The Traveling Wilburys.
Johnny Marr is an English musician, songwriter, and singer (born Johnny Martin Maher) in Manchester in October 1963 and at the age of 13 formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos. He played in several bands, the most recent being Freak Party. But by early 1982, after losing their singer, Marr approached Rob Allman, the singer with White Dice. He showed little interest and instead suggested Steven Morrissey, the singer with the Nosebleeds. In May, and through a third-party it was arranged for Marr to meet Morrissey at his home. They seemed to hit it off and with Marr’s first bass player, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce on drums they formed the Smiths.
Within months they signed to Rough Trade Records and in May 1983 released their first single “Hand in Glove.” Now with an ever-growing fan base they recorded their first album, which was released in early 1984 and reached number two in the UK Chart. This was quickly followed by their second album, the controversial, “Meat is Murder.”
Their third album “The Queen Is Dead” was awarded the accolade by Spin magazine as being one of the greatest albums ever made. This resulted in the NME dubbing the Smiths the most important rock band of all time.
Marr's guitar sounds are instantly recognisable, with his jangly Rickenbacker and Fender Telecaster and synonymous with the Smith’s sound. Marr said, when performing with the band, he wanted to play a music which was pop. "100% of my focus was on providing interesting guitar hooks and putting some kind of space-age twist on the guitarist's role. The pop guitarist crossed with the mad professor. That's how I thought of myself."
In early 1986, Rourke was fired by the band for his use of heroin, but within weeks he was reinstated. But other problems were already looming and despite their continued success, personal differences within the band and the increasingly strained relationship between Morrissey and Marr created a huge problem.
Marr left the group in July 1987, and despite auditions to find a replacement no one was considered suitable. So, by the time their next tranche of music was released the band had long split.
One of the reasons given by Morrissey was the fact that Marr was working and recording with other artists, however, he later told Tim Samuels, a BBC journalist, that it was due to the lack of a managerial figure and business problems.
Marr's guitar playing had a massive effect on many of the Manchester bands that followed the Smiths including: John Squire - Stone Roses, Noel Gallagher - Oasis, and no doubt many more. He has since performed with numerous other bands and singers including: the Pretenders, Pet Shop Boys, collaborating with Hans Zimmer, on film soundtracks, Talking Heads. Joss Stone, Bryan Ferry and so many more.
In 2010 in a poll conducted by the BBC, Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years and Phil Alexander, editor-in-chief of Mojo described him as "arguably Britain's last great guitar stylist." In 2013, the NME, honoured Marr with its "Godlike Genius" award: "Not content with rewriting the history of music with one of the world's greatest ever bands, the Smiths, he's continued to push boundaries and evolve throughout his career, working with some of the best and most exciting artists on the planet."
Despite several attempts at reforming the Smiths it seems very unlikely.
.
BY-------Graham Sclater
The Traveling Wilburys were probably the most revered supergroup of all time. Consisting of George
Harrisson, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty who were all hugely successful in their
own right or as part of a group.
They came together by chance when George Harrison and his producer Jeff Lynne were looking for a
song for the “B” side for George’s upcoming single for his album, “Cloud Nine.”
As Jeff was producing new albums for Roy Orbison and Tom Petty so some of their songs were initially considered. Over dinner the four of them discussed their music and George mentioned that he was looking for new songs and they all agreed to work with him on his recording.
They needed a studio and following a call to Bob Dylan it was agreed that they would record at his studio. During an inpromtu jam session they all contributed by singing collectively to the song, “Handle With Care” which was demoed that evening at Dylan’s studio.
That evening soon developed into the Travelling Wilbury project and they wrote a further nine songs which were recorded at Dave Stewart’s home studio in Los Angeles over a period of just nine days. Overdubs were then recorded at Harrisson’s home studio - Friar Park, at Henley on Thames.
Jeff Lynne commented that the songwriting process was relaxed and enjoyable.” He said, “We would arrive about twelve or one o'clock and have some coffee. Somebody would say, 'What about this?' and start on a riff. Then we'd all join in, and it'd turn into something. We'd finish around midnight and just sit for a bit while Roy would tell us fabulous stories about Sun Records or hanging out with Elvis. Then we'd come back the next day to work on another one. That's why the songs are so good and fresh - because they haven't been second-guessed and dissected and replaced. It's so tempting to add stuff to a song when you've got unlimited time.”
Masquerading as the Wilbury brothers, the participants would be known as Nelson (Harrison), Otis (Lynne), Lucky (Dylan), Lefty (Orbison), and Charlie T. Jr. (Petty) Wilbury, with drummer Jim Keltner credited as Buster Sidebury.
Harrison was no stranger to the use of alternate identities, as he had adopted them with Sergeant Pepper, as well as with his collection of pseudonyms as a session musician, including L'Angelo Misterioso, George O'Hara and Hari Georgeson. During the Beatles' first tour of Scotland, in 1960, he had used the pseudonym "Carl Harrison", in reference to one of his favourite musicians, Carl Perkins. With the Traveling Wilburys, this was taken further, since none of their real names appear anywhere on the album, liner notes, or the songwriting credits.
However, the publishing credits are shared and the writers can be easily recognised by the names of their publishing companies.
However, the publishing credits are shared and the writers can be easily recognised by the names of their publishing companies.
The Traveling Wilburys first album was released in 1988 but it was the only album that Roy Orbison appeared on as he died of a heart attack less than two months after its release
The Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 sold millions of copies and one critic referred to it as: "one of the great commercial coups of the decade". It was nominated for the Album of the Year award at the 1990 Grammy Awards but was beaten by Bonnie Raitt’s, Nick of Time.
As one critic put it, it was After Harrison’s distribution deal with Warner Bros ended in 1995, ownership of his label Dark Horse Records as well as the two Traveling Wilbury albums reverted to estate and went out of print.
It wasnt until June 2007, that Volumes 1 and 3 were reissued by Rhino Records as part of a boox set with bonus tracks and a DVD and it reached number One in the UK album chart and number 9 in the US Billboard 200.
Their blend of vocals is unique and the songs still sound fresh after more than thirty years.
TABITHA BOOKS