The iconic guitarist Noel Gallagher “couldn’t come close to”
Guitar music came firmly back into the musical mainstream during the 1990s, thanks to the rise of Britpop and groups like Blur, Pulp, and, of course, Oasis.
The kings of Manchester’s indie scene, Oasis quickly rose from their roots at the Boardwalk to become a global force for rock and roll. At the heart of the group was Noel Gallagher’s songwriting and guitar playing, along with the vocal performances of his brother Liam. As a result, Gallagher became heralded as one of the defining guitarists of the Britpop era.
During the very early days of Oasis, originally going under the name The Rain, Noel Gallagher’s involvement in the group provided them with the final piece of the puzzle. He had not been involved in the band during the beginning but was soon recruited by Liam and the gang once he returned from touring with Inspiral Carpets as a roadie. Noel brought years of experience with him when he joined the ranks of Oasis, having spent much of his adolescence shut away in his bedroom, strumming a guitar and writing songs.
Armed with this newfound beacon of guitar playing and songwriting, Oasis set in place their plans for world domination. After bursting onto the scene with early singles like ‘Supersonic’ and the groundbreaking debut album Definitely Maybe, the Mancunians became the biggest group in the country. Before too long, the Gallagher brothers were travelling around the world, finding dedicated audiences everywhere, from San Francisco to Tokyo. Still, the band never forget their roots in the music scene of Manchester.
Manchester boasts an incredibly rich musical history, having produced a wealth of Britain’s most iconic bands. Noel Gallagher has regularly paid homage to those groups, citing the likes of The Smiths as being a major influence on his work. However, The Stone Roses have always been a particular favourite of Gallagher’s. In fact, if you listen to very early Oasis demos, like ‘Take Me’, the influence of the Ian Brown-fronted outfit is almost unavoidable.
It should come as no real surprise that The Stone Roses influenced Oasis so much, as they influenced virtually every young person in Britain during the late 1980s. Never before had anybody heard such an expansive, almost psychedelic offering that was still capable of resonating with ordinary kids on the street. The Gallagher brothers were devotees of their fellow Mancunian musicians, and, for Noel, the guitar playing of John Squire was a key part of the band’s appeal.
Years later, when Oasis were flying high across the globe, Squire’s post-Roses band, The Seahorses, opened for the Gallaghers’ band in Europe. While The Seahorses weren’t quite as inspiring or successful as The Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher still coveted the experience of playing alongside his guitar hero.
Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle in 1998, he shared, “[The Stone Roses were] an influence on my guitar playing as well, even though I don’t even come close to what [Squire] does.” Continuing, “It’s an honour, more than anything. It’s a great honour for me to be playing with one of my heroes.”
To be fair to the Oasis guitarist, very few musicians could come close to what John Squire did within the Roses. His playing style was rich, complex, and unlike anything that has gone before or since. Squire incorporated so many different influences into his work and those expansive sounds were a key part of making The Stone Roses sound unlike any other band on the scene.
