didn't deliver one. Probably gonna feel like flib and want more detail info his thoughts and feelings but I guess that's just not him. Can't blame him to much for being who he is in the end
ZOOM FROM GLOOM
LASCIATE OGNI SPERANZA!
i feel the same way. I feel like a huge part of his relationship with moz has very dark and negative moments. At least, in the last years it became sort of a toxic relationship
Maybe he didn't write much about Morrissey because...
1. He doesn't want to hurt the one person he truly loves.
or 2. He doesn't want to hurt the one other person that would make it possible for the reunion/cash cow to come ringing it's bell for him.
But it all could be way too late because 'the right stuff' changes everything.
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Anonymous
Guest
A 3-star-review from amazon
"As a huge fan of both Johnny Marr and music autobiographies in general, I was really looking forward to this book as Marr will surely go down as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. In this book he writes at length about not only his time in The Smiths, but also his experiences with The The, Electronic, Kirsty Maccoll, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and his solo work. He has had a mightily impressive career and it ought to add up to being an unmissable book. I can't help feeling that it is slightly underwhelming however.
He comes across as a thoroughly nice person, but the book feels as though it is lightly skipping across deep waters. He chronologically describes his various collaborations, but there is very little emotional depth and it feels as though he is holding something back. His style of writing is also fairly primitive and perhaps an editor should have firmer in giving the book a much-needed polish.
This is still worth a read for fans of his work though, even if it is not quite the book that it should have been."
"As a huge fan of both Johnny Marr and music autobiographies in general, I was really looking forward to this book as Marr will surely go down as one of the most influential musicians of his generation. In this book he writes at length about not only his time in The Smiths, but also his experiences with The The, Electronic, Kirsty Maccoll, Modest Mouse, The Cribs and his solo work. He has had a mightily impressive career and it ought to add up to being an unmissable book. I can't help feeling that it is slightly underwhelming however.
He comes across as a thoroughly nice person, but the book feels as though it is lightly skipping across deep waters. He chronologically describes his various collaborations, but there is very little emotional depth and it feels as though he is holding something back. His style of writing is also fairly primitive and perhaps an editor should have firmer in giving the book a much-needed polish.
This is still worth a read for fans of his work though, even if it is not quite the book that it should have been."
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Anonymous
Guest
I'm a bit disappointed in the book to be honest and came away knowing nothing really new about Johnny or any of his bands/collaborations. As others have said, most topics are skimmed over with no in depth take on topics/relationships that have previously been touched on outside of the book.
There's a line in there about Joe Moss leaving and Johnny hearing that it could be due to a clash with Morrissey but he wouldn't find out until years later but he never re-addresses it later on in the book when Joe comes back on the scene during the High Court trial.
The Guardian preview last Saturday gave away the only real surprise for me in the 2008 re-union talks - if you don't buy the book you aren't really missing anything sadly.
There's a line in there about Joe Moss leaving and Johnny hearing that it could be due to a clash with Morrissey but he wouldn't find out until years later but he never re-addresses it later on in the book when Joe comes back on the scene during the High Court trial.
The Guardian preview last Saturday gave away the only real surprise for me in the 2008 re-union talks - if you don't buy the book you aren't really missing anything sadly.
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Anonymous
Guest
Page 199/200
"The roles in the band had got stronger and more defined, and we were unified onstage and off. I felt a duty and responsibility to project everyone, especially Morrissey. My attitude towards my new-found status was fairly casual, but Morrissey's ascent to national fame and notoriety had been extreme, and he was suddenly known as the voice of his generation and public enemy number one in some areas of the press. What was required of him took a lot of physical sustenance. There was no one looking after us and making sure we ate or got enough rest, and even though I was younger I looked out for him and I could tell when he was about to get ill. When we went back into the BBC studios to do 'What Difference Does It Makes?' on Top of the Pops, Morrissey lay in a sick room all day and we had to use a stand-in for the rehearsals. When it came time for the cameras to start rolling, I thought he wouldn't make it through the performance, and a few dates into the tour we had to re-schedule some of the shows. There was a lot expected of him from the record company, the media and the fans. The rest of the band didn't expect anything other than whatever he had to give, and he knew we would circle the wagons and take on whatever pressure he was feeling in any way we could."
"The roles in the band had got stronger and more defined, and we were unified onstage and off. I felt a duty and responsibility to project everyone, especially Morrissey. My attitude towards my new-found status was fairly casual, but Morrissey's ascent to national fame and notoriety had been extreme, and he was suddenly known as the voice of his generation and public enemy number one in some areas of the press. What was required of him took a lot of physical sustenance. There was no one looking after us and making sure we ate or got enough rest, and even though I was younger I looked out for him and I could tell when he was about to get ill. When we went back into the BBC studios to do 'What Difference Does It Makes?' on Top of the Pops, Morrissey lay in a sick room all day and we had to use a stand-in for the rehearsals. When it came time for the cameras to start rolling, I thought he wouldn't make it through the performance, and a few dates into the tour we had to re-schedule some of the shows. There was a lot expected of him from the record company, the media and the fans. The rest of the band didn't expect anything other than whatever he had to give, and he knew we would circle the wagons and take on whatever pressure he was feeling in any way we could."
