A recollection from Alain Whyte

I just stumbled across this on FB, and he should definitely write this book. Judging from his posts over there, he seems to be a really good guy ... and it would be interesting to hear the whole story from his point of view.

And I do agree with what he said about the lineup. I saw them in Berlin back in 1991 ... best Morrissey show ever!
 
It's f***ing madness how much importance people put on the Jake Walters years. He was with him for how long, 2 years? During that time Morrissey made one lp that gets rave reviews but in reality lacks any spark
Morrissey became cliché. Fred Perry, Boxers, London pubs , this was mainly due to jake . It was as if he had nothing original left southpaw and malajuated saw Morrissey start to get his personality back. Then off he went to LA.
This jake fella is quite the con man by all accounts.
He is yet another person, like Aw, who claims to have been wronged but who used Morrissey as a stepping stone.
A heroin addict, that claims to have written An Imperfect list. He didn't
He's wasn't a boxer, he's wasnt a skinhead. He was a man from a wealthy family who drummed in a f*** awful band called Eighth Wonder. He's so seedy he went from living with Morrissey to dating strippers. His latest one is a stalker like Morrissey fan. It's kinda creepy really.
 
It's f***ing madness how much importance people put on the Jake Walters years. He was with him for how long, 2 years? During that time Morrissey made one lp that gets rave reviews but in reality lacks any spark
Morrissey became cliché. Fred Perry, Boxers, London pubs , this was mainly due to jake . It was as if he had nothing original left southpaw and malajuated saw Morrissey start to get his personality back. Then off he went to LA.
This jake fella is quite the con man by all accounts.
He is yet another person, like Aw, who claims to have been wronged but who used Morrissey as a stepping stone.
A heroin addict, that claims to have written An Imperfect list. He didn't
He's wasn't a boxer, he's wasnt a skinhead. He was a man from a wealthy family who drummed in a f*** awful band called Eighth Wonder. He's so seedy he went from living with Morrissey to dating strippers. His latest one is a stalker like Morrissey fan. It's kinda creepy really.

i think he was just the most visible morrissey companions in a time when he was peaking in public popularity so people remember and of course like drama and gossip
 
It's f***ing madness how much importance people put on the Jake Walters years. He was with him for how long, 2 years? During that time Morrissey made one lp that gets rave reviews but in reality lacks any spark
Morrissey became cliché. Fred Perry, Boxers, London pubs , this was mainly due to jake . It was as if he had nothing original left southpaw and malajuated saw Morrissey start to get his personality back. Then off he went to LA.
This jake fella is quite the con man by all accounts.
He is yet another person, like Aw, who claims to have been wronged but who used Morrissey as a stepping stone.
A heroin addict, that claims to have written An Imperfect list. He didn't
He's wasn't a boxer, he's wasnt a skinhead. He was a man from a wealthy family who drummed in a f*** awful band called Eighth Wonder. He's so seedy he went from living with Morrissey to dating strippers. His latest one is a stalker like Morrissey fan. It's kinda creepy really.

Calm down before you have an aneurysm.
 
It's f***ing madness how much importance people put on the Jake Walters years. He was with him for how long, 2 years? During that time Morrissey made one lp that gets rave reviews but in reality lacks any spark
Morrissey became cliché. Fred Perry, Boxers, London pubs , this was mainly due to jake . It was as if he had nothing original left southpaw and malajuated saw Morrissey start to get his personality back. Then off he went to LA.
This jake fella is quite the con man by all accounts.
He is yet another person, like Aw, who claims to have been wronged but who used Morrissey as a stepping stone.
A heroin addict, that claims to have written An Imperfect list. He didn't
He's wasn't a boxer, he's wasnt a skinhead. He was a man from a wealthy family who drummed in a f*** awful band called Eighth Wonder. He's so seedy he went from living with Morrissey to dating strippers. His latest one is a stalker like Morrissey fan. It's kinda creepy really.

Jake Walters claimed he wrote Imperfect List? The Big Hard Excellent Fish song?
 
Jake Walters claimed he wrote Imperfect List? The Big Hard Excellent Fish song?
He is listed as a co-writer in the Who Put the M in Manchester? credits and is also named as a member of the band on Big Hard Excellent Fish's website. So there's a bit more credibility to it than the anon lets on in their bizarre rant.
 
sad son,

world peace is a dreadful album.

