June 6, 2006 15:12

The Smiths turned down by McCartney!

The band requested a star guest on 'The Queen Is Dead'

The Smiths asked Linda McCartney to guest star on their classic album ‘The Queen Is Dead’, guitarist Johnny Marr has revealed.

In a new interview with NME, Marr disclosed that frontman Morrissey wrote to the wife of Sir Paul McCartney requesting she play piano on the track ‘Frankly, Mr Shankly’, though she politely refused.

Marr said: “Morrissey wrote a postcard to Linda McCartney asking her to play piano on the track, but she said no. She just said she couldn’t do it, we would have loved for her to do it because we were big fans of hers.”

The revelation comes in this week’s issue of NME, a special commemorative issue marking the 20th anniversary of the album’s initial release.

The issue features a track-by-track guide to the recording of the album with the band and engineer Stephen Street, the initial 1986 NME review, a look at how the album influenced a new generation and much more.

‘The Queen Is Dead’ special issue is out this week, dated June 10, from today (June 7) in London and nationwide from tomorrow.

To view more classic Smiths pictures go to smithsphotos.com.