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Lot Essay
The harmonica has featured in Johnny Marr’s life since childhood, with his uncle Pat Murphy and father both adept players and showing the young Johnny how to pick out the notes of their favourite rock n’ roll tunes. In his late teens Marr decided to take up the instrument with more determination, describing in his 2016 autobiography how Angie getting the car coincided with me reacquainting myself with the harmonica. The Beetle was the only place I could practise without driving everyone mad, and she had to put up with me blowing harp along to a tape of the Stones’ second album wherever we went. It was great for us to finally be mobile as we could see each other more, and I started getting good enough on harmonica to decide that it should feature in whatever group I put together next.
Embracing this resolution when The Smiths came to record their debut single, ‘Hand In Glove’ at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, in February 1983, Marr’s overdubbed harmonica added a final flourish, anchoring the song over the guitars and drums. Recounting the band’s first studio experience, Marr recalled: Our nervousness meant that we’d played the song slightly fast, but it turned out to be a good thing as it gave the performance an impatience and enthusiasm… I set about finishing the track by doubling the electric guitar and then overdubbing an acoustic twice on the right-hand side. Mike played a tambourine part and then Morrissey recorded a ghostly backing vocal. It was inspired. As we were mixing the song, I wondered if there was something we needed to announce the start of the record, a kind of finishing touch. I took out the harmonica, asked everyone to bear with me in case it didn’t work, and I came up with a phrase in the corridor on my way into the live room. I recorded the harmonica and I’d made my first record.
Marr would employ the harmonica sporadically with The Smiths. It can be heard on a version of ‘Still Ill’ recorded during their second John Peel session at Maida Vale Studios, London, on 14 September 1983, which was later released on the compilation album Hatful Of Hollow (1984). His layered soulful harmonica features on the track ‘Wonderful Woman’, the B-side to ‘This Charming Man’ (released 31 October 1983), as well as at the end of ‘I Won't Share You’, the final track off their fourth studio album Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). Marr recounted the inclusion of harmonica on The Smiths' 1986 single 'Ask', in a 1990 feature for Guitar Player: I'm also vamping on a G harmonica through a Urei Boom Box, an early-'70s piece of outboard gear that we also used a lot on guitars, as well. It's like one of those vulgar "loudness" buttons on a hi-fi. It pushes things slightly out of phase, but gives them a bottomy, dense sound. In a rare, early collaboration, Marr added harmonica to Everything But The Girl’s 1984 single ‘Native Land’, also appearing in the official music video in trademark round mirrored sunglasses.
Marr’s collaboration with Matt Johnson in The The featured some of his finest harmonica, including ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ from the 1989 album Mind Bomb. His mastery of the instrument was on display for fans during The The’s first live studio appearance on the BBC as a band of four, including James Eller and David Palmer alongside Johnson and Marr, where they performed ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ on Top Of The Pops on 30 March 1989. Marr added harmonica to the second album they recorded together, Dusk (1993), lending a gritty distorted refrain to ‘Dogs Of Lust’, a soaring soulful solo in ‘Love Is Stronger Than Death’ and the uplifting intro and solo to ‘Slow Emotion Replay’. He recounted: It was always creatively intense in The The, but the atmosphere in the studio when we made this album was especially poignant and affecting, and I sometimes found myself having to leave the studio for a while because I was overwhelmed. The song that was the most powerful and emotive of all, and which I think is one of the greatest songs of all time, is ‘Love Is Stronger Than Death’, with its opening line “Me and my friend were walking in the cold light of mourning”, which described Matt and I walking through London after Eugene died. As the track went along and I listened to Matt singing, I played the harmonica with tears streaming down my face. There were other moments on Dusk that were totally The The, and which only that band could do. ‘Dogs of Lust’, ‘Helpline Operator’ and ‘This Is the Night’ all conjured up the restless nocturnal life I’d known with Matt in London and New York, and ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ was so pretty that on the take I sang an impromptu harmony down my harmonica mic just because I was so happy when we were doing it. I love the record. It captured a spirit that I share with Matt, and ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ has some of my favourite The The lyrics.
Speaking to Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, he explained: A song like ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ has the arpeggio hook, which brought a sort of joy and an uplifting vibe to an already lovely track. When I came up with the part, I was playing my feelings in the moment. That’s what’s so great about music. I’m not sitting back thinking, ‘What would be clever?’ It was a very happy time and I loved the song. When I recorded the harmonica part, I was so happy hearing the playback that I started singing down the harmonica mic – which I had no business doing, but it stayed on the record.
Other notable appearances of Johnny Marr’s harmonica playing include Electronic’s single ‘Vivid’, from their 1999 album Twisted Tenderness, which features magnificent harmonica throughout and regularly included a solo during the outro for live performances of the song. He played harmonica on his friend Kirsty MacColl's version of 'Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine', released as a bonus track on the CD version of her 1989 album Kite. Marr contributed harmonica parts for the recording of his hero Bert Jansch’s 2000 album Crimson Moon, for the track ‘The River Bank’. Jane Birkin's 2006 album Fictions featured Marr's guitar on five tracks, including a cover of the 1985 Kate Bush song 'Mother Stands For Comfort', for which he also recorded harmonica parts. Regularly sharing the stage and studio with Neil Tennant and Pet Shop Boys, Marr swapped his guitar for harmonica on two tracks off their tenth album Yes (2009) – ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘Pandemonium’. And in one of his most recent collaborations with Noel Gallagher, Marr recorded harmonica and guitar for the single ‘If Love Is The Law’, released in September 2018 and included on Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ third studio album Who Built The Moon (2017).
