Total Guitar: Carmen Vandenberg interview - Morrissey album mention (September, 2024 issue)

Carmen mentioning some new information?
Joe Chiccarelli at the helm?

The ’board she had with her for the interview was set up for her work with Morrissey, with whom she is recording an album.
“With Morrissey, I’m using a CV30 and a Supro. I used a lot of Supro on the Bones UK record.

There is also that solo album in progress: “Coming out in a few years, or whenever I’m ready.” And while working with Morrissey, she’s filling the giant shoes of not only Johnny Marr but also Morrissey alumni Jesse Tobias and Alain Whyte – while maintaining the same philosophy that propels Soft.
As she says of her performance on a new Morrissey song: “There’s a solo with this bum note. I played it over and over to make people believe that I did it on purpose. But I didn’t go and change it. I don’t want to change mistakes
anymore. That humanity – I miss it on records. So I want to keep it in there. I’m learning a lot, doing a record with Morrissey and Joe Chiccarelli, who’s an incredible producer. Again, just plenty of time to learn a bunch of things that I didn’t know before. Even just the way he writes in his melodies.”

Regards,
FWD.

Continued below:

 

[Dirk Blaggard]

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Carmen mentioning some new information?
Joe Chiccarelli at the helm?

The ’board she had with her for the interview was set up for her work with Morrissey, with whom she is recording an album.
“With Morrissey, I’m using a CV30 and a Supro. I used a lot of Supro on the Bones UK record.

There is also that solo album in progress: “Coming out in a few years, or whenever I’m ready.” And while working with Morrissey, she’s filling the giant shoes of not only Johnny Marr but also Morrissey alumni Jesse Tobias and Alain Whyte – while maintaining the same philosophy that propels Soft.
As she says of her performance on a new Morrissey song: “There’s a solo with this bum note. I played it over and over to make people believe that I did it on purpose. But I didn’t go and change it. I don’t want to change mistakes
anymore. That humanity – I miss it on records. So I want to keep it in there. I’m learning a lot, doing a record with Morrissey and Joe Chiccarelli, who’s an incredible producer. Again, just plenty of time to learn a bunch of things that I didn’t know before. Even just the way he writes in his melodies.”

Regards,
FWD.

Continued below:

So is jesse not in the band anymore? Fingers crossed.

 

[Amy]

So is jesse not in the band anymore? Fingers crossed.

Probably just a mistake, too much to hope for.

 

[MozIsGod]

Probably just a mistake, too much to hope for.

Yeah, it was a typo.

Jesse is not going anywhere.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

 

[robertw93]

So is jesse not in the band anymore? Fingers crossed.

Why fingers crossed? He's written some great songs for M, is loyal, reliable and is a great guitarist?

 

[Amy]

Why fingers crossed? He's written some great songs for M, is loyal, reliable and is a great guitarist?

Serious question - have you ever seen Jesse play? Because for 20 years now, this man has been murdering solo and Smiths classics and if you've seen M live, you must have seen that. He is not a great guitarist by any measure, he even makes simplified, stripped back versions of songs look painfully difficult. I've been to gigs where he was making such a mess of songs like Playboys that you could hear the front row laughing. Until 'Dog' at least, he was a limited songwriter as well.

He is a back-stabber with no class or dignity, ranting online, slagging off superior songwriters like Alain and Johnny, wading into Morrissey's arguments. And that's just what we can see. If the 'insiders' are to be believed, he is difficult to work with and causes conflict with other musicians behind the scenes as well.

He is loyal to the Boss, but that's all, and he gets paid to be so. Unlike Carmen and Brendan and others that are getting undeserved shit for being session musicians, he'd have next to no options if the Mozzer ship sank. Which is why he's clinging on like a f-ing barnacle, while we've lost Boz, Alain, Gustavo and so many others.

 

[Thewlis]

Serious question - have you ever seen Jesse play? Because for 20 years now, this man has been murdering solo and Smiths classics and if you've seen M live, you must have seen that. He is not a great guitarist by any measure, he even makes simplified, stripped back versions of songs look painfully difficult. I've been to gigs where he was making such a mess of songs like Playboys that you could hear the front row laughing. Until 'Dog' at least, he was a limited songwriter as well.

He is a back-stabber with no class or dignity, ranting online, slagging off superior songwriters like Alain and Johnny, wading into Morrissey's arguments. And that's just what we can see. If the 'insiders' are to be believed, he is difficult to work with and causes conflict with other musicians behind the scenes as well.

He is loyal to the Boss, but that's all, and he gets paid to be so. Unlike Carmen and Brendan and others that are getting undeserved shit for being session musicians, he'd have next to no options if the Mozzer ship sank. Which is why he's clinging on like f-ing barnacle, while we've lost Boz, Alain, Gustavo and so many others.

That’s a bit harsh and one-sided.

He also played with RHCP and with Alanis Morisette during her huge Jagged Little Pill Tour.

Plus he wrote Morrissey’s joint biggest hit (YHKM) and some other great songs.

He’s not in Alain or Boz’s league, for sure, but he has made a solid contribution to Moz’ discography. I have met him only once, with Boz, and they were both very friendly, but I spoke to him too briefly to be able to judge his character.

 

[SteveWS]

Just a guess but maybe loyalty is far more important to Morrissey than competence? Seriously, I don't think he's ever recovered from Johnny leaving him; and 'him' is the all-important word here, not so much 'the Smiths'.

 

[Amy]

Just a guess but maybe loyalty is far more important to Morrissey than competence? Seriously, I don't think he's ever recovered from Johnny leaving him; and 'him' is the all-important word here, not so much 'the Smiths'.

When Alain came back, that was so unexpected and I for one was thrilled, especially because he left the first time under a bit of a cloud. A great songwriter, popular with fans, warm. Not willing to be pushed around, and that's rare in the Mozzerverse.

So for Boz to get no 'goodbye' and the Alain thing to fall to pieces within a year, and for Alain to say specifically that it wasn't due to Moz... the previous poster is fair to say that I'm harsh, I can't help it. I miss all the good people we've lost and I miss the days before Moz' career was one disaster after another, when he had honest friends and not just a bunch of folk saying "yes, sire" and enjoying the chaos.

It couldn't be clearer, now, that Moz couldn't care who or what is in the backing band anymore as long as he can tour, and has just passed it all over as Jesse's job to sort out. In that respect, I almost sympathise with him. But not quite.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

When Alain came back, that was so unexpected and I for one was thrilled, especially because he left the first time under a bit of a cloud. A great songwriter, popular with fans, warm. Not willing to be pushed around, and that's rare in the Mozzerverse.

So for Boz to get no 'goodbye' and the Alain thing to fall to pieces within a year, and for Alain to say specifically that it wasn't due to Moz... the previous poster is fair to say that I'm harsh, I can't help it. I miss all the good people we've lost and I miss the days before Moz' career was one disaster after another, when he had honest friends and not just a bunch of folk saying "yes, sire" and enjoying the chaos.

It couldn't be clearer, now, that Moz couldn't care who or what is in the backing band anymore as long as he can tour, and has just passed it all over as Jesse's job to sort out. In that respect, I almost sympathise with him. But not quite.

‘anymore’ ? Well, I don’t think M ever really cared about the backup band, for example when he hired ‘the Lads’ for the KUncle tour, I think it was simply because they looked good, lol! They had such a bad reputation, that Bowie wasn’t sure about having M open for him even in 95!

I thought they peaked in ‘92, Morrissey’s best band, but by other musicians in general, they’re not even rated.

People getting nostalgic about certain members really has little to do with their playing skills. And overall it says plenty about the importance M puts on loyalty, dependability.

 

[BrokenFrame]

I like the photo of Carmen they used, and there's some sexy about a woman holding a guitar.

 

[Amy]

‘anymore’ ? Well, I don’t think M ever really cared about the backup band, for example when he hired ‘the Lads’ for the KUncle tour, I think it was simply because they looked good, lol! They had such a bad reputation, that Bowie wasn’t sure about having M open for him even in 95!

I thought they peaked in ‘92, Morrissey’s best band, but by other musicians in general, they’re not even rated.

People getting nostalgic about certain members really has little to do with their playing skills. And overall it says plenty about the importance M puts on loyalty, dependability.

That's a fair point. Although I'd say that Boz and Alain were loyal, to stay all those years. They improved, they contributed, they stayed during long periods without a label and they got no 'goodbye', just "Next!". And in the case of Alain, unjustly mocked in Autobio for stupid reasons. That makes no sense to me and all I can say is that one day, I hope that sausage fingers is dealt with in a similar fashion.

 

[robertw93]

Serious question - have you ever seen Jesse play? Because for 20 years now, this man has been murdering solo and Smiths classics and if you've seen M live, you must have seen that. He is not a great guitarist by any measure, he even makes simplified, stripped back versions of songs look painfully difficult. I've been to gigs where he was making such a mess of songs like Playboys that you could hear the front row laughing. Until 'Dog' at least, he was a limited songwriter as well.

He is a back-stabber with no class or dignity, ranting online, slagging off superior songwriters like Alain and Johnny, wading into Morrissey's arguments. And that's just what we can see. If the 'insiders' are to be believed, he is difficult to work with and causes conflict with other musicians behind the scenes as well.

He is loyal to the Boss, but that's all, and he gets paid to be so. Unlike Carmen and Brendan and others that are getting undeserved shit for being session musicians, he'd have next to no options if the Mozzer ship sank. Which is why he's clinging on like a f-ing barnacle, while we've lost Boz, Alain, Gustavo and so many others.

