Producer of The Smiths’ debut John Porter: “I don’t think Morrissey liked me”

nme.com:

The Smiths‘ debut self-titled album, has revealed he doesn’t think Morrissey liked him.In a new interview with Music Radar, Porter has reflected on his work on the seminal 1984 album, and how he taught the band about music production.Porter explained that, while Johnny Marr was “immediately interested” in his explanations of the process, Morrissey’s “eyes glazed over”.“I really enjoyed working with The Smiths, but Morrissey was always difficult,” he added. “When I first met him, he was very polite and would send me postcards saying how much he’d enjoyed it, thanking me.

This quickly changed to complete disdain. I don’t think Morrissey liked me. I don’t think he liked my friendship with Johnny.”The producer, who has since worked with the likes of Ryan Adams, Elvis Costello and Carlos Santana, went on to detail how Geoff Travis – founder of The Smiths’ label Rough Trade Records – eventually fired him after disapproving of his work on the track ‘How Soon Is Now’.“Geoff’s view was that I was having too much fun, and it didn’t sound like The Smiths,” he explained. “After Geoff fired me, Johnny wanted me to carry on doing stuff.

So I came back and did a couple of other singles with them, but then they settled into working with Stephen [Street] full time.“It was frustrating for me, in a sense.

I mean, you know, you build up a relationship with a band. I figured we were just starting to really get somewhere.”Porter is currently auctioning multiple original test pressings, acetates and original mixes from those sessions that have been unplayed since the 1980s.