In a recent interview with MusicRadar, Pete Doherty has looked back on Amy Winehouse's guitar skills – a key component of her artistic abilities, which were largely overshadowed later in her career.
“People usually want to know about the other side of my life,” he said. “I get that. It was the same with Amy. All about the rumors and the headlines. They didn’t care about the music. Listen, I’ve actually sat in a room with her and a guitar. Watching those tiny hands finding all these weird jazz chords. And her strumming patterns... crazy, off-kilter timings. She made it look so effortless.”
As for the new biopic, Doherty commented: “I’m not a censor and it doesn’t matter what I think, but it’ll be interesting to see if they can get someone who can replicate her talent as a guitar player without resorting to AI. Will I watch it? Maybe. If it’s being shown on a long-haul flight.”
This is far from the first time Doherty talked about Winehouse’s musicality and songwriting acumen. In a 2015 video interview, Doherty talked about Winehouse's critical approach to songwriting.
“She was quite a harsh critic,” he said. “Sometimes we’d get together to write songs and she’d say, ‘Come on then, play us what you’ve got.’ And I’d play a particular chord progression and she’d be like, ‘Nah, it’s not really good, is it Pete?’ So I was determined to use that particular chord progression.”
In a 2004 interview with Fender, Winehouse opened up about her passion for guitar and how it made her feel confident on stage: “When I go onstage and have a guitar, I feel like no one can touch me. If I don't have a guitar onstage, sometimes I feel a bit like I haven't got as much to give.”
Pete Doherty is currently on tour with The Libertines in the UK and Europe in support of All Quiet on the Eastern Esplanade, the band's first album in nine years.
