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Title: The Smiths: Songs That Saved Your Life by Simon Goddard ISBN: 1-903111-47-1 Publisher: Reynolds & Hearn Pub. Date: 01 January, 2003 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.43 (7 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: Engaging and Edifying...
Comment: This mammoth undertaking called, The Songs that Saved Your Life is an ultra-detailed extremely meticulous look into the production of virtually every Smiths song in existence. It's simultaneously fascinating and annoyingly detailed.
How much you'll enjoy this book ultimately depends on the depth of your fandom and your interest in the Smiths' musical production.
The Songs that Saved Your Life is engaging and edifying, however, I wouldn't recommend it to everyone.
This book is not for you if:
1. You're only looking for Behind the Music / E! True Hollywood Story type gossip.
2. You're only looking for lyrical interpretations of Smith songs.
3. You're more interested the big picture rather than smaller details.
Despite whatever feelings you may have for Mike Joyce, he actually writes a touching forward for the book -- mind you not as brilliant at Mick Middle's forward for Morrissey's Manchester -- but surprisingly optimistic and celebratory of the Smiths' legacy.
The book lists about 80 Smiths songs in the order of the finished studio mater tape. To say "lists" is a bit of an understatement as The Songs that Saved Your Life is more or less the Encyclopedia Brittanica of Smiths songs.
Not only does it catalog singles and B-sides, it includes detailed information on Smiths songs that have never seen the light of day by the general public. The most famous of these songs is, "A Matter of Opinion" which was uncovered by author Simon Goddard while listening to Mike Joyce's own master tapes in preparation for writing the book.
There are also a number of untitled instrumentals produced by John Porter, Grant Showbiz and Stephen Street that are detailed as well.
Each of the songs in the book lists the day & place it was recorded, who it was produced by and the format & month of the first UK release (admittedly a bit confusing from an American POV). Next comes the detailed history of the song, e.g. how the song came about, what influenced the song, musical and or lyrical drafts, anecdotes, UK chart placement, song keys, quotes from band members (including Morrissey), Rough Trade / Geoff Travis reaction and headlines and controversies.
Now just when you thought you've learned everything possible about 'Wonderful Woman' for example, there are three more sections regarding the song's life in concert, on television and on the radio. The concert information is current to Morrissey's 2002 where Moz performed several Smiths song live. It did, however, feel somewhat eerie seeing in print information about a tour that just ended a couple months ago.
What's good:
The book can be read chronologically, or out of order. Skip the songs you hate (as if you'd actually hate any Smiths song) or pick a song you lurve and read up on it. You do, however, get a better sense of continuity having read it cover to cover.
Short chapters - good for those of us with attention deficit disorder.
Extremely detailed - More than you ever really wanted to know
The Verdict: Undoubtedly Simon Goddard has created a masterpiece. By the time I got to page 250 I'm sure my IQ went up a point or two. The vast amounts of data included in the book are incredible. If you're a Smiths fan and you haven't bought this book yet. I have to ask, what are you waiting for?
Rating: 5
Summary: Any thing is hard to find when you will not open your eyes
Comment: Being a Smiths fan I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was engrossed from start to finish.It is interesting to know how the songs were inspired and what they were about because over the years some of these fact have been vague.Detail is spent on Morrisseys lyrics aswell as as each members influence and musical style.Description on studio techniques and Johnny Marrs guitar figures are all inspiring.The author writes in a sincere
straight forward way.
Rating: 5
Summary: The essential Smiths Fan's reference guide!!!
Comment: ROMANTIC AND SQUARE IS HIP AND AWARE
by Brier Random
NOW I KNOW HOW JOAN OF ARC FELT: I recently challenged myself to sit down with pen & paper and make a list of the truly great bands of my lifetime, bands that really made a difference in my life. After a few hours, I found myself staring at a sheet of paper with exactly one name scratched on it: "The Smiths".
I remember each step of my Smiths epiphany-- every detail of the first time I heard certain songs: Where I was, what I was wearing, how I was standing. (In the kitchen of 716 De La Vina, boot-cut corduroys and a Bauhaus t-shirt, arms folded, weight slightly shifted on my left leg for "Bigmouth Strikes Again", if you're interested.)
And if the previous paragraph means anything to you, then you should read the new book Songs That Saved Your Life by Simon Goddard. It's a thorough track-by-track examination of every Smiths song ever laid to tape. Goddard chronologically fine-tooth-combs each song's lyrical influences, recording techniques, details on alternate takes, live performance history, and band members' recollections of the songs (including the fact that the three musical Smiths, sans-Morrissey, got incredibly stoned and replaced the studio lights with red bulbs to record the epic How Soon Is Now?). Not just a Smiths-completist's wet dream, anyone who has laid in awe on the bedroom floor while The Smiths poured out of the speakers will consider this book as indispensable as the songs themselves. I literally couldn't put it down until I set it upon a stationary surface.
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Title: Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance by Johnny Rogan ISBN: 0711930007 Publisher: Omnibus Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
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Title: Saint Morrissey by Mark Simpson ISBN: 0946719659 Publisher: Consortium Pub. Date: 15 April, 2004 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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Title: Morrissey's Manchester by Phill Gatenby ISBN: 1901746283 Pub. Date: June, 2002 List Price(USD): $11.99 |
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Title:You Are The Quarry (Gatefold w/ DVD) ASIN: B0001WB696 Publisher: Sanctuary Records Pub. Date: 18 May, 2004 List Price(USD): $21.98 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $17.99 |
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Title: The Smiths' Meat Is Murder (Thirty Three and a Third series) by Joe Pernice ISBN: 082641494X Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $9.95 |
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