Set the Boy Free

The Autobiography

De: Johnny Marr

Narrado por: Johnny Marr

The long-awaited memoir from the legendary guitarist and cofounder of the seminal British band The Smiths.

An artist who helped define a period in popular culture, Johnny Marr tells his story in a memoir as vivid and arresting as his music. The Smiths, the band with the signature sound he cofounded, remains one of the most beloved bands ever and have had a profound influence on a number of acts that followed - from the Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, and Radiohead to Oasis, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys.

Marr recalls his childhood growing up in the northern working-class city of Manchester, in a house filled with music. He takes us back to the summer of 1982, when, at 18, he sought out one Stephen Morrissey to form a new band they called The Smiths. Marr invites fans onstage, on the road, and in the studio for the five years The Smiths were together and shares how, after a rapid ascent, the working-class teenage rock star enjoyed and battled with the perks of success until ideological differences, combined with his much publicized strained relationships with his bandmates, caused him to leave in 1987. Marr's "escape", as he calls it, ensured the beginning of the end for one of the most influential groups of a generation.

But The Smiths' end was only the beginning for Marr. The bona fide guitar hero continues to experiment and evolve in his solo career to this day, playing with Paul McCartney, Pretenders, Modest Mouse, and Oasis and collaborating with today's most creative and renowned artists.

Rising above and beyond the personal struggles and bitter feuds, Marr delivers the story of his music and his band, sharing the real insights of a man who has made music his life and finally giving fans what they've truly been waiting for.

©2016 Johnny Marr (P)2016 HarperCollins Publishers

Really good

Great story...and it’s good to hear Johnny tell it himself. Kind of like going along for the ride, and it’s been a cool ride with a lot of gifted music people.

Amazing

Oh I loved this book so much! One of my most favorite autobiographies ever! I have been a major Marr fan since The Smiths and hearing his voice narrate his incredible story was just brilliant. As a musician myself it was so awesome to hear about his specific influences and his descriptions of them in detail and of his own music and artistic process and way of being as well. This book resparked my inspiration in so many ways. Thank you Johnny.

I did it…. For Johnny!!

I wanted another perspective on Johnny Marr, The Smiths and all he had been up to since! Message Received!! Such a great read errrr listen ;) It brought some needed closure and appreciation for all he’s done as a musician in the industry, but always more to advance the value of music itself. When you can play better than Marr, you can dismiss the book, but if you are obsessed by guitars? A MUST READ!!

This is my new favorite rock autobiography

Honestly, this book is about a truly solid and honest human being who ended up taking the entire world's ears in his hands. it's a Great book with sharp insights made all the better by its narration by Johnny Marr. After hearing this, u you'll want to delve into his catalog much deeper. you won't regret this book.

Exactly what I was hoping for

Johnny Marr is my favorite guitarist of all time. To hear him read his story and tell it the way he has was an immense pleasure. The stories behind so many of his great songs and collaborations are told here. I'm so glad he narrated it himself as no one else could've done it justice. This book has made me an even bigger fan. Thanks, Johnny!

Thank You Johnny Marr

Thank You Johnny for your music and creativity. i enjoyed you in high school in the 80s with your music and I enjoyed you today with your book. Thank you for telling your stories...i enjoyed fhem completely.

a great read for music lovers.

many questions answered. so many of my favorite groups were spoken about. real and insightful.

The best autobiography I've ever read!

Growing up, the Smiths were one of my favorite bands. Since Morrissey was such an enigmatic frontman and lyricist, regrettably most of my attention went towards him. I always knew Johnny Marr was a true talent, but I had no idea to what extent.

Listening to this audiobook, which I truly appreciated was read by Johnny himself, made me feel like I really got to know this man. And what a warm, humble, down to earth gem he is! It was interesting to hear about his family and childhood, founding and rising to fame with the Smiths, his love for Angie and his children, all the various artists he's worked with, but most of all his love for the guitar and creating music. This book was a love letter to music. I am going to revisit Electronic, Modest Mouse, and off course the Smiths because of this book.

Johnny Marr rarely had a sour word to say about anybody, although there were plenty of characters from his past he could have been bitter about. He spoke of giving up meat, eventually becoming a vegan, quitting drugs and booze, and becoming healthier through these lifestyle choices, along with running. But he never came across as preachy, just more so that those choices worked for him.

