The artist who gave Johnny Marr the confidence to play rock ‘n’ roll: “Didn’t look back”
The Smiths were one of the most iconic bands to come out of the British post-punk scene, with Morrissey’s flamboyant stage persona and wistful lyrics, Andy Rourke’s melodic yet funky bass lines, tied together by jangly guitar arrangements masterfully crafted by none other than Johnny Marr.
Marr had a unique approach to songwriting, not focused on creating heavy, overdriven, guitar-music blasted out of Marshall amps, such as The Who, Led Zeppelin and Sex Pistols. He pioneered a new wave of charming, sophisticated musical craftsmanship, replacing distortion with chiming chorus pedals, questioning what the “rock” genre label even meant anymore.
He also tended towards American acts within the CBGB scene: “I got into Television’s Marquee Moon and Talking Heads: 77. After Patti Smith, I thought, ‘Great, I can play big, loud chords on a Les Paul through a Fender Twin Reverb, instead of sitting around with an acoustic guitar’.” Marr felt a sense of power when discovering these records; perhaps, he didn’t feel totally inspired by what was going on in the UK and needed something else to get him going.
He went on to say, “I could pick like Bert Jansch, but I wanted to look like Ivan Kral from the Patti Smith Group. From then on, I didn’t look back”.
What Marr is trying to get at is that he knew he had the skill and technique that would come in handy with writing such intricate guitar parts in songs such as ‘This Charming Man’, but he also wanted an edge, a style and a captivating presence. He definitely didn’t fail in this aspect, as not only is he a great guitar player, but he certainly did not lack in style.
Marr recently mentioned on his social media outlets how he felt a collective sense of belonging with the kids who wore similar clothes to him growing up, and the importance of fashion to him and other working-class kids back then.
However, he was far from being a conformist and didn’t like adhering to cliques just because it was trendy. He mentioned, “I had my own thing, and that held me in good stead in the future. It was not very cool to be into The Supremes when you’re supposed to be into The Jam. But I did get into the American new wave scene, Patti Smith in particular. When I heard Horses, that changed me quite a lot.”
The influence of Patti Smith can be heard on tracks like ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ reminiscent of ‘Free Money’, with both having upbeat feels, mixing acoustic and electric instrumentation to form this liberating free atmosphere unheard of by many punks recovering from the hardcore, tense vibe that was inescapable at the end of the 1970s and early ’80s.
With his picking style, Johnny Marr very much could have been a folk guitarist, there’s no doubt, but he’s made for rock. He’s got a chic, fresh personality that doesn’t require frills; he’s simply a natural rockstar, and we can be happy that he “didn’t look back”.
