Fact #167538

Geoff Tavis (MD, Rough Trade Records) : We were looking for a producer for the first album. Troy (Tate) had made a single called Love Is, which had a really good sound to it. He met the band; they liked him. We were trying someone new.

Andy Rourke (bass, The Smiths) : Basically, we weren’t enjoying it, and that came out in the final recording. We just sounded like we were going through the motions. It just sounded like a demo. It didn’t sound good enough for a debut LP. We weren’t happy with it and the record company weren’t.

Mike Joyce (drummer, The Smiths) : It just sounded too... oh, indie's not the right word. It didn't have a body.

Andy Rourke : But Troy was a really nice guy and it was a difficult decision to make. Troy was devastated. I think it was his first go at producing. He really did take it badly, and we felt badly about it but, obviously, we had to look out for ourselves. We couldn’t bring out a sub-standard LP. It had to be good.

Johnny Marr (guitarist, The Smiths) : We didn’t fall out with Troy. We were really sorry to hurt his feelings. It was a professional decision and he obviously took it badly. He’d got himself wrapped up in it and understandably so.

John Porter (producer) : It didn't sound that great, and through a mutual friend, Geoff asked me if I'd take a listen to the tapes and see about remixing them. Well, I listened to the tapes and said possibly it would be better to start again. They were kind of out of tune and out of time. To tell you the truth, I knew about The Smiths, but I don't think I'd actually heard them.

Mike Joyce : If there ever was a fifth Smith, it was John Porter.

Andy Rourke (bass, The Smiths) : He did get on very well with Johnny, and I think he taught Johnny a lot about layering guitars and overdubs and stuff. Taught him different techniques and tunings and so on. John Porter was very valuable in that respect.

John Porter : I sort of felt that Johnny was like my younger brother or something. I recognised that he was an exceptional guitar player and I wanted to build that up. I mean, we used to spend hours in the studio. Quite often we'd put the tracks down and everybody would go, and Johnny and I would stick around all night and have it finished by the morning. We did a lot of guitars. Some songs had 15 guitars or more.

Paul Carrack (session keyboardist): I knew John Porter from Ladbroke Grove days - Carol Grimes and all that lot - and he told me he was doing this band The Smiths, who had a phenomenal following, and he gave me a tape.

John Porter : Paul Carrack was an old friend and I'd worked with him a lot. I always thought Reel Around The Fountain would be a lovely piano tune.

Paul Carrack : I didn't know anything about them. I thought it was a bit strange. I wondered what it was all about, to start with.

John Porter (producer) : Morrissey would disappear. I think he was almost a social recluse. I don't know what he used to do, but I suspect that he in fact went home and used to read, you know, and watch soaps or whatever he did. He certainly didn't hang around too much when Johnny and I were in the studio, 'cos we were hanging out all the time and I was thrusting all these blues records at Johnny which Morrissey hated intensely. He probably thought I was a terrible influence.

Paul Carrack : I can remember it being very vibey. Morrissey was there. He was just kind of sitting over in the corner quietly, with his glasses on. He didn't say an awful lot. I was doing Hammond and not sure if he was liking it or not. And he said, 'It sounds like Reginald Dixon on acid.' Apparently, this meant he liked it.

John Porter : I must say I was never really happy with Reel Around The Fountain. I don't think they ever really captured it. I always wanted to have another go at it.
(Source : not known)