The Roots of a Riff

It's one of the most famous guitar riffs in music -- Johnny Marr's tremolo-laden riff in The Smiths' "How Soon is Now".

When we first heard it in 1985, it sounded like nothing else out there. It still sounds totally unique, despite being covered and sampled over the years. The other day, I was tooling around YouTube and found an interview in which a Rickenbacker-toting Johnny Marr cites the reference points for the riff -- Hamilton Bohannon's Disco Stomp, Bo Diddley and Can. It's around 2 minutes in on this clip:

So let's go back in time and listen to the influences Marr cites. First, here's Hamilton Bohannon's "Disco Stomp":

Here's Bo Diddley's "Hey Mona":

And finally, Can's "I Want More":

The influence of all three is clear, but Marr's riff is hardly derivative. And when you look at The Smiths through this prism, you really can hear the funk influences in the band, despite its otherwise white-bread appearance.

By the way, I feel like I should explain why I'm devoting so many posts to things relating to Johnny Marr. First, I'm listening to his solo album The Messenger a lot. Second, I'm reading Tony Fletcher's terrific book about The Smiths, A Light That Never Goes Out. I'm more than 100 pages in and the band hasn't even formed yet -- Fletcher spends generous amounts of time on the cultural mores of Manchester in the 1970s as both Marr and Morrissey come of age. It's an excellent read.