Smiths On Guitar: Daniel Earwicker

Showing posts with label Daniel Earwicker. Show all posts

Handsome Devil

"'Handsome Devil': It took a week or two to get my head round it. I knew I wanted to do it, but it took a while to get used to, with him singing those sort of lyrics."

-Andy Rourke

"At the time I wasn't too sure about Hatful Of Hollow being released - although the radio sessions were great, I was keen for them to remain just being that. In hindsight, I realised there were certain tracks - particularly Handsome Devil - that had something the produced version just didn't."

- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded a guitar pro file here.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Daniel Earwicker does a cool multi-instrumental version here:

Here's another great cover by cdwheel:

Here's johhnymare on a tele:

Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

You've Got Everything Now

"I was in a shop on tour recently and they were playing Hatful... -'You've Got Everything Now' and 'Accept Yourself' I heard for the first time in years. And I was surprised by the complexity of the music on those songs. Because they really were our early songs. Chords I'd been playing from being 16. You can hear our girl group influence, yeah. I was super obsessive about The Shangri Las and The Marvelettes..."

- Johnny Marr

I have posted a Guitar Pro tab file here.

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Here are the scans from the debut album piano book:

Daniel Earwicker contributed his usual awesome multi-instrumental version:

Here, he did another close up instructional style video of the left and right hands. It would be great to have more videos like this:

chiasson65 does a great bass cover here:

Still Ill

"Looking back on the first album now I can say that I'm not as madly keen on it as I was. I think that a lot of the fire was missing on it and most of our supporters realise that as well. Although having said that, 'Still Ill' and 'Suffer Little Children' and 'Hand That Rocks' are all still great songs."

"'Still Ill' came to me on the train back from London to Manchester around the time of Hand In Glove's release."

- Johnny Marr

I have posted a Guitar Pro tab file here(right click to save as).

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

I have also uploaded the version from the debut album piano songbook with guitar chords, for whatever that's worth... very little, I suspect:

lunachangue does a very good cover on his hollowbody:

sonofdrcross does another really accurate version:

Daniel Earwicker does a great version on Rick 330 and bass:

hughred follows everyone up with yet another really cool version:

cdwheel does a great version here:

nicknoh69 does another really accurate version here:

IngialV does an awesome cover of Andy Rourkes bass. This has got to be one of my favorite smiths bass parts. Kind of a menacing counterpoint to Marr's part.

chiasson65 does another great version of the bass part:

Here's a rollicking take on the Hatful version by 325C58 on guitars and bass, and Daniel Earwicker adds drums:

keithbtv does a nice acoustic version here:

johnnymare does a great full length version here:

Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

Paint A Vulgar Picture

"About '86, I got really into the Les Paul and rediscovered Peter Green. I tried to play less chordally, a little more solo-notey. But the solo on 'Paint A Vulgar Picture' was done on a Strat. I was really pleased that the first solo as such on a Smiths record was one you could sing."

"The change was the key to that song, the relationship between the riff in one, and then the same riff against the new key. There's a section in D, then F# is the step and it's into B. A is the step back into D. My favourite key changes are sad, and that one is."

- Johnny Marr

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Here's Daniel Earwicker, making it all look easy as usual:

Girlfriend In A Coma

"Actually, [Strangeways] is my favourite Smiths album. We split after we recorded it and they were good sessions. One or two of the songs are acoustic-led, which I really liked - now that was an organic record."

"Over the last few years I've heard 'Girlfriend In A Coma' in shops and people's cars, and I'm always surprised by how good it sounds."

- Johnny Marr

I have uploaded two Guitar Pro files here(right click to save as).

Here are the scans from the Strangeways PVG book(Thanks to MorrisseyScans for these tabs):

Here are the scans from the Singles tab book:

Here are the scans from the Smiths Best Complete Score:

And here are the scans from the complete chord dictionary:

Oscar80It does a great version on acoustic. Really smooth riffs.

thirdynumberone plays around with the songs ideas here:

Jahnli does a nice version here, on a 1958 Martin 00-17:

johnnymare nails it on his Tele:

Here is a great full band version from Daniel Earwicker(with vocals!):

Here's davidguitarist91 on his Les Paul:

Half A Person

"I remember Johnny and Craig were both playing acoustic guitars, which we set up separated with one in the left and one in the right speaker. That was put down together, very simply, with just a few overdubs on top."

