Johnny Marr On The Black Les Paul He Gave Noel Gallagher

Johnny Marr has been asked in an interview with musicradar.com is there a guitar he regrets letting go?.

He said "[Laughs] That's a tricky one. Noel Gallagher's got my black Les Paul that I used on the album The Queen Is Dead. But he's a good boy, so I'll let it go. There's another answer to the Noel thing: I was drinking a lot in those days! But I like to help other musicians out.

"I know that I got a lot of helping hands when I was starting out. Some people were very generous to me; without them, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am. What goes around comes around. With Noel, the guitars went to a really good home. He wrote some great stuff with them, so it all worked out.

"I've given quite a few away over the years. I gave one to Chrissie Hynde, and Bernard Butler has my ES-335 12-string that I used on Strangeways, Here We Come and with the Talking Heads. I've given [The The singer- songwriter] Matt Johnson a guitar, too.

"I've been very happy to hang out with the Radiohead guys, and I loaned them guitars for In Rainbows. You recognise kindred spirits. I'm proud of that kind of thing."

Read the full interview here.

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Noel Gallagher On Why Johnny Marr Can't Be Imitated As A Guitarist

A video paying tribute to Johnny Marr was shown at the NME Awards yesterday in which Stephen Street, Bernard Sumner, Sandie Shaw, Miles Kane, Suede, Edwyn Collins, Bernard Butler and former Smiths bassist Andy Rourke all paid tribute to Marr's talents.

Noel Gallagher also appeared on video to say: "He can't be imitated as a guitarist because he came up with something that was totally unique. He can play those riffs like it's the most natural thing in the world. It is natural to him and that's what separates great people from the rest; Neil Young has got it, Bob Dylan's got it, Keith Richards has got it, Jimmy Page and Paul Weller have got it and Johnny Marr has got it. He doesn't even grimace when he plays guitar, he looks like he's riding a fucking bike."

Picking up the award from NME Editor Mike Williams and Wood, Marr told the applauding crowd that his advice for new bands was to "just keep going, never give up because this is the best job in the world". Marr was then joined by Ronnie Wood and The Vaccines' Justin Young on a six-song set. Young sang on a cover of 'I Fought The Law', a Sonny Curtis song famously covered by The Clash, before Wood helped out on 'How Soon Is Now?'. The set concluded with another Smiths classic, 'There Is A Light That Never Goes Out'.