Smiths On Guitar

Premier Guitar, September 2018

2020-02-19T16:19:00.003-08:00

Uncut, May 2018

2020-02-19T16:03:00.002-08:00

Q, December 2016

2020-02-19T15:55:00.001-08:00

Q, January 2018

2020-02-19T15:36:00.000-08:00

I Misses You

2013-03-17T10:37:00.000-07:00

This is one of the two unreleased Smiths tracks that were leaked on a recent vinyl bootleg. It was recorded in December 1984, and seems to share a lot of it's chord DNA with "Heaven Knows".

My friend stereovaritone uploaded a very cool cover here on Marr-spec LP:

Erick Benitez has done a great job picking the song out in this YouTube video:

Erick was kind enough to share his tab, which you can download here. Fixed link as of 3/14/17.

Guitar World, July 2012

2012-06-23T19:51:00.003-07:00

International Musician And Recording World, April 1989

2012-03-23T12:54:00.002-07:00

Guitar and Bass, March 2012

2012-03-13T10:37:00.002-07:00

A Rush And A Push And The Land Is Ours

2012-03-13T10:09:00.001-07:00

"That was me playing in the only key I could play in really, but I was determined to have a track starting the album with no guitars on, I really had a bee in my bonnet. I was so adamant about getting away from this jingle-jangle thing. Musically, as a 23 year old, I didn't want to be repeating myself. To somebody who'd lived and breathed music since the age of 11 to a freakish, insane degree, repeating myself was like death."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Death At One's Elbow

2012-03-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Death Of A Disco Dancer

2012-03-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Total Guitar, March 2012

2012-02-23T12:22:00.003-08:00

The accompanying tab from this issue is under the "Heaven Knows" entry.

Uncut, November 2004

2012-02-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

Thanks to johnnymarrplaysguitar.com for these scans.

Total Guitar, February 2012

2012-02-17T16:03:00.000-08:00

Andy Rourke's Gear

2012-01-20T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is all the information I have been able to collect regarding Andy Rourke's instruments, amps and setup. I will add more information to this entry as it becomes available. Please email me if you have more information or want to correct an error.

Amps

Andy's early Smiths rig was a Peavey Mark III bass head with Ohm 4x10 and 1x15 cabinets. He later used Trace Elliot GP-11 heads with Trace Elliot 4x10 and 1x15 cabinets, as well as an Ampeg SVT head with Ampeg 8x10 cabinets.

Peavey Mark III bass head

Trace Elliot GP-11

Ampeg SVT

Effects

Andy often used a Boss CE-2 chorus, and sometimes a Boss GE-10 EQ. He has said he used a Boss flanger as well, but I haven't seen one in any photos.

Boss CE-2 visible on top of amp

Boss CE-2 visible on top of Trace Elliot GP-11

Boss GE-10 equalizer

Boss GE-10 and CE-2

Tunings

Andy tuned his basses up to F# in the early days of the Smiths. In later years he would use a dedicated F# bass for older songs alongside a bass in standard E tuning. Early basses such as the Guild and various Squier's have only been seen tuned to F#. The Yamaha BB2000, as well as the '62, '64, and '66 Fender Precision basses have been seen in both F# and E tunings at different shows. He used medium-gauge Rotosound strings. A drop-D tuning was used on “How Soon Is Now” and “Shoplifters of the World Unite”.

Basses

Guild B-301

Andy's first Smiths bass. Was first seen on January 21st, 1983 at Manhattan Sound. It's last known appearance was May 6th, 1983, the same month Andy began using his P-Bass copy.

Antoria P-Bass Copy

1970's Japanese P-Bass copy, branded as Antoria. Andy's first known use of this bass was May 21st 1983, and it was last seen on June 29th.

Squier Precision Bass

This bass was first seen on July 6th at the Hacienda, shortly after Andy stopped using the Japanese P-Bass copy.

Squier Precision Bass, Black with Black Pickguard and Maple Neck

This bass is likely the same as the Squier above, but with a changed pickguard. It was first seen with the black pickguard on October 5th 1983 at the ICA. It was used in the video for This Charming Man, and was Andy's main bass for the remainder of 1983. It was last seen in this configuration on the Earsay program on March 31st, 1984.

Squier Precision Bass, Black with Black Pickguard and Rosewood Neck

Only one known known appearance: June 14th, 1984 on Top Of The Pops. It's very possible that this bass is Andy's regular Squier with another neck.

Yamaha BB2000

Described by Andy as being used "for the funky stuff", this was the bass used to record Barbarism Begins At Home. It's first known appearance was at Glastonbury in June 1984. It saw use on the Smiths Spanish tour in May of 1985, where it was used once per show, for Meat Is Murder. It was also seen on the Scottish tour in September of 1985. It was last used on a performance on The Tube on April 10th of 1987- The Smiths' second-to-last TV appearance. The bass was sold on eBay in October 2003.

