Johnny Marr was one of Oasis' first supporters, and famously lent them an electric guitar or two as they pieced together their earliest material.
Most notably, The Smiths’ man sent his iconic 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo to the group to aid in the recording of their soon-to-be smash, Definitely Maybe.
It even ended up in a photoshoot for the band's debut single, Supersonic. But the responsibility of babysitting the guitar weighed heavily on Noel Gallagher, a die-hard Smiths fan.
That same guitar is now a standout attraction at Marr’s upcoming Christie’s auction. In a video promoting the sale of nearly 100 electric and acoustic guitars, Gallagher and Marr take a trip down memory lane.
“Someone took it out and just put it on the floor so it would look like we were a working band,” Gallagher recalls of a famous photoshoot. “It’s on the cover of Supersonic.”
Released in December 1993, Supersonic was one of the group’s earliest hits. The cover features the band looking busy in the studio. Look closely, and you can see the Rickenbacker laid on the ground, next to a sunburst Gibson Les Paul.
“I remember looking at it on the floor going, ‘That can not be The Smiths’ guitar, there’s no way he sent that down here to a load of geezers from Longsight,’” Gallagher then chuckles.
“I was like, ‘You better take that back, mate – what if someone stands on it?’”
The album would later be mastered at Marr’s Manchester studio, further tying the two bands together. Vitally, the guitar survived destruction, which can’t always be said about Oasis recording sessions. A cherry red ES-335 and an engineer’s acoustic can attest to what kind of brutality can occur when the Gallagher brothers fall out
Marr, meanwhile, has spoken in depth about the guitars he’s set to give away later this week, and some prized pieces of Smiths history are included.
The Rickenbacker itself, which was used to track This Charming Man, is estimated to sell for £60,000-80,000 (approx. $79,000-£105,000).
The Johnny Marr auction takes place on September 17.
See Christie’s for more.
