Profile of Johnny Marr on Famous Like Me

Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher on Hallowe'en 1963 in Wythenshawe, Manchester) is a British guitarist, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer, best known as the man behind the music of The Smiths.

Career

He had started out as a footballer, being approached by Nottingham Forest F.C.. In 1986, he married Angie Brown.

Together with singer Steven Morrissey, Maher began writing songs in 1982, forming The Smiths by recruiting Mike Joyce on drums and Dale Hibbert on bass guitar. After two gigs, Hibbert was replaced by Maher'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.

Marr, in The Smiths, was known for a delicate, angelically sweet guitar style that could evoke musicality from just a few well-chosen notes. While he would probably blanch at the comparison, Marr's playing is in many regards similar to that of idiosyncratic progressive rock guitarists such as Steve Hackett, Peter Banks, and Robert Fripp. Indeed, his understanding of harmony and counterpoint was light-years beyond that of most rock guitarists of the time, and replicating many of his 12-string guitar lines requires considerably greater skill than is needed to play a typical 1980s "hair metal" guitar solo. Contrasted with the common rock guitar flashiness and speed of the time, best exemplified by Eddie Van Halen and his legion of imitators, Marr's playing was out of place in the usual pop mainstream. In fact, all of The Smiths, in their own way, represented departures from the typical music of the time, which had increasingly become less about music and more about business.

After the demise of the Smiths (1987), Marr played guitars for The The and also teamed up with New Order singer/guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner to form Electronic. He also became a sought-after session player and producer, writing, touring and recording with, among others, Bryan Ferry, The Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl, Talking Heads, Black Grape, Billy Bragg and Oasis (band).

The Healers

The Healers first appeared in 2000 when Marr started looking for musicians. He found the son of Beatle Ringo Starr: Zak Starkey, and Kula Shaker bassist Alonza Bevan. The band took two years to complete, because Marr wanted members to be chosen "by chemistry." The debut of the new band was released in 2003, where Marr sang and wrote the lyrics as well. The second LP was supposed to be out in 2004, but Starkey was involved with his side projects like Oasis and The Who and Bevan with his own band. Apparently their second LP was due out in April 2005 and a short tour was expected soon after that, but as Starkey currently is involved with Oasis, it is unknown when their next LP will come.

Albums discography

Only those bands of which Marr was a regular member are included; his session work discography is extensive.

With The Smiths

• The Smiths (1984)
• Hatful of Hollow (compilation, 1984)
• Meat Is Murder (1985)
• The Queen Is Dead (1986)
• The World Won't Listen (compilation, 1987)
• Louder Than Bombs (compilation, 1987)
• Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
• Rank (live, 1988)
• Best...I (compilation, 1992)
• ...Best II (compilation, 1992)
• Singles (compilation, 1995)
• The Very Best of The Smiths (compilation, 2003)

With The The

• Mind Bomb (1989)
• Dusk (1992)

With Electronic

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

With Johnny Marr and The Healers

• Boomslang (2003)
• Second LP (2005)

External link

• Johnny Marr+Healers, the official website

	The Smiths
Mike Joyce – Johnny Marr – Morrissey – Andy Rourke Craig Gannon – Dale Hibbert Albums: The Smiths | Meat Is Murder | The Queen Is Dead | Strangeways, Here We Come | Rank (live) Band-assembled compilations: Hatful of Hollow | The World Won't Listen | Louder Than Bombs Other compilations: Stop Me |Best...I | ...Best II | Singles | The Very Best of The Smiths See also: Rough Trade Records

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