-we'll let you know




isnt boz responsible for his most well known and best selling solo song. yeah the rumor was that he was pushed out but it clearly says in auto that he left do to exhaustion and that he was acting pretty weird which ive never heard him contest and now hes saying he left. i always thought alain thought himself some equal partner and have said so many times here and the above person is correct that as much as they might have been a unit it was a unit with a clear leader and decision maker i.e the person whos solo career it was, morrisseys. i remember when he was talking about the making of southpaw not long ago and he was talking like it was his record or something which i just found odd. didnt johnny also leave moz a couple of times like the joe moss incident, the brian ferry comments and appearance in the video, him wanting to be a hired gun with the pretenders and then the talking heads etc and every other act for one album. the court case where he seemed to be on all sides at once from many accounts plus some of the snarky comments later that made there way to the press. him being the one to break up the smiths

as for the song writing i might have agreed with you before world peace but not after that record. the songwriting musicianship on that album is extremely good from everyone involved. i know you like more of the straight pop rock as weve talked about this before but i love the music on world peace

i still think the bernard sumner comment was funny though about him running into the pole while looking in the mirror. something id probably do myself
 
sad son,

You are off your rocker if you think this "band" (it's really just hired hands and not a band at all) is the best Morrissey has had.

Jesse is the worst thing to come along as a guitarist and music composer for Morrissey....ever.

He is inept at playing the old solo and Smiths stuff.

-we'll let you know

PS: "World Peace" is a lame release.


Maybe Morrissey was testing the water to see if Alain would return to the fold. Not every move Morrissey makes is steeped in subterfuge surely.

I think the current line up as a live group and as a band on "World Peace..." is the best yet. Alain made a massive contribution but things carried on pretty well without him. "Vauxhall..." was let down by lacklustre production and the praise for "Southpaw..." baffles me. Sonically "World Peace..." is incredible. I love that album and have played it daily since it was released.
 
sad son,

world peace is a dreadful album.

-we'll let you know

I was the original poster on this and it really does amaze me how some people really think World Peace is anything other than complete and total dross. Ever since ROTT my love of the music and lyrics have been lost. Music is subjective, but objectively YATQ was his huge comeback album with at least a top ten or two in the charts. Songs like IBEH got my juices for his music flowing again. Now these last efforts seem like his goodbye songs and now no record company will touch him. It seems like the record bizz is treating him like radioactive waste where after a certain amount of time he may be safe to touch again, but by then who knows.
 
sad son,

You are off your rocker if you think this "band" (it's really just hired hands and not a band at all) is the best Morrissey has had.

Jesse is the worst thing to come along as a guitarist and music composer for Morrissey....ever.

He is inept at playing the old solo and Smiths stuff.

-we'll let you know

PS: "World Peace" is a lame release.

i think he got better, especially in the songwriting department and gustavo is a brilliant player in a style of guitar that i love

p.s. do you address everyone as sad son or do you think all anons the same person.
 
I was the original poster on this and it really does amaze me how some people really think World Peace is anything other than complete and total dross. Ever since ROTT my love of the music and lyrics have been lost. Music is subjective, but objectively YATQ was his huge comeback album with at least a top ten or two in the charts. Songs like IBEH got my juices for his music flowing again. Now these last efforts seem like his goodbye songs and now no record company will touch him. It seems like the record bizz is treating him like radioactive waste where after a certain amount of time he may be safe to touch again, but by then who knows.

I think the Paris debacle was the last nail in the record contract coffin. Entropy to follow.

He is welcome to prove this wrong, preferably with some better collaborators in the "group."
 
The quality of Morrissey's material and - in my opinion - live shows has declined massively since Alain stopped touring, recording and then writing with him.

No one will ever match what Morrissey created with Johnny Marr, but there is little doubt that Alain has been the most talented person Morrissey has worked with during his solo career.

I often like to watch YouTube videos of the 2002 gigs. A particular favourite of mine is the rendition of There Is A Light from that tour. Alain's guitar on the outro is spine tingling.

Like the rest of us I don't know why Alain left the band or who instigated it. I suppose we'll never know. But Morrissey's music is worse for it.

Whatever happened, Alain still seems upset by it. Hopefully it will bring him some comfort to know that he is missed by many of us and that his contributions in the studio and on the road over the years were/are much appreciated.
 
Jesse is the worst thing to come along as a guitarist and music composer for Morrissey....ever.

