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Lot Essay
Along with the Les Pauls and Gretsch 6120, this guitar was a big part of The Smiths' 1986 US and UK tours and The Queen Is Dead album.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
After Johnny Marr acquired his first Stratocaster in late summer 1984 (see footnote to lot 23), the Strat quickly became an essential tool in his “Guitarchestra” for the particular sounds and tones it allowed him to access. The Strat did facilitate a technique, and it brought music out, he told guitar historian Tony Bacon in 2022. I wasn’t imposing my music on the guitar; the guitar was bringing out things. It was bringing out tunes, really. Marr would specifically turn to a Strat for a twangy Hank Marvin sound, for Nils Lofgren-inspired false harmonics, volume swells and bends à la Jeff Beck, or a Nile Rogers style funky rhythm. By this time a major Strat convert, Marr would jump at the chance when he was offered a handful of 1960s Strats by The Who bassist John Entwistle via famed guitar tech Alan Rogan in mid-1985. This composite Fender Stratocaster with 1965 sunburst body and 1957 bird’s-eye maple neck was one of three 1960s sunburst Strats purchased from Entwistle at that time. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2018, Marr confirmed that a couple of sunburst 1963 [sic] Strats were among the collection of guitars that he acquired from Entwistle and explained how the deal came about: We have a mutual friend in Alan Rogan, who is the Who’s guitar tech. John knew that Alan was doing some work with me and Alan guided me towards it and thought I should have some guitars. Alan pretty much marched me round to John’s and made me buy them!
Marr would enlist this sunburst Strat in the studio to record the crystalline melody on ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ and the layered high 'sprang' chords on the acoustic-led fan favourite ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ for The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead at RAK Studios in London and Jacobs Studios in Farnham, Surrey, between September-November 1985. Some things just drop out of the heavens and ‘Some Girls…’ was one of them, Marr told biographer Simon Goddard in 2014. Interviewed by NME to celebrate 20 years of The Queen Is Dead in 2006, Marr demonstrated his fondness for ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ when he revealed that his guitar part is the only guitar part I still play on the guitar. It’s a beautiful piece of music. A similar divine inspiration struck when Marr famously wrote the music for ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ along with ‘I Know It’s Over’ and ‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’ back-to-back on his Martin D-28 (lot 21) in under twelve minutes during one extraordinarily productive evening in late summer 1985. Writing in his 2016 autobiography, Marr recalled that the music came together quickly, which is usually the sign of a good song. It was always an important moment for me when we were putting down something new, but with ‘There Is a Light’ it was obvious that we might have some magic, and it felt like the music was playing itself… We were high with it, and after just a few takes we had one of our best ever songs, and something that felt at the time like pop music and beyond. Following a seven-month delay due to a legal dispute with Rough Trade, The Queen Is Dead was released on 16 June 1986 to universal acclaim, spending 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two.
Along with his three Les Pauls and Gretsch 6120, Marr bought two Stratocasters on The Queen Is Dead Tour – his early 1960s white Strat (lot 23) for Strat-led numbers in standard tuning and this sunburst Strat for use with a capo for performances of ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’, and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, as well as the first and last ever live performance of ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ on the final date of the tour, which featured an extra third verse not included on the album version. This sunburst Strat was the dedicated capo Strat for the North American and second UK legs of the tour, which kicked off at the Centennial Hall in London, Ontario, on 30 July and closed at the Brixton Academy in London on 12 December 1986, which would turn out to be The Smiths’ last ever live concert. With the exception of the aborted Preston Guildhall show, the Smiths’ enduring standard ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ would be played on every date. Several Video8 bootleg recordings were made by Steve Catterall of Soundsville International when he unofficially toured with the band during the second UK leg of the tour in October 1986. The show at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, London, on 23 October 1986 was recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and later released as the 1988 live album Rank. Interviewed for BAM some six months after the tour, Marr confirmed that his collection included 1963 and 1965 Fender Stratocasters and revealed at the moment, I’m searching the new Fenders for one that is as good as the old ones, because I really like Strats.
During the recording of Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, Marr took a knife to this Strat, scraping the original sunburst finish from the body in an attempt to relic the guitar in the style of Rory Gallagher’s legendary 1961 Strat. Publicity portraits shot by Jo Novak around this time show Marr with the distressed Strat. Unhappy with the results, Marr commissioned restorer Clive Brown to rectify and refine the Gallagher-inspired relic job in the late 1980s. At this point, the bird’s-eye maple neck was switched to Marr’s 1960s Lake Placid Blue Strat (lot 45) and an unknown rosewood neck fitted to the present body in its place, where it remained until the present maple neck was reinstated in the early 2010s. Marr ultimately gave up on the Gallagher relic at some point in the early 2010s and commissioned expert luthier Bill Puplett to restore the guitar to its original condition with a near mint refinish, at which time the body was reunited with its Smiths-era maple neck.
