By Steve Morse, Boston Globe Staff, 1/19/2003
Start
a list of guitar heroes and the name Johnny Marr should be right up there.
Maybe not at the Jimi Hendrix/ Jimmy
Page level, but for modern-rock players, few can match Marr's credentials. He
founded the Smiths when he
was only 18, back in the '80s when he was a fresh-faced prodigy from Manchester,
England.
He then joined Matt
Johnson's The The, followed by a stay in the supergroup Electronic with New
Order's Bernard Sumner and
the Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant. He has also played with Billy Bragg, Oasis,
the Pretenders,Beth
Orton, and Neil Finn - an impressive work history by any measure.
Now,
as guitar heroes are sometimes prone to do, Marr is fronting his first solo
group, Johnny Marr & the Healers, which also features
Zak Starkey (Ringo's son and current Who drummer). They make their Boston debut
at the Paradise
on Friday, followed by the release of their first album, "Boomslang,''
on Feb. 4.
"The title 'Boomslang'
came to me in a dream,'' says Marr. "And then I went on the Internet and
was amazed to find that boomslang
was really the name for a snake. And a Japanese journalist told me that a boomslang
was a sign of imminent good
fortune.'' Marr is not your run-of-the-mill
rock star.As the years have passed (he's now 38), Marr has added an interest in Eastern philosophy
and meditation techniques to his love of music. In fact, a couple of songs on
his new album were inspired by a
visit to a meditation center in Arizona and by wandering treks through the surrounding Catalina Mountains.
"I'm not into
New Age fuzziness or what I call the mind, body, and wallet trend,'' he says.
"But I do believe that if you connect with
yourself, that's the way to personal freedom. And what this new album is all
about is personal freedom.''
That
is apparent in songs such as the ultra-pretty "Something to Shout About,'' the hypnotic
"Another Day,'' and
the acoustic-draped "Down on the Corner,'' which Marr admits is "a
bit Smithsy.'' Another
song, the swirlingly psychedelic "Caught Up,'' is about "how people
feel as if they're caught up in the wake of other things
in their lives, much like being caught up in the wake of a ship, rather than
being in control of their lives.''
"Personal freedom
is precious,'' Marr adds. "I feel the way a lot of other people do, that
I'm targeted and bombarded to be part
of a certain demographic, like almost being forced to be part of a cultural
stereotype. Another song, 'InBetweens,'cq
talks about people like me who feel that it's all right to be in between things. Like,
it's all right to have beliefs that are in between Buddhism and Hinduism.''
What's also new about
the music is that Marr does all the lead singing for the first time, in addition
to the meticulously layered
guitar parts. He's not about to rival Morrissey (the lead singer of the Smiths),
but Marr does a more than adequate
job on vocals, having built his confidence by singing on friend Neil Finn's
live album
last year, "7
Worlds Collide.'' Featuring other guests such as Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder,
it was recorded during a week of shows
in Finn's homeland of Auckland, New Zealand.
"We coaxed Johnny
out of his shell in Auckland,'' says Finn. "He sang a couple of songs
and did them quite well.'' But
it's Marr's guitar playing that really prompts Finn to gush. "Johnny
is an incredible musician. His guitar playing, obviously,
is very distinctive. He doesn't sound like anybody else. Every note counts for
him. There's nothing loose, whether
he's strumming or picking out arpeggios. And he's always thinking of adding
harmony in good ways.''
Indeed, the guitar work on the Marr CD is inspiring, from heavy electric sustains to acoustic filigree that is brilliant but not flashy. "I'm constantly trying to dodge the image of being a cultural snob,'' he says. "And on this record, I also decided that it's OK if I sometimes sound the way I did with the Smiths. I have had a long-standing agenda not to do anything that like sounds like the Smiths, because I didn't want to repeat myself. But I'm OK with that now. As I get older, I'm OK with my signature sound.'' Speaking of the Smiths, though, don't look for a reunion any time soon. "I hate reunions,'' Marr says. "I don't really know of one reunion that ever worked out. Trying to put something back together - when it was so perfect for what it was - would be a tragic mistake.''
For now, Marr is all
about looking ahead. And that starts with this Friday's date at the Paradise,
where he and fellow Healers
Starkey, bassist Alonza Bevan (formerly of Kula Shaker), and synth player Lee
Spencer will
help Marr to "follow
my instincts, which is what I've been doing for the last 20 years,'' he says.
"I've
been fortunate to go down any road that I've felt comfortable going down.
And I recommend that
to anybody.''