Why is Johnny Marr so highly regarded ?

November 24, 2008 10:36 AM

Why is Johnny Marr so highly regarded ? So why is he consider a champion of the guitar ?

I've been listening to Modest Mouse for about 3 years now and as I was perusing around their Wikipedia page I came across Johnny Marr. I read his page, and I've noticed his name on various sites (Pitchfork,NME) and they tend to hold him in high regard. I've not been able to listen to The Smiths yet but I'm basically looking for examples of why he is so great. I'll take anything rants,video,books as long as I can at least get a better understanding of him

posted by carefulmonkey to media & arts (24 comments total)

Listening to the Smiths will probably clear that question right up for you. Seriously. ;)
posted by corey flood at 10:39 AM on November 24, 2008 [5 favorites]

Yep. Without Marr, all you have is whining when it comes to The Smiths. Just witness Morrisey's solo work.
posted by cjorgensen at 10:44 AM on November 24, 2008

Seriously, head over to You Tube and do a search for the Smiths.

Marr's appeal is mainly due to the catchy, layered style he developed in the Smiths, which most guitarists will concede is nearly impossible to replicate.

"How soon is Now?" or "This Charming man" are a good place to start!
posted by hector horace at 10:48 AM on November 24, 2008 [4 favorites]

Shiny shiny shiny music. Sparkles like a diamond.
posted by billysumday at 10:48 AM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Yeah. 2nd on "This Charming Man". That guitar line is amazing. Check out the BBC Studio cut from Hatful of Hollow.
posted by hwyengr at 10:56 AM on November 24, 2008

Listen to The Headmaster Ritual. Then listen to the entire album of Mind Bomb by The The.

If you are a guitarist, you will instantly get it.
posted by The World Famous at 10:56 AM on November 24, 2008

I agree with suggestions to listen to the Smiths. His playing on Meat is Murder is incredible.

He's also prominent on Talking Heads' Naked, where his sound is instantly recognizable.
posted by jayder at 11:14 AM on November 24, 2008

As everyone has said here, The Smiths. If you're still asking that question after listening to The Smiths, most likely you just won't get it.
posted by ob at 11:29 AM on November 24, 2008

I've not been able to listen to The Smiths

Trying to establish why someone is extremely highly regarded without listening to the body of work that made them so will never be easy. This, in a nutshell, is your problem.
posted by Brockles at 11:31 AM on November 24, 2008 [3 favorites]

One might ask, "Why is Paul McCartney so highly regarded? I listened to Wings and I don't get it."

Which is to say, listen to The Smiths.
posted by ludwig_van at 11:34 AM on November 24, 2008 [4 favorites]

You can also watch him talk and play a little here, in the BBC's doc Imagine: The Story of the Guitar.
I think I found this thanks to MeFi. Thanks, MeFi!
posted by gnomeloaf at 11:34 AM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Good suggestions above. If I had to pick 10 Smiths songs to show off Marr at his best, they would be:

1. The Headmaster Ritual
2. What Difference Does it Make?
3. This Charming Man
4. Some Girls Are Bigger than Others
5. How Soon is Now?
6. Girl Afraid
7. Bigmouth Strikes Again
8. Back to the Old House (Hatful of Hollow version)
9. Sweet and Tender Hooligan
10. That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
posted by cincinnatus c at 11:45 AM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Listen to the first 30 seconds of "How Soon is Now?" That's Johnny on the instantly recognizable vibrato rhythm guitar that makes the track; that's also Johnny on the haunting lead line. Oh, and the track was released twenty-four years ago, but if it came out today it would sound as fresh and original as it did in August of '84.
posted by googly at 11:45 AM on November 24, 2008 [2 favorites]

Achieving all he did with the smiths whilst young and handsome probably doesn't hurt, either.
posted by robself at 11:45 AM on November 24, 2008

Seconding googly on "How Soon Is Now?"