He is inept at playing the old solo and Smiths stuff.

Other than being Mexican, I believe Jesse's main appeal to Morrissey at the beginning was his ability to re-create nearly exact Marr duplicates on stage. Remember when Alain always got harped on for live Smiths songs? Jesse was able to mimic Marr much better than Alain ever did. Even today, Jesse is still hit or miss when it comes to the Smiths stuff -- he can produce photocoppies or botch them massively.
 
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as much as i think the song just alright the middle of staircase when gustavo shines is brilliant imo and much more musical than say irish blood english heart. even smiler with knife had more musicality than that song, its alright as i like the chorus, and these are my least two fav songs on that album ( i really disliked the block but the pacing and spaciousness were great especially the pacing of the vocal delivery ). im surprised alain doesnt just get another singer or take red lightning and get a record deal
 
i think he got better, especially in the songwriting department and gustavo is a brilliant player in a style of guitar that i love

p.s. do you address everyone as sad son or do you think all anons the same person.

He addresses everyone as "sad son" because it's "cool". Duh!

I have been staunchly skeptical towards Jesse through the years, but his efforts on WPINOYB really made me rethink this. If he can write a thing of beauty like Forgive Someone I'll forgive him for just about anything. That song is a masterpiece and it easily ranks among the best of 21st Century Moz.
 
He addresses everyone as "sad son" because it's "cool". Duh!

I have been staunchly skeptical towards Jesse through the years, but his efforts on WPINOYB really made me rethink this. If he can write a thing of beauty like Forgive Someone I'll forgive him for just about anything. That song is a masterpiece and it easily ranks among the best of 21st Century Moz.

yeah i thought his contributions to world peace were also great though forgive someones not my fav. i guess i asked because in others posts he didnt. couldve just been a momentary lapse of the shtick though i suppose
 
Steven can have no complaints about the way things have turned out. Things could and should have been so so much better but he made some very bad career choices.
Surrounding himself with yes men he must have felt like a member of the Royal family but it could never last and now we have the proof. Proof that far from being up there in the rock n roll hall of fame Steven got lucky, not once but twice. First with Johnny and then Alain after that it all goes tits up. He's not as clever as he'd like us to believe I know that's for sure.
We can argue all day and night about what this album or that album means to us and how good they are but its all personal to the listener, however I am prepared to lay my neck on the line along with Steve Barnett and say that World peace is a huge dinosaur T-Rex turd !
If there is one thing in life I have learned its that Martin and Lynne are the only ones to come out of this smiling.

Benny-the-British-Butcher
 
The quality of Morrissey's material and - in my opinion - live shows has declined massively since Alain stopped touring, recording and then writing with him.

No one will ever match what Morrissey created with Johnny Marr, but there is little doubt that Alain has been the most talented person Morrissey has worked with during his solo career.

I often like to watch YouTube videos of the 2002 gigs. A particular favourite of mine is the rendition of There Is A Light from that tour. Alain's guitar on the outro is spine tingling.

Like the rest of us I don't know why Alain left the band or who instigated it. I suppose we'll never know. But Morrissey's music is worse for it.

Whatever happened, Alain still seems upset by it. Hopefully it will bring him some comfort to know that he is missed by many of us and that his contributions in the studio and on the road over the years were/are much appreciated.

I really can't agree with this. I watched the 2002 Japan show recently and was struck by how dull and spiritless the band were. Also, as a fan at that time and before, I recall that nobody was praising Morrissey's band during that era. Quite the opposite.

Bringing in a keyboard player certainly improved the live sound and Jesse has generally done a decent job. There was a thread on here after he came in stating, 'Alain is not missed' and, in terms of the live shows, that is quite correct imo.
 
I really can't agree with this. I watched the 2002 Japan show recently and was struck by how dull and spiritless the band were. Also, as a fan at that time and before, I recall that nobody was praising Morrissey's band during that era. Quite the opposite.

Bringing in a keyboard player certainly improved the live sound and Jesse has generally done a decent job. There was a thread on here after he came in stating, 'Alain is not missed' and, in terms of the live shows, that is quite correct imo.

agreed. ive been to two shows in the last five years and i dont think many even knew there was a change really. never been to one where alain was playing but i didnt hear anyone in the crowd wondering where he was or even mention his name. everyone loved the show, both of them, and theyve been getting praise as a live band in recent years from what ive read or atl last moz has as a singer
 

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