Mark E Smith -The Early Letters
A wonderful find for Fall vans, via Fallnet, courtesy of the website of original band member Tony Friel - the early letters of an 17, 18 and 19 year old Mark Smith before, during and just after the mighty band were starting out.
No doubt Markie himself is furious at this terrible betrayal, in his usual even-minded manner, and there does seem to be an element of point-scoring going on. And when it comes to what’s known as the juvenalia of artists, a lot of it does tend to be of doubtful worth - not shown because it should not be.
I think these letters are a delightful find though, genuinely intriuging insights into the emergence of a fascinating mind. Witty, abstruse, caustic, uncompromising, with an unending voracious search for knowledge. And, amidst all the opaque silliness, fascinating in itself - a fantastic flair for phrase. They are like a fingerprint, take one look at them and they literally could not have been written by anyone else in the world.
Incidentally, I saw The Fall a few weeks back at their 30th birthday gig at the Co-op building in Manchester, for their standards a huge venue. Tonnes of older nostalgia freaks turned up for the occasion, doubtless trusting that Mark would turn out to be a softie in the end and play a load of the ole classics for ole time’s sake.
Instead, almost every song was from the last album, as per always. Cue several disappointed faces. I would have been disappointed if he’d done anything else. A fucking sensational night.
Update: The letters have now been withdrawn from Tony’s site. See comments
Other Splinters posts of interest:
- That’s my tip too: Mark E Smith interviewed
- Mark E. Smith Autobiography Alert!
- Hip Priest Promoted
- Fall Out
- At Last! The Mark E. Smith Autobiog
Make A Comment: ( 3 so far )
3 Responses to “Mark E Smith -The Early Letters”
Ben G
July 13th, 2006
I’ve e-mailed Tony Friel who very kindly replied explaining his decision to drop the letters. It seems he had a change of heart after several people objected to the letters on the grounds of invading Mark’s privacy. No legal pressure or anything, just a genuine change of mind.
I can personally see both sides to this. They were undoubtedly a great read though.
Ben G
July 15th, 2006
Update of an update of an update, I note now Tony has put back up the original typed lyrics from MES to “Futures and Pasts” from the original correspondence, better than nowt!
Ben G
July 29th, 2006
Errr….the letters seem to have gone missing from the site. Not sure why, or if they’re going back up again. Legality? Anyway, they *were* good, honest!