In support of his upcoming album with the High Flying Birds, Noel Gallagher has been hitting the press circuit and saying some unflattering things about his fellow musicians including Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys, James Blunt, Bono, and Ed Sheeran. In a new interview, however, he ditched the name-calling for storytelling. Speaking to The Quietus, he recalled a night he spent in Los Angeles, getting drunk with Morrissey and comedian Russell Brand, which later inspired a new song called "Riverman" off his upcoming album Chasing Yesterday, due out March 2.
Here's what he said happened that evening:
"We [Noel and Russell Brand] get to this gaff - this is like at seven in the evening - and I'm saying to Russell, 'I'm up for it tonight, but I don't want to keep Sara up all night, we'll kick things in the head about two.' And Russell snorts. 'Two o'clock? We'll be out of here in 40 minutes! I can't handle Morrissey for more than 40 minutes: he's f**king mental!' So, we go in, and there he's sat, and I could write a book on that night.
"Russell doesn't drink so me and Morrissey were roaring drunk. First thing, he got up and sort of shook my hand. I said, 'Alright mate, how're you doing?' because I've met him at awards ceremonies, I've been on planes with him going to festivals. He'd just cancelled all the gigs in South America because he had whatever it was. So I go, 'I thought you just cancelled a load of gigs, I thought you were at death's door.' And he said [raises eyebrows, does the voice again] 'Yet here I am.'
"I was saying to him, 'So, when you were with The Smiths, the melodies that you wrote... well, you had all these words, but your way with melody is quite unique, it's not the blues and it's not pop, so did you have all these songs before you met Johnny?'
"And he says [preens] 'I did'. And I was like, 'Did you?' He said, 'I had them on cassette'. And I said, 'But you can't play the guitar'. He said, 'No, no, but I had a little drumkit'. And I said, 'What, a drumkit?' and he said, 'Yes, yes, yes'. And I said, 'What did you have a drumkit for?' and he said, 'Well, not many people know this, but Rice Krispies once asked me to do a jingle for them'. So I said, 'Really? Did you do it?' and he said, 'No, no, no, I wouldn't play it.' The he paused and leaned over, and said, 'I wouldn't wear the leather.'
"And you know what: he never asked me a single f**king question about why I was in LA, what I was doing, Oasis splitting up, nothing. When you're with Morrissey, you're in the court of Morrissey. But he's a f**king uber-legend. What a top man."
Check out the full interview here, and let us know what you think in the comments section!
