Oasis rocker Noel Gallagher discussed the time Oasis nearly had Johnny Marr as a second guitarist during an interview with Guitar World.
Noel Gallagher says John Marr almost joined Oasis
The interview dates back to a moment in time when the Britpop band were finishing work on their fourth album, Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants.
During that interview at the Wheeler End Studios, Gallagher talked about handling nearly all of the guitar and bass parts on the album due to the departure of two founding members: guitarist Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs and bassist Paul ‘Guigsy’ McGuigan. He also revealed how Smiths legend Johnny Marr had been ready to step in if needed.
“I never really wanted to play lead,” Gallagher admitted. “I’m more of a rhythm guitar player. That’s how I write.”
“Johnny Marr offered his services to the band. He said, ‘If you can’t find anyone I’ll step in for a while’. And we said, ‘Fine’. But then we recruited Gem [Archer]. Johnny was just gonna save us if we didn’t have anyone.”
Marr and the Gallagher brothers have a fair share of history. In addition to sharing the common thread of being from Manchester-Irish families, the veteran guitarist met Oasis when they were still relatively unknown.
Marr noted that they were taking a long time tuning between songs, so he loaned Noel a couple of his guitars, including a Les Paul previously owned by The Who’s John Entwistle.
For Standing On The Shoulder Of Giants, Gallagher continued the tradition of using Marr’s guitars.
“I got this Les Paul from Johnny,” he said. “There were really modern pickups in it and I didn’t like it. So I tossed the pickups out, took some from another guitar, and put them in this.” He quipped, “It’s a better guitar now, so he’s not getting it back!”
After the band’s much-hyped reunion announcement, a handful of Oasis guitars – including Noel’s Definitely Maybe Epiphone Les Paul – exceeded initial estimates at a recent Sotheby’s auction.
