Noel Gallagher on why it is “impossible” to play like Johnny Marr
Noel Gallagher has never been one to stifle himself when it comes to his opinions. From his first series of interviews, there was no doubt that Gallagher considered Oasis one of the world’s greatest bands and would happily tear into any other musician who thought otherwise. Then again, Noel couldn’t have become one of the most respected songwriters of his generation without a few bands coming before him.
Though Gallagher has had a relatively insular way of writing songs, most of his foundational pieces of music are usually adopted secondhand from The Beatles. Across every one of Oasis’ records, it’s clear that Noel cribbed more than a few notes from the work of John Lennon and Paul McCartney, especially when he copied them outright on ‘She’s Electric’ or mentioned their songs by name in the lyrics.
By the time he was a teenager, though, Gallagher had started to gravitate towards the sounds of punk rock music, falling head over heels for bands like Sex Pistols when he heard Nevermind the Bollocks for the first time. Although John Lydon may have been spreading the word about anarchy across England, Noel was famously changed forever when he heard The Smiths play on Top of the Pops for the first time.
Coming from Manchester, the indie rock quartet had developed a unique science for writing one fantastic melody after another, with Morrissey turning into the archetype for the moody indie rocker. Although Gallagher was awestruck by hearing the band play songs like ‘This Charming Man’, he was more enamoured with what Johnny Marr was doing behind the fretboard.
Decked out like The Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones, Marr was known for taking the unconventional approach to lead and rhythm guitar playing. Taking bits and pieces from both styles of playing, Marr was instrumental in making the band stand out from the rest of the indie scene, coming up with the famous sounds behind ‘How Soon Is Now’ and ‘There is a Light That Never Goes Out’.
When talking about his approach to guitar playing, Noel said that he was dumbfounded about how he approached every song, saying, “I’ve seen him in the studio doing things that are so simple, yet so difficult at the same time. It does your head in. It’s impossible [to play like him]. If you’re making a record and a producer says, ‘Give us that Johnny Marr stuff’, you better get on the phone and get him because you can’t do it”.
Marr would also become a key component in Oasis’ rise to power, famously gifting Noel a guitar before they even released a record. Once Noel took the guitar out of the case to play it, he would write ‘Slide Away’ almost instantaneously, which would become one of the most celebrated songs in the band’s history.
Since then, Noel has continued to call on Marr’s assistance in the studio, with The Smiths guitarist turning in time on albums like Heathen Chemistry as well as contributing a lead break to the song ‘The Ballad of the Mighty I’ from Noel’s solo album Chasing Yesterday. Even though there’s usually enough brilliance in the studio from Noel’s point of view, it takes a genius of Marr’s calibre to bring a song over the top.