Embracing this resolution when The Smiths came to record their debut single, ‘Hand In Glove’ at Strawberry Studios in Stockport, in February 1983, Marr’s overdubbed harmonica added a final flourish, anchoring the song over the guitars and drums. Recounting the band’s first studio experience, Marr recalled: Our nervousness meant that we’d played the song slightly fast, but it turned out to be a good thing as it gave the performance an impatience and enthusiasm… I set about finishing the track by doubling the electric guitar and then overdubbing an acoustic twice on the right-hand side. Mike played a tambourine part and then Morrissey recorded a ghostly backing vocal. It was inspired. As we were mixing the song, I wondered if there was something we needed to announce the start of the record, a kind of finishing touch. I took out the harmonica, asked everyone to bear with me in case it didn’t work, and I came up with a phrase in the corridor on my way into the live room. I recorded the harmonica and I’d made my first record.
Marr would employ the harmonica sporadically with The Smiths. It can be heard on a version of ‘Still Ill’ recorded during their second John Peel session at Maida Vale Studios, London, on 14 September 1983, which was later released on the compilation album Hatful Of Hollow (1984). His layered soulful harmonica features on the track ‘Wonderful Woman’, the B-side to ‘This Charming Man’ (released 31 October 1983), as well as at the end of ‘I Won't Share You’, the final track off their fourth studio album Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). Marr recounted the inclusion of harmonica on The Smiths' 1986 single 'Ask', in a 1990 feature for Guitar Player: I'm also vamping on a G harmonica through a Urei Boom Box, an early-'70s piece of outboard gear that we also used a lot on guitars, as well. It's like one of those vulgar "loudness" buttons on a hi-fi. It pushes things slightly out of phase, but gives them a bottomy, dense sound. In a rare, early collaboration, Marr added harmonica to Everything But The Girl’s 1984 single ‘Native Land’, also appearing in the official music video in trademark round mirrored sunglasses.
Marr’s collaboration with Matt Johnson in The The featured some of his finest harmonica, including ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ from the 1989 album Mind Bomb. His mastery of the instrument was on display for fans during The The’s first live studio appearance on the BBC as a band of four, including James Eller and David Palmer alongside Johnson and Marr, where they performed ‘The Beat(en) Generation’ on Top Of The Pops on 30 March 1989. Marr added harmonica to the second album they recorded together, Dusk (1993), lending a gritty distorted refrain to ‘Dogs Of Lust’, a soaring soulful solo in ‘Love Is Stronger Than Death’ and the uplifting intro and solo to ‘Slow Emotion Replay’. He recounted: It was always creatively intense in The The, but the atmosphere in the studio when we made this album was especially poignant and affecting, and I sometimes found myself having to leave the studio for a while because I was overwhelmed. The song that was the most powerful and emotive of all, and which I think is one of the greatest songs of all time, is ‘Love Is Stronger Than Death’, with its opening line “Me and my friend were walking in the cold light of mourning”, which described Matt and I walking through London after Eugene died. As the track went along and I listened to Matt singing, I played the harmonica with tears streaming down my face. There were other moments on Dusk that were totally The The, and which only that band could do. ‘Dogs of Lust’, ‘Helpline Operator’ and ‘This Is the Night’ all conjured up the restless nocturnal life I’d known with Matt in London and New York, and ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ was so pretty that on the take I sang an impromptu harmony down my harmonica mic just because I was so happy when we were doing it. I love the record. It captured a spirit that I share with Matt, and ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ has some of my favourite The The lyrics.
Speaking to Martin Kelly for Marr’s Guitars, he explained: A song like ‘Slow Emotion Replay’ has the arpeggio hook, which brought a sort of joy and an uplifting vibe to an already lovely track. When I came up with the part, I was playing my feelings in the moment. That’s what’s so great about music. I’m not sitting back thinking, ‘What would be clever?’ It was a very happy time and I loved the song. When I recorded the harmonica part, I was so happy hearing the playback that I started singing down the harmonica mic – which I had no business doing, but it stayed on the record.
Other notable appearances of Johnny Marr’s harmonica playing include Electronic’s single ‘Vivid’, from their 1999 album Twisted Tenderness, which features magnificent harmonica throughout and regularly included a solo during the outro for live performances of the song. He played harmonica on his friend Kirsty MacColl's version of 'Complainte Pour Ste. Catherine', released as a bonus track on the CD version of her 1989 album Kite. Marr contributed harmonica parts for the recording of his hero Bert Jansch’s 2000 album Crimson Moon, for the track ‘The River Bank’. Jane Birkin's 2006 album Fictions featured Marr's guitar on five tracks, including a cover of the 1985 Kate Bush song 'Mother Stands For Comfort', for which he also recorded harmonica parts. Regularly sharing the stage and studio with Neil Tennant and Pet Shop Boys, Marr swapped his guitar for harmonica on two tracks off their tenth album Yes (2009) – ‘Beautiful People’ and ‘Pandemonium’. And in one of his most recent collaborations with Noel Gallagher, Marr recorded harmonica and guitar for the single ‘If Love Is The Law’, released in September 2018 and included on Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds’ third studio album Who Built The Moon (2017).