- Stephen Street

"Me and Morrissey would just disappear. Some of my favourite songs came about that way, like "Half A Person". We just locked ourselves away and did it. In the time it takes to play it, I wrote it. Morrissey was great in that respect. He knew when I was going to play something good."

"We officially wrote it on the stairs at Mayfair. Morrissey got his part of it together overnight, and it was amazing. That was probably the best writing moment I think me and him ever had because we were so close, practically touching, and I could see him kind of willing me on, waiting to see what I was going to play. Then I could see him thinking, 'That's exactly where I was hoping you'd go!' It was a fantastic, shared moment."

"One [1963 Stratocaster] I keep constantly high strung in Nashville tuning, which is the top two strings the same and bottom four like a 12-string set with the low strings taken off. It's a good tuning for coming up with new stuff 'cos you kind of feel like you're playing backwards. I used that on loads of Smiths stuff - You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby, Half A Person..."

"This is a 1962 Epiphone Coronet. Shortly after I got it I put it in 'Nashville Tuning', which means putting on an electric 12 string set (the bottom four strings are an octave higher than standard). It feels like your playing backwards because the higher strings are at the bottom. I used it to double a lot of the Rickenbacker arpeggios on Smiths records, most notably on 'William It Was Really Nothing', it's also the main guitar on 'Half A Person'."

"It might have a capo on the second fret.The chords are around G to E on the intro."

- Johnny Marr

Recorded:
October 1986, Mayfair Studios, London

Known Guitars used:
1962 Epiphone Coronet in nashville tuning
1963 Fender Stratocaster in nashville tuning

I have uploaded a Guitar Pro tab here.

Here is the complete score from the "Louder Than Bombs:Off The Record" book:

Here are the scans from the Complete Chord Dictionary:

Daniel Earwicker does a nice cover on his Rick 330:

And he tackles the fade-out riff in a separate video:

marrzipan does a great version on acoustic, sans capo:

Pandaprops does an amazingly accurate version in nashville tuning, fade out riff included:

Here's davidguitarist91:

Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before

"I find a blue note whenever I can. I try to find the poignancy in any kind of lick. Not to get too poetic here, but I find a distinct lack of poignancy in most guitar playing I hear. It's as if people feel that by virtue of being a guitar player, they have to have this swashbuckling, gung-ho approach to music, an overblown, vulgar approach. I'd prefer a few notes played in the right place on one string. For example, I liked the melody at the end of "Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before," but it just felt a little too accomplished. I wanted it to sound like a punk player who couldn't play, so I fingered it on one string, right up and down the neck. I could have played it with harmonics or my teeth, or something clever, but the poignancy would have gone out of the melody."

"The stuff that wasn't acoustic was mainly led by my 355 12-string; in fact, a lot of the songs - I Started Something..., Paint A Vulgar Picture and Stop Me If You've Heard This One Before - were written on that guitar. It gave a really big sound. I wanted to make sure my main guitar parts really counted and stayed on the record. Often, before, I had changed the main foundation at a later date, but that didn't happen with Strangeways."

"I'm trying to be open to any ideas, so long as they're fairly melodic and they relate to what the singer is singing. I'll try any trick. With the Smiths, I'd take this really loud Telecaster of mine, lay it on top of a Fender Twin Reverb with the vibrato on, and tune it to an open chord. Then I'd drop a knife with a metal handle on it, hitting random strings. I used that on 'Stop Me If You Think You've Heard This One Before' for the big 'doings' at the start."

-Johnny Marr

I have posted a Guitar Pro file here. It has the bass part as well as one guitar track.

I have posted a multi-track breakdown here. This has 4 tracks of guitar, a bass track, and various drum, vocal and keyboard tracks. This is an amazing resource, be sure to check it out!

Here are the tabs from the Singles book: