"Autobiography" by Morrissey (Penguin Classics, UK)

Penguin Classics ISBN: 978-0-141-39481-7

A great memoir needs a strong character who writes, and Morrissey takes that role to the maximum.  Overall each page has a quotable sentence or two, and the way he constructs his sentences is a beauty in form.  The narrative is not important but its the way he tells the tale, and that he does very well. 

A long-time fan or student of Morrissey will not learn anything new.  He does get personal in his own way regarding his love life, which is vague, but one is allowed to connect the dots.   There are people through out his life that is very important to him.  In fact he has two sets of individuals that he cares for.  The people he knows, and the people he admires, which are mostly film and music icons of sorts.  Some are more famous than others, but they're interesting because his admiration for these artists are sort of a clue to what makes Morrissey tick. 

Sadly there is no index of names in the book, because his reading and listening taste is very interesting.  He's very much a curator of taste, his taste mind you, but I consider that one of his highest talents is to both expose these artists, as well as trying to figure how they influenced him.  His great admiration for New York Dolls and Sparks makes perfect sense when you hear his music.  I think Morrissey learned a lot from those two bands with respect to lyric writing, and also the same for various British poets.  Besides his appreciation for French pop music artists, it seems he doesn't make any comments on foreign literature - meaning non-English language books.   Except perhaps Pasolini, but I am not sure if that is an appreciation for his films more than his writing. 

The only drag in this book is him writing about the trial between him and the drummer of The Smiths.  He goes on many pages in detail about this case, which was a major event for him.  But I suspect for most readers it is just a case of money disagreement.  But even that, he writes with incredible passion, almost over-the-top and its kind of amazing piece of the book in its way.   I am going to have to presume that his editor at Penguin probably wanted him to cut this section out ,but I am glad that he stuck to his principal to keep it in.  It tells more about his passion, and this book is about passion.

The first part of the book is Charles Dickens circa Manchester 1970's.  His description of the sadistic gym teachers are right on the button - because i too suffered from these goons in the 70's (Morrissey and I are roughly around the same age), so I found it fascinating that even in America, had weird sex perverted gym teachers as well.  It was an international problem!   The way he paints his school years and the early Manchester punk scene is heartfelt and picturesque.  You can smell the grayness of the landscape off the pages.  Also his commentary on various people are hysterical and sometimes mean - but it is like having Noel Coward tearing into someone.  Morrissey has a sharp tongue that brings out even sharper words to the page.

Overall the book could have used a tighter editor, but in the end of the day (or night) this is a fantastic book that i think will please the Morrissey fans, as well as anyone wanting to read about the music scene of the era of The Smiths and solo Morrissey.  

"A Light That Never Goes Out: The Enduring Saga of The Smiths" by Tony Fletcher

Over the years i have heard or read all the tales in this book, via mostly British music magazines - but the author Tony Fletcher tells the tale very well. Fletcher interviewed Johnny Marr and their bass player Andy Rourke, but sadly not Morrissey or Mike Joyce. Perhaps they didn't want to dwell in the past again, or maybe due to legal issues still on the table.

Nevertheless The Smiths were a perfect band at a very specific and important time in pop music history. in the land of the 'New Romantics," The Smiths were truly romantic about their upbringing and their home town of Manchester. But not only that, Morrissey via his lyrics and visual sense, captured all the great aspects of 1950's and 1960's British culture. Listening to The Smiths and purchasing and studying the album graphics, one can get an incredible education on artists, books, and film culture from that era.

Also The Smiths are probably the last band that actually had the work load of some band from the 60's. Their existence was very short (little bit over four years) yet they produced four studio albums, one live albums, and many many b-sides and singles. Being a Smiths fan at the time of their existence was a lot of fun - a lot of trips to the record store. Remarkable music, incredible personalities (and Morrissey to this day is a fantastic pop music figure) and this book exposes or conveys the inner-relationships of this band. It could be a tale of any band really, because it is always a family type relationship. It goes sour, because that is the nature of the human beast. Some bands go through drummers like a leaky pipe, but The Smiths seemed to use and lose managers on a regular basis. On one level it was their downfall - career wise, but then there is a special brilliance about this band that didn't use logic. Morrissey is the genius of the moment, and i think for a long time, Marr understood and appreciated that. What's kind of surprising to me is the after-life of Johnny Marr. It seems like he does everything except to be a permanent member of a band. One would think he would start over with another singer or songwriter partner - but he seems to be drifting. But that maybe over due to his future solo album and tour.

For me the best book on Morrissey/Smiths is "Mozipedia" by Simon Goddard, but this is an essential read for the fans, and again, Fletcher is a good skilled journalist, and I think The Smiths breaking up was a good move in the long run. I know there are people who will disagree with me, but I actually like the Solo Morrissey better then The Smiths! And I love The Smiths. Go figure! The book will be out this December in the U.S. and its published by Random House.

Fascinating documentary from The South Bank Show on The Smiths down below from the late 80s.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5