Johnny Marr himself once said that the intro was impossible to reproduce. Interesting story of how they came up with that intro:

From Wikipedia

The tune is built around a guitar chord that rapidly oscillates in volume. As to how the distinctive resonant sound was achieved, Marr gave the following account to Guitar Player magazine in 1990:

The vibrato sound is fucking incredible, and it took a long time. I put down the rhythm track on an Epiphone Casino through a Fender Twin Reverb without vibrato. Then we played the track back through four old Twins, one on each side. We had to keep all the amps vibrating in time to the track and each other, so we had to keep stopping and starting the track, recording it in 10-second bursts... We did it in three passes through a harmonizer, set to some weird interval, like a sixth. There was a different harmonization for each pass. For the line in harmonics, I retuned the guitar so that I could play it all at the 12th fret with natural harmonics. It's doubled several times.
posted by Master Gunner at 12:05 PM on November 24, 2008

Sorry for the above F word. It was a direct cut/paste from Wikipedia.
posted by Master Gunner at 12:05 PM on November 24, 2008

The thing about the Smiths is not that Marr is a good guitarist and Morrissey is a good lyricist; it's that they worked together in such an innovative way.

Marr and Morrissey were a songwriting phenomenon.
posted by hpliferaft at 12:29 PM on November 24, 2008

Johnny Marr himself once said that the intro was impossible to reproduce

He did indeed. But then that danielearwicker chap made an excellent attempt, although with the technology we have 20 years on it's clearly a lot easier.

For the record, earwicker's Girl Afraid walkthrough is terrific too.
posted by NailsTheCat at 12:56 PM on November 24, 2008 [1 favorite]

Also, to become immersed in the awesomeness of Johnny Marr, be sure to check out Electronic. A smorgasbord of awesomeness of artists from New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Smiths, and Kraftwerk from collaborating in one band.
posted by edman at 2:00 PM on November 24, 2008

I've been listening to Modest Mouse for about 3 years now and as I was perusing around their Wikipedia page I came across Johnny Marr.

I don't know whether this means you've been listening to all of Modest Mouse for 3 years or just MM albums that came out in the past three years. IMO, they suck ass since Marr joined and this has nothing to do with Marr and everything to do with Jeremiah Green leaving the band. Though he's back now, he's one of two drummers in the band and it doesn't sound nearly as good as the days pre-2003.

So... I know you asked about Marr but if you're finding MM to be lacklustre and blaming Marr, I suggest you check out their early work on Up Records as much of it is stunning.
posted by Manhasset at 2:52 PM on November 24, 2008

Seconding Mind Bomb by The The. Here's Armageddon Days are Here (again).
posted by oneirodynia at 3:40 PM on November 24, 2008

Johnny Marr's had his ups (The Smiths and The The.. and, that's it) and downs (Electronic, Johnny Marr & the Healers, and everything else), but undeniably he wouldn't be the acclaimed guitarist he is today if it weren't for his partnership with Morrissey. hpliferaft has it perfectly. Morrissey/Marr are, and were, second to only one other songwriting partnership (from some twenty years earlier).
posted by Mael Oui at 8:49 PM on November 24, 2008

How Soon is Now? is awesome, but I think I prefer the title track from The Queen is Dead. The amount of energy and awesomeness in his rhythm playing on that track totally inspires me - you can listen to Morrisey's morose lyrics a dozen times and never hear the guitar - but when you try to go and play it, just try to make the song come alive the way Johnny Marr does! It never fails to inspire me.
posted by ikkyu2 at 11:25 PM on November 24, 2008

My god man, listen to The Smiths post haste. Best band in the world! Start with The Smiths album, which is their debut album and the main reason people hold them in such high regard. Of course if you don't fancy Morrissey you'll probably not like The Smiths. Johnny plays a tight guitar. Fuck it, the whole band is tight. There's a reason so many bands would die to have Johnny play with them. He's a brilliant musician and he doesn't even have to try. And it's true, Morrissey without Marr just isn't as good.
posted by wherever, whatever at 12:46 AM on November 26, 2008