back track

A guitarist’s guide to the artists you need to know

The Queen Is Dead (1986) The Smiths

1 By 1985, The Smiths were darlings of the rock press, but Marr fretted that only a “serious piece of work” would cement their place in history. Recording at Surrey’s Jacob Studios, the pressure was showing. Marr’s weight dropped to seven stone as he fuelled round-the-clock sessions with brandy and cocaine, but this was their finest hour. On the epic title track’s feral howls of feedback, the bereft acoustic lament of I Know It’s Over and the bittersweet jangle of The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, Marr’s guitar had never packed such emotional punch, and when we arrived at suicide-pact singalong

There Is A Light That Never Goes Out, classic status was beyond doubt. Download: The Boy With The Thorn In His Side

Marr has used a variety of guitars in his career, but favours Jaguars and Jazzmasters these days