If you're on the fence about listening to this audiobook, don't be! It really was a great read.

One of the Great Rock and Roll Memoirs

Like Patti Smith's "Just Kids", Bruce Springsteen's "Born to Run", Bob Dylan's "Chronicles", and Keith Richards' "Life," Johnny Marr's "Set The Boy Free" is the story of a young kid discovering himself as an artist by falling in love with music, sitting up late at night listening to the records he loves over and over, struggling to re-create what he hears on a guitar and, in failing to replicate what he heard, creating a new musical voice and vision. (I am pretty sure they also all loved the great American girl groups of the early 1960s and I think we still need to wait for that great book.)

Listening to Johnny Marr's thoughtful, Manchester-inflected voice, I could envision all that he experienced. The first time I listened to the book, I was on a long car ride and wasn't able to pause and listen to the music he references in the book. This time around, I took all the time I wanted. I listened to the obscure, the forgotten, the never-heard, and the much-loved: the early Everly Brothers his mother fell in love with and listened to over and over, Mott the Hoople, The Smiths' first single "This Handsome Man," and Johnny's latest album as a solo artist.

I had bought the book as a one-time Smiths fan and was astonished to find that I had become a Modest Mouse fan at the same time that Johnny Marr joined the group. In these days where I listen to music on iTunes and Spotify, I no longer have the close read of the album cover that helped me learn the names of every member of a band. But now I know why I loved those Modest Mouse songs: that twangy, driving force of Johnny Marr's guitar that is both percussive and melodic. Imagine being professionally defined by the band you were with for a few years in your 20s! Such seemed to be Johnny Marr's fate after The Smiths broke up. Yet this is a story of constant self-discovery and discovery of new forms and music, without denigrating or shortchanging The Smith years, which were great ones. Johnny brings to life the thrilling connections he and Morrissey made once they'd found each other and worked with the kind of inspired complementary partnership of Richards-Jagger and the other great songwriting teams that makes you feel that there might be a God or that music might be God itself with inspiration being that light yet powerful touch that makes all the pieces fall in place after years of struggle. Anyone who has been an artist or writer will recognize and connect with Johnny in his description of those early moments of stumbling into and onto the sound you had always wanted to make without realizing it. Like great poems, a great song is familiar and new at the same time. As Morrissey writes in a much later, post-Smiths song, "Let The Right One In," "You have every right to say, what kept you so long?" (Sorry, Johnny!)

I have read some criticism of Johnny's emphasis on clothes and what he wore. In every city around the world, young working class people express their creativity, their refusal to be stifled and suppressed, their insistence on asserting their individuality, their originality and ability to transform everyday materials through their clothes. This was true in the 1970s punk world I lived in, the 1980s hiphop world, in Lagos, in Japan -- clothes are the art form of young people without money, without a government-sanctioned, society-encouraged voice, the way to be seen, to be heard, and yes, to be admired as beautiful young people should be celebrated and admired. And for Johnny Marr and the girl who would become his wife, Angie, clothes and the way they transformed and wore them became means for being seen and heard that led to their lives as artists.

This book is also about Johnny's ability to grow and evolve as a person -- all the while remaining the person of integrity, kindness and love of music he has always been. That he remains married to the girl he fell in love with at first sight and helped forge a life with as a teenager -- well, in these sometimes dark days, I will always love a great love story. More love, less hate, more music, more openness, more growth, more pride without arrogance, appreciation for the creativity and art of others, hard work as the condition in which inspiration makes itself known: this is what "Set The Boy Free" is really about. I am so glad Johnny Marr not only wrote it, but read it.

Fascinating life

So much more than just about The Smiths.

I discovered The Smiths in 1984 as I went off to college. They were hugely important to me, and I was thrilled to see them in Boulder CO in 1986, with Phranc opening.

Now, 32 years later, having just listened to Johnny tell his story in his own voice, I have tickets to see Johnny Marr in 2 weeks, and Morrissey in October.

It’s a fascinating look at the ebb and flow of an interesting life, parts of which touched mine and have been carried with me my whole adult life.