So do you like him?

 

[robertw93]

‘anymore’ ? Well, I don’t think M ever really cared about the backup band, for example when he hired ‘the Lads’ for the KUncle tour, I think it was simply because they looked good, lol! They had such a bad reputation, that Bowie wasn’t sure about having M open for him even in 95!

I thought they peaked in ‘92, Morrissey’s best band, but by other musicians in general, they’re not even rated.

People getting nostalgic about certain members really has little to do with their playing skills. And overall it says plenty about the importance M puts on loyalty, dependability.

I thought the band sounded really powerful through 2014 till 2020, that was a great line up. Some of the footage SER posted from 2015, 16 shows them absolutely at their peak with such intensity. Stuff like Suedehead and How Soon Is Now were intense and absolutely killer. I loved that line up.

 

[ZOOM FROM GLOOM]

That's a fair point. Although I'd say that Boz and Alain were loyal, to stay all those years. They improved, they contributed, they stayed during long periods without a label and they got no 'goodbye', just "Next!". And in the case of Alain, unjustly mocked in Autobio for stupid reasons. That makes no sense to me and all I can say is that one day, I hope that sausage fingers is dealt with in a similar fashion.

don’t think M would care for sausage anything. He does like Jesse’s playing style, he’s explained it in that interview, that I’m sure everyone here is familiar with. Example, Charming Man got quite an overhaul, it was obviously M’s decision to do so.

All these complaints about M, what he does or doesn’t do, it has nothing to do with us.

 

[Amy]

don’t think M would care for sausage anything. He does like Jesse’s playing style, he’s explained it in that interview, that I’m sure everyone here is familiar with. Example, Charming Man got quite an overhaul, it was obviously M’s decision to do so.

All these complaints about M, what he does or doesn’t do, it has nothing to do with us.

Nothing about his life, band or career has anything to do with us, really... we are just the audience, but here we are. On a discussion forum that he hates. You can't invite and participate in discussion, and at the same time try to shut down critical opinions.

 

[JoeSellMozza]

So from today on we do know about the Morrissey recording.

Thread 'Medium / Fiona Dodwell: "MORRISSEY SPEAKS" (December 11, 2024)'

Dec 11, 2024

MORRISSEY SPEAKS​

An Exclusive Interview With Fiona Dodwell​

Morrissey is an artist that people talk about — a lot. From celebrities and fellow musicians to literary giants and politicians, many have been interviewed and asked to give their take on the Mancunian legend who has been creating music for a staggering 40 years. What do they think of his music? What do they think of his political leanings? Why do they think he has been so maligned by the press? Yet it’s not often that Morrissey himself speaks up. The irony is that the singer who has been previously mocked...

• The.Boy.Racer
• fiona dodwell
• Replies: 1,009
• Forum: General Discussion

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[MozIsGod]

Well, that would be a ridiculous, spiteful and wholly petty error - even worse than dismissing Alain from the Years of Refusal recording sessions. I cannot imagine any conceivable way either Alain or Gustavo would ever return to the fold if their musical contributions were wiped from Without Music The World Dies.

It appears this is much more closer to reality than it was three months ago, with M recently revealing that they re-recorded the album and shelved half its tracklisting.

Alain's and Gus's musical contributions aren't just wiped, but erased completely. There is a small (albeit unlikely) chance that Alain and Gus's tracks could reappear as bonus cuts/b-sides on a hypothetical WMTWD (or whatever new name) deluxe edition. Not holding my breath either way, though.

I'd love to know Alain's and Gus's thoughts on this one.

 

[Jamie]

It appears this is much more closer to reality than it was three months ago, with M recently revealing that they re-recorded the album and shelved half its tracklisting.

Alain's and Gus's musical contributions aren't just wiped, but erased completely. There is a small (albeit unlikely) chance that Alain and Gus's tracks could reappear as bonus cuts/b-sides on a hypothetical WMTWD (or whatever new name) deluxe edition. Not holding my breath either way, though.

I'd love to know Alain's and Gus's thoughts on this one.

I'm sure you're well aware that "hypothetical" is having to do an awful lot of heavy lifting when the original, its predecessor and apparent replacement are yet to be anywhere near release as a standard edition.

Though little will likely be said publicly, I expect "disappointed" would be a prevailing thought, to say the least. All in all, the way Alain's return was handled and played out by M was negligent at the least and borders on a debacle. What a waste.

 

[Multi]

What a waste.

i went to the July 6th, 2022 concert at Caesers Palace (i went primarily because Alain was playing with him and i wanted to hear We Hate It and Our Frank live) and during band introductions, when it was Alain's turn, the crowd erupted in cheers provoking Moz to take a double look at him and say "I don't get it."

you can see it here as this link starts on the band introductions:

I know he was being "funny," but it isn't funny when he actually doesn't "get it."