JOHNNY MARR, MARR’S GUITARS, 2023
After Johnny Marr acquired his first Stratocaster in late summer 1984 (see footnote to lot 23), the Strat quickly became an essential tool in his “Guitarchestra” for the particular sounds and tones it allowed him to access. The Strat did facilitate a technique, and it brought music out, he told guitar historian Tony Bacon in 2022. I wasn’t imposing my music on the guitar; the guitar was bringing out things. It was bringing out tunes, really. Marr would specifically turn to a Strat for a twangy Hank Marvin sound, for Nils Lofgren-inspired false harmonics, volume swells and bends à la Jeff Beck, or a Nile Rogers style funky rhythm. By this time a major Strat convert, Marr would jump at the chance when he was offered a handful of 1960s Strats by The Who bassist John Entwistle via famed guitar tech Alan Rogan in mid-1985. This composite Fender Stratocaster with 1965 sunburst body and 1957 bird’s-eye maple neck was one of three 1960s sunburst Strats purchased from Entwistle at that time. Speaking to Premier Guitar in 2018, Marr confirmed that a couple of sunburst 1963 [sic] Strats were among the collection of guitars that he acquired from Entwistle and explained how the deal came about: We have a mutual friend in Alan Rogan, who is the Who’s guitar tech. John knew that Alan was doing some work with me and Alan guided me towards it and thought I should have some guitars. Alan pretty much marched me round to John’s and made me buy them!
Marr would enlist this sunburst Strat in the studio to record the crystalline melody on ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ and the layered high 'sprang' chords on the acoustic-led fan favourite ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ for The Smiths’ third studio album The Queen Is Dead at RAK Studios in London and Jacobs Studios in Farnham, Surrey, between September-November 1985. Some things just drop out of the heavens and ‘Some Girls…’ was one of them, Marr told biographer Simon Goddard in 2014. Interviewed by NME to celebrate 20 years of The Queen Is Dead in 2006, Marr demonstrated his fondness for ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ when he revealed that his guitar part is the only guitar part I still play on the guitar. It’s a beautiful piece of music. A similar divine inspiration struck when Marr famously wrote the music for ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’ along with ‘I Know It’s Over’ and ‘Frankly, Mr. Shankly’ back-to-back on his Martin D-28 (lot 21) in under twelve minutes during one extraordinarily productive evening in late summer 1985. Writing in his 2016 autobiography, Marr recalled that the music came together quickly, which is usually the sign of a good song. It was always an important moment for me when we were putting down something new, but with ‘There Is a Light’ it was obvious that we might have some magic, and it felt like the music was playing itself… We were high with it, and after just a few takes we had one of our best ever songs, and something that felt at the time like pop music and beyond. Following a seven-month delay due to a legal dispute with Rough Trade, The Queen Is Dead was released on 16 June 1986 to universal acclaim, spending 22 weeks on the UK Albums Chart and peaking at number two.
Along with his three Les Pauls and Gretsch 6120, Marr bought two Stratocasters on The Queen Is Dead Tour – his early 1960s white Strat (lot 23) for Strat-led numbers in standard tuning and this sunburst Strat for use with a capo for performances of ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’, and ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’, as well as the first and last ever live performance of ‘Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others’ on the final date of the tour, which featured an extra third verse not included on the album version. This sunburst Strat was the dedicated capo Strat for the North American and second UK legs of the tour, which kicked off at the Centennial Hall in London, Ontario, on 30 July and closed at the Brixton Academy in London on 12 December 1986, which would turn out to be The Smiths’ last ever live concert. With the exception of the aborted Preston Guildhall show, the Smiths’ enduring standard ‘There Is A Light That Never Goes Out’ would be played on every date. Several Video8 bootleg recordings were made by Steve Catterall of Soundsville International when he unofficially toured with the band during the second UK leg of the tour in October 1986. The show at the National Ballroom in Kilburn, London, on 23 October 1986 was recorded for broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and later released as the 1988 live album Rank. Interviewed for BAM some six months after the tour, Marr confirmed that his collection included 1963 and 1965 Fender Stratocasters and revealed at the moment, I’m searching the new Fenders for one that is as good as the old ones, because I really like Strats.
During the recording of Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987, Marr took a knife to this Strat, scraping the original sunburst finish from the body in an attempt to relic the guitar in the style of Rory Gallagher’s legendary 1961 Strat. Publicity portraits shot by Jo Novak around this time show Marr with the distressed Strat. Unhappy with the results, Marr commissioned restorer Clive Brown to rectify and refine the Gallagher-inspired relic job in the late 1980s. At this point, the bird’s-eye maple neck was switched to Marr’s 1960s Lake Placid Blue Strat (lot 45) and an unknown rosewood neck fitted to the present body in its place, where it remained until the present maple neck was reinstated in the early 2010s. Marr ultimately gave up on the Gallagher relic at some point in the early 2010s and commissioned expert luthier Bill Puplett to restore the guitar to its original condition with a near mint refinish, at which time the body was reunited with its Smiths-era maple neck.