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Anonymous
Guest
Does anyone have the epub of this? Wouldn't want to order it for 20 quid if as mediocre as stated here by some!
Cornflakes
"A bit iffy" ★★☆☆☆ - AV Club
For a fan, it seems like a no-brainer to me. I'd pay a fiver at a train station for a 5-page interview with Morrissey or Johnny, so why on earth would I not pay twice that for a 450-page hardback book by one of them?
But I also agree with the emerging consensus. Johnny is no great literary stylist (not that there's any reason he should be) and what you are getting is a fairly dry account of his life, without much in the way of anecdotes or digressions to liven things up. There's also not much new about The Smiths, except the odd detail here and there. But, if you haven't read the other books about The Smiths, maybe that won't bother you. I feel like the part of the book that is about The Smiths is a bit hemmed-in by Johnny being a bit too cautious about criticising Morrissey, even indirectly. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted him to give it with both barrels, but he's been more frank in interviews in the past, so it's not like the downsides of working with Morrissey are a secret. In particular, there are a few people who got a bit burnt through working with the band, and some of them also got pretty nasty treatment in Morrissey's book, which Johnny must be aware of. Although Johnny is generally nice enough about everyone, it would have been a good thing if he had offered a bit of redress by praising certain people a bit more, or at least acknowledging that they got a raw deal.
It's far from a bad book, but I think it's fair to say that Johnny hasn't knocked this one out of the park. On the other hand, it's probably the most reliable account of The Smiths there is, given that the only other key eyewitness to have told his story is not always the most trustworthy.
I actually got more out of the post-Smiths stuff in the book, even though i wouldn't have bought it for that. Maybe that's because most of it was new to me, or maybe because Johnny's writing gets a bit freer once he knows that an army of journalists is not going to be raking over everything he says.
But I also agree with the emerging consensus. Johnny is no great literary stylist (not that there's any reason he should be) and what you are getting is a fairly dry account of his life, without much in the way of anecdotes or digressions to liven things up. There's also not much new about The Smiths, except the odd detail here and there. But, if you haven't read the other books about The Smiths, maybe that won't bother you. I feel like the part of the book that is about The Smiths is a bit hemmed-in by Johnny being a bit too cautious about criticising Morrissey, even indirectly. I wouldn't necessarily have wanted him to give it with both barrels, but he's been more frank in interviews in the past, so it's not like the downsides of working with Morrissey are a secret. In particular, there are a few people who got a bit burnt through working with the band, and some of them also got pretty nasty treatment in Morrissey's book, which Johnny must be aware of. Although Johnny is generally nice enough about everyone, it would have been a good thing if he had offered a bit of redress by praising certain people a bit more, or at least acknowledging that they got a raw deal.
It's far from a bad book, but I think it's fair to say that Johnny hasn't knocked this one out of the park. On the other hand, it's probably the most reliable account of The Smiths there is, given that the only other key eyewitness to have told his story is not always the most trustworthy.
I actually got more out of the post-Smiths stuff in the book, even though i wouldn't have bought it for that. Maybe that's because most of it was new to me, or maybe because Johnny's writing gets a bit freer once he knows that an army of journalists is not going to be raking over everything he says.
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Anonymous
Guest
That there wasn't enough "dirt" in the book didn't bother me very much. We had enough of that and I understand Johnny's wish to focus on positive stuff. The problem for me is that his writing isn't exciting, insightful or even funny. At least this is how I felt while reading.
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Anonymous
Guest
Yeah I'm kinda looking more forward to the electronic section than anything and I would lie, to hear about the healers in a curious way as its so different from his other solo work and like many have said they haven't been written about to death. Above passage was nice to read though. Morrissey obviously got a lot of the public pressure put on his shoulders. I remember when Johnny said he had a new appreciation for morrissey after having to do so many interviews when the messenger came out
That's true, but it seems like Johnny didn't really want to criticize anyone. For example, even Craig Gannon's departure from the band is essentially described in the vaguest, 'things didn't work out' terms.
Possibly, but I guess we now have accounts from all four members in various forms (Mike and Andy having told their story via DVD a few years ago). I would say that Morrissey's account was emotionally accurate at least in that you do get to know his genuine feelings looking back now. I think emotional honesty is the one thing sometimes missing from Johnny's book.
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Anonymous
Guest
Wasn't he kinda bummed about that kink biography being full of arguments between the members. Think he thought it kinda tarnished the legacy of the band. Might be more concerned with his own bands legacy rather than just being nice to individuals
Quando quando quando
Well-Known Member
Gee, isn't that a long stretch?
He is being nice to individuals.
That's just his nature.