Here are some photos of the bass in 2013, courtesy of the current owner. Big thanks goes out to Gary for sending these in:

1964 Fender Precision Bass

“I got my main P-Bass when Seymour Stein from Sire took us down to Manny’s Music in New York to buy Johnny a guitar and me a bass. I picked out this old beat-up bass because its label said 1964—same year I was born. It has a really warm sound. When you crank it, it has a good growl that I don’t think you can get from any other bass." -Andy Rourke

This bass had it's first documented appearance on January 26, 1984 on a Top Of The Pops. Perhaps Andy's most iconic Smiths bass, it was heavily used throughout 1984 and continued to see use as one of his main live basses during the 1986 tours. It was last seen at the final Smiths show in December of 1986, where it was Andy's dedicated F# bass.

Here are some recent photos of the bass which were sent in by my friend Joel Perry:

1962 Fender Precision Bass, Fiesta Red

This P-Bass was first seen on February 14, 1985 on Top Of The Pops. It saw heavy use throughout 1985 and was the main bass on the Spanish tour, as a dedicated F# bass. It was last seen at the final Smiths show, where it was tuned to E.

1966 Fender Precision Bass, Olympic White(slab body)

The first known appearance of this bass was May 20th, 1986, on Whistle Test. It was used as a main bass on the 1986 tours, in both E and F# tunings. It's quite a rare instrument; it's said that less than 20 were ever made. It was last seen on February 7th, 1987 at the San Remo Festival.

Fender Jazz Bass

This was used at two TV appearances in February and April 1987. This was the last bass that Andy used with The Smiths.

Guitarist, February 2012

2012-01-18T10:49:00.000-08:00

New Year's News

2012-01-03T20:39:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone has had a nice new year so far.

Fender has put up a page with details about the upcoming Johnny Marr signature Jaguar. You can check it out here:

http://www.fender.com/products/johnnymarrjaguar

There is also a fairly involved video interview, where Johnny plays some snippets of a few Smiths tunes.

I have recently made some site updates and have added all the tabs from the Smiths Best complete band score, which was published in Japan by Shinko Music. This is one of the Smiths tab holy grails, beside the Off The Record book. It's a complete score which includes multiple guitar parts as well as drum and bass parts.

Here's a photo of the cover. The tabs have been added to their respective song entries.

I'm also putting the finishing touches on Andy's bass gear section. It's been long-delayed, but it should be online in a week or so.

If anyone has any suggestions, please put them in the comments.

Total Guitar, Summer 2005

2011-10-24T19:40:00.000-07:00

Thanks to MorrisseyScans for this article!

Sound On Sound, January 2005

2011-10-15T23:01:00.000-07:00

Bass Player, March 2006

2011-09-16T21:18:00.001-07:00

Thanks goes to Jeff for these scans.

I Won't Share You

2011-09-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

"There was this auto-harp lying around in the studio. I remember it sitting in one of the windowsills as you went down the stairs, and one day Johnny dusted it down. It had been sitting around for ages so he tuned it up and started playing these chords. It sounded absolutely beautiful so we recorded it there and then. A few days later Morrissey came in and put his vocal on top. It was one of those tracks that sent a little chill down your spine."

- Stephen Street

"I didn't realise it was the same chords as 'Ask' at the time and I'm glad I didn't because I might not have done it. I was just making a tune that sort of resonated with the day."

"I just heard a really lovely tune first off. I was happy that we had another unusual little 'star in our galaxy' or whatever. That's what it was like, this other little thing that just beamed down. The lyrics were brought to my attention by somebody, even before we got out of the studio. There were raised eyebrows and, 'Whadya think of that then?'. But it was all in a days work for me really, still is. If I was bothered by it I'd say, 'Well I ain't anyone's to fucking share, me" but that's really the truth. If, in fact, that sentiment was directed towards me then quite rightly I feel quite good about it. It's nice. It's okay. I'm not arsed about it."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book:

Thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

IrishBog does a great cover on acoustic 12 string, capo'ed up. While not an autoharp, it still sounds good. I can almost hear the harmonica playing over the outro!

Total Guitar, August 1997

2011-09-13T17:11:00.001-07:00

Note: The tab for the "This Charming Man" intro is wrong, as usual. It's played on the G and B strings around the 12th fret.

Sound Engineer Producer, August 1987

2011-09-06T23:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks goes to Stereovaritone for these scans.

Yultide Update

2010-12-23T21:57:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone is having a nice holiday. As you have probably noticed, the blog recently moved to smithsonguitar.com. So far, it seems to be a smooth transition.

I have just tonight published an overhaul to the gear section, with several new guitars added and new info and photos added to the ones already listed. There will be another update to the gear page coming early next year which will cover Johnny's amps. Other than that, I think it is fairly comprehensive at this point.

I have several more updates coming in the new year including a new interview, a section on Andy's bass gear, and several rare tab books which I haven't posted yet. I will also try to hunt down all of the remaining dead links and fix them, as soon as I can.

I'd like to thank all my readers, especially everyone that has made contributions to the site. If anyone has any further suggestions or ideas, please let me know in the comments.

Guitar Techniques, October 2005

2010-12-14T21:40:00.000-08:00

All scans and mp3's for the example tracks are here.