Johnny Marr Talks Guitars, Andy Rourke And Noel Gallagher
Johnny Marr has spoken about his new book on his guitar collection, Marr’s Guitars, and his former bandmate the late Andy Rourke in a new interview with The Guardian.
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Marr discussed his motivation for writing the book, “I wanted it to be in the houses of people who wouldn’t normally have guitar books. My dream is for more regular people to have a book on guitars because it’s a beautiful thing. Then the stories about me come secondary.
“I think there’s something about how important the guitars are to me, and remembering how I felt the day I recorded Nowhere Fast, say, and thinking about who I was at that time. It’s a good feeling, absolutely, but with a certain poignancy. I’m at a point in my life and time has passed. I’m not just talking about the Smiths here, which is people’s immediate assumption. I’m thinking about that, but all the other things I’ve done too. It’s perspective – and if I allow myself the luxury to reflect on what I’ve achieved, it is mind-boggling.”
Marr went on to talk about his Smiths bandmate Andy Rourke, who died in May this year, “Andy was around while I was working on the book. He was a pretty discerning person so I wanted him to be impressed. I’ve got a nice picture of him looking over the book in the hospital when the layout was being done. He liked that there is a picture of the two of us in it. I think about him a lot – and he thought the book was great.”
He also discussed his part in Oasis’ early success, “Me giving Noel those guitars has become such a big story over the years, but people don’t realise that at the time he wasn’t who he is now. He was just a kid from Burnage. I had no idea Oasis were going to go on to such big things. I did it because he was in need, because I was lucky and had lots of guitars, and because I wished someone had done it for me.”