Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher on 31 October, 1963 in Ardwick, Manchester) is an English guitarist, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, where he formed a highly influential songwriting partnership with Morrissey. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, and has been a member of Modest Mouse since 2006.

Childhood

Marr's parents emigrated from County Kildare, Ireland, to Manchester in the 1950s. He attended St Augustine's RC Grammar School, which then merged with other schools to form a Comprehensive School. Marr had aspirations to be a professional football (soccer) player, and was approached by Nottingham Forest F.C. and had trials with Manchester City F.C. (whom he supports). In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Marr said, "I was good enough for City, but they didn't follow up because I was probably the only player out there wearing eyeliner."

The Smiths

Main article: The Smiths

Billy Duffy, guitarist of The Cult, taught Marr how to play the guitar. In 1982, Marr began writing songs with Morrissey, after they formed The Smiths. To complete the lineup, they recruited Mike Joyce on drums and Dale Hibbert on bass guitar. After The Smiths' live debut at the Ritz in Manchester, Hibbert was replaced by Marr's friend Andy Rourke. By then, Morrissey had dropped his first name and Maher had changed his name to Marr to avoid confusion with the Buzzcocks drummer.

Having achieved commercial and critical success with landmark albums such as The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths were soon popular in the UK and Ireland, but did not have the same degree of success elsewhere. Although they were a fixture on American college radio, worldwide commercial success came after the band was split up. Marr left the band in 1987 due to his frustrations with Morrissey and the direction that The Smiths' music was taking.

From The Smiths' inception to the breakup of the band five years later, Marr and Morrissey co-wrote four albums, as well as numerous B-sides and other unreleased songs that eventually appeared on compilations. Still today, the partnership of Marr and Morrissey is praised by critics and cited by numerous musicians as a highly influential songwriting duo.

Since Marr left the group, no known attempts have been made of reuniting The Smiths. Amidst false press reports of a Smiths reunion, Marr performed "How Soon Is Now?" with former bandmate Andy Rourke at the Manchester v Cancer benefit concert at Manchester's M.E.N. Arena on 28 January 2006.

Post-Smiths

The The, Electronic, the Healers & others

After the demise of The Smiths in 1987, Marr recorded and toured with The The and formed Electronic with New Order's Bernard Sumner and sometime members Pet Shop Boys. He also became a sought-after session player, writing, touring and recording with, among others, Bryan Ferry, The Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl, Neil Finn, Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Black Grape, Billy Bragg, Pet Shop Boys, Beck and Oasis. He also acted as co-producer for some of the aforementioned artists and co-produced Manchester band Haven at his own Clear Studios.

In 2000 Johnny recruited drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr), Cavewaves guitarist Lee Spencer and ex-Kula Shaker bassist Alonza Bevan for his new project Johnny Marr and the Healers. The band had taken two years to come together as Marr had wanted members to be chosen "by chemistry". Their debut album Boomslang was released in 2003, with all lyrics and lead vocals by Marr. A second album was originally scheduled for release in April 2005, and a short tour was expected soon after, but Marr has since stated that the band is on the "side burner" for the time being (Manchester Evening News, May 2007). Drummer Starkey is currently involved with Oasis and The Who, and Bevan has regrouped with Kula Shaker.

Modest Mouse

In 2006, Marr became an official member of the American band Modest Mouse. Rumour has it that Modest Mouse had put out the word that they were looking for a "Johnny Marr-esque guitarist", and coincidentally, Johnny Marr was one of the people who answered the call. He wrote some of the songs with lead singer Isaac Brock on their new album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, in addition to being featured on guitar. Marr is currently touring with the band.

The new album reached number one on the American Billboard charts in late March 2007. For Marr this is the first time he has had a number one record in the US. The highest chart position before that was with Electronic, who made the Top 40 in the singles chart with "Getting Away With It".

University Of Salford

Marr is set to deliver a series of workshops and masterclasses to students at the University of Salford in the BA (Hons) Popular Music and Recording programme.

The Cribs

In January 2008, Marr had reportedly been adding his skill and experience to a secret songwriting session with Wakefield indie group The Cribs. Sources reveal that they worked together for a week at Moolah Rouge recording studio in Stockport - a favourite haunt of Bolton's Badly Drawn Boy, Damon Gough and fellow northern indie heroes I Am Kloot - and have penned a number of new songs. He also played at the Glasgow Barrowlands and Manchester Academy with The Cribs on the NME Awards Tour.

Family

Marr's daughter Sonny performed with him, guesting on the track "Even A Child" on Crowded House's 2007 album Time On Earth. Johnny played guitars and his daughter contributed backing vocals, according to the album credits.

Discography

Albums (as band member)

The Smiths

• The Smiths (1984)
• Hatful of Hollow (1984)
• Meat Is Murder (1985)
• The Queen Is Dead (1986)
• Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
• The World Won't Listen (1987)
• Louder Than Bombs (1987)
• Rank (1988)

The The

• Mind Bomb (1989)
• Dusk (1992)

Kirsty MacColl

• Kite (1989)

Electronic

• Electronic (1991)
• Raise the Pressure (1996)
• Twisted Tenderness (1999)

Johnny Marr and The Healers

• Boomslang (2003)

Modest Mouse

• We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

Albums (as a guest musician)

Billy Bragg

• Talking with the Taxman About Poetry (1986)
• Don't Try This at Home (1991)
• Bloke on Bloke (1997)

Bryan Ferry

• Bête Noire (1987)

Talking Heads

• Naked (1988)

Pet Shop Boys

• Behaviour (1990)
• Bilingual (1996)
• Release (2002)

Banderas

• Ripe (1991)

Kirsty MacColl

• Electric Landlady (1991)

Moodswings

• Moodfood (1992)

K-Klass

• Universal (1993)

Electrafixion

• Burned (1995)

M People

• Fresco (1997)

Beck

• Midnite Vultures (1999)

Tom Jones

• Reload (1999)

Bert Jansch

• Crimson Moon (2000)

Neil Finn

• 7 Worlds Collide (2002)

Oasis

• Heathen Chemistry (2002)

Beth Orton

• Daybreaker (2002)

The Charlatans

• Live It Like You Love It (2002)

Quando Quango

• Pigs and Battleships (2003)

Karl Bartos

• Communication (2003)

Lisa Germano

• Lullaby for Liquid Pig (2003)
• In the Maybe World (2006)

Jane Birkin

• Fictions (2006)

Transit Kings

• Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God (2006)

Crowded House

• Time On Earth (2007)

Albums (as producer)

Marion

• The Program (1998)

Haven

• Between the Senses (2002)

Singles

In addition to an extensive singles discography with the artists listed above, Johnny has appeared on singles by Sandie Shaw, Everything But the Girl, The Pretenders, Andrew Berry, A Certain Ratio, The Cult, Denise Johnson, Stex, The Impossible Dreamers (as producer) and Black Grape.

External links

• jmarr.com- Official site
• Manchester v Cancer official concert website