Johnny Marr: The Smiths and the Art of Gun-Slinging
by Richard Carman

The Smiths shimmering, muscular, guitar-driven pop shone like a beacon and inspired a generation of indie guitar bands - their influence continues undiminished to this day. Musically, The Smiths were a league ahead of everyone else in the game, and guitarist Johnny Marr was the driving force behind their revolutionary sound. Manchester-born Marr proved to be a craftsman and explorer without equal, who built the gilt-edged frames in which the word-pictures of co-writer Morrissey sat so perfectly. He and Morrissey are forever inextricably linked. After The Smiths, Marr continued to inject beautiful, sophisticated guitar into some of the best music of the period: The Pretenders, Kirsty McColl, Billy Bragg, The The and Talking Heads all benefited from his incendiary input. More recently with his band Johnny Marr & The Healers, and the critically acclaimed album Boomslang, Johnny remains as influential and important as ever, a true guitar hero. This is the first full-length biography of Johnny Marr, looking beyond The Smiths and into the solo career of Britain's most influential guitar player of the last two decades.
 

ISBN 0 9549704 8 9 - 256 pages - Paperback - 8pp b/w pics - £9.99
Independent Music Press