John D. Luerssen - The Smiths FAQ

Copyright 2015 by John D. Luerssen

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review.

Published in 2015 by Backbeat Books
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Book design adapted by John J. Flannery

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Contents

Foreword:
The Fifth Smith

In 1983when I began my career as guitar player in Aztec Camerathere was a lot of talk about this new band called the Smiths and how great and pioneering and what a huge breath of fresh air they were. Of course, every few years the same thing happens, whether its a band, actor, or film that the media blows up out of all proportion and starts proclaiming as the new Beatles, the new Bob Dylan, or the new James Dean.

As far back as I can remember, when it came to music, Id hear or read about how brilliant a new band or songwriter was, and I would be intrigued. Id look into it, as most people do, and listen to this incredible new talent. Then as now, it was always a huge disappointment whenafter hearing themthey didnt live up to the hype.

As such, I chose to ignore most of the talk I was hearing about the Smiths. But when I did eventually listen to them properly, I was truly impressed by what I heard. It was one of the rare times, to my mind, that the hype was justified.

Pop music at that time was saturated with New Romantic bands and cheesy, synth-based, lightweight music. To me, it seemed like the Beatles and even the Clash and songwriters like Burt Bacharach and Brian Wilson were all a distant memory to people who were making popular music.

As a guitar player, there didnt seem to me to be much music around then where the guitar was being used to its potential, or at least inventively. There didnt seem to be anybody around for me who was doing anything interesting with the instrument, except my own Aztec Camera bandmate, Roddy Frame. A huge reason the Smiths appealed to me was because of the constantly inventive guitar playing, as well as the quality of the songwriting. There certainly didnt seem to be a high standard of either around in the early 1980s.

At the start of 1986, I was playing in a band called the Colourfield with Terry Hall from the Specials and Fun Boy Three. I had first played with them in 1984, and the drummer, Simon Wolstencroft, who was a friend of the Smiths, told me Johnny Marr had been asking about me. Basically, the situation was that Johnny wanted to meet up with me in the hopes I might join the Smiths as a guitar player.

At that point, since being in Aztec Camera and playing with the Colourfield, Id been in the Bluebells for two years and had played with Edwyn Collins and quite a few others. Anyway, it was around this time when Simon had told me Johnny wanted to meet me, and that I should expect a phone call soon. Fast-forward a few weeks to one Saturday afternoon when the phone rang and it was Johnny asking if Id fancy meeting up.

We arranged the time to meet and Johnny and his roadie/friend picked me up and drove me to his house. Once we were at his house we were just casually chatting and generally getting to know each other before picking up a couple of guitars. We jammed together for a while and we also played things like Angie by the Rolling Stones and a few of other songs, probably Beast of Burden, as I used to play that a lot around that time. We also played Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Nowhere Fast, Bigmouth Strikes Again, and That Joke Isnt Funny Anymore, as well as a few others.

At one point in the night Johnny told me that they were going to sack Andy Rourke because of his drug problem. Id already heard from someone else associated with the Smiths that they were going to get rid of him, so it wasnt really surprising to me. In the same conversation, Johnny told me that they were thinking of getting either another guitar player or a keyboard player, although he didnt mention whether itd be as a session player or a full-time member of the band.

With regards to playing live, it made total sense to me that they were thinking of getting another guitar player in the band. I knew most of their songs would undoubtedly benefit from having two guitars, especially the songs from the new album, The Queen Is Dead . Johnny was really nice to me and I really enjoyed meeting and playing with him.

Johnny said that if I was interested I could join the Smiths there and then as a replacement for Andy on bass. It was quite a surprise to me that he was asking me thatnot because I was being asked to join the Smiths but because he knew I was a guitar player rather than a bass player. I remember not saying anything to that offer because it really didnt appeal to me, but that was really as far as the conversation went as regards to me joining the Smiths as a bass player. It was never mentioned again.

Just days after that meeting I was asked by Johnnysubject to meeting Morrisseyto join the Smiths as a guitar player. By that time Id also met both Andy and Mike. The following week, Johnny and I had a meeting with Morrissey in his flat in London and that was it, I was a full time member of the Smiths!

With regards to that bass-playing offer, Id been making a living as a guitar player since 1983about the same amount of time as the rest of the Smiths at that pointand it wasnt like I was new to it all. If Id have felt like Id been given the consolation prize of being a guitar player that they hadnt planned for, I certainly wouldnt have done itI was strong-minded enough even at that young age to be willing to leave if Id felt unwanted in any way. But the fact is, I was now the official fifth member of the band and was told I was as much a Smith as any of them and made to feel that way from the second I joined.

Johnny and myself went through a lot of the songs together with him sometimes pointing out the way he played a certain guitar part or me giving my own take on another part. Johnny gave me all the albumsincluding The Queen Is Dead , which hadnt been released yetso I could start learning all the songs. The first thing I did with the already-released Smiths songs was to learn the parts that Johnny had played on the records so that Id have a good grasp of all the parts.

The first time we all got together to rehearse was shortly after that at Mike Joyces house. I didnt know what the situation was with regards to Andy, and as far as I still knew it was just going to be myself, Morrissey, Johnny, and Mike getting together, but when I got round to Mikes house Andy was there, ready to play and obviously still in the band, and it really did sound fantastic, even in rehearsal. We played through various Smiths songs, although Morrissey didnt sing; he just watched and listened.

We knew at that point that the two guitars were going to work. On some of the older songs Id play a part that was on the record and Johnny would play something new over it, or vice versa, or on something like The Queen Is Dead and the other newer songs Id play my own part. It just seemed to work really well straightaway, without us spending ages making it work. Also at that rehearsal, Johnny had a new song idea that we all put down on tape so Morrissey could take it away and write to it. It turned out to be Panic, the next single, which we recorded a few weeks later.