The best gift for Morrissey fans I can offer is not another framed photograph or a lyric on a mug. It is a map. I research and design discography tube maps, and my Morrissey discography map art print plots every solo studio album as a station, with every credited musician drawn as a named line running through the records they played on.
Everything on it comes from the credits: liner notes, session listings, the small print that most merchandise never looks at. What follows are a few of the stories I found in that small print, because they are the reason this print tends to get framed and kept rather than opened once and shelved.
The Producer Who Played and the Producer Who Didn't
Your Arsenal, from 1992, was produced by Mick Ronson, David Bowie's guitarist in the Spiders from Mars. It is one of the most famous names in the whole solo catalogue, and he is not on the map.
That is my rule, and I apply it to every map I make: a producer only earns a line if the credits also list them playing something. Ronson's credit on Your Arsenal is production alone, so he stays off.
Compare that with Stephen Street on Viva Hate, the 1988 debut. Street produced the record, but he is also credited on bass and guitar, so he gets a line at the very first station. Two producers, two outcomes, one rule, and you can see it applied right there on the print.
Two Guitarists Board at Your Arsenal, and Only One Keeps Going
Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer both pick up their first credits on Your Arsenal in 1992, and for a while their lines run side by side. Whyte's line carries on through Vauxhall and I, Southpaw Grammar, Maladjusted and You Are the Quarry, gathering piano and backing vocals along the way, before reaching Ringleader of the Tormentors in 2006.
Boorer's line just keeps going. He runs from Your Arsenal all the way to I Am Not a Dog on a Chain in 2020, and his credits get stranger the further you travel: clarinet on Maladjusted, QChord and saxophone on World Peace Is None of Your Business, mandolin on Low in High School, a zither on I Am Not a Dog on a Chain.
A third guitarist, Jesse Tobias, boards at Ringleader of the Tormentors and rides to the far end of the map. Whichever era the person you are buying for fell in love with, the players they watched on stage are in there as named lines.
One Stop Wonders: From Ennio Morricone to Thelma Houston
Some of my favourite marks on this map are the branch lines, the musicians who appear on exactly one record. The Morrissey catalogue has a remarkable set of them, and they are all verifiable in the album credits.
| Album | Guest | Credit |
|---|---|---|
| Viva Hate (1988) | Vini Reilly | Guitars and keyboards, on loan from The Durutti Column |
| Ringleader of the Tormentors (2006) | Ennio Morricone | String arrangement on "Dear God Please Help Me" |
| Years of Refusal (2009) | Jeff Beck | Guitar on "Black Cloud" |
| Years of Refusal (2009) | Chrissie Hynde | Backing vocals |
| California Son (2019) | Billie Joe Armstrong | Backing vocals on "Wedding Bell Blues" |
| I Am Not a Dog on a Chain (2020) | Thelma Houston | Vocals on "Bobby, Don't You Think They Know?" |
That a film composer of Morricone's stature and a Motown voice like Thelma Houston both sit on the same map, fourteen years apart, tells you something about the pull of this catalogue. These branch lines are the details fans stand and study when the print is on a wall.
California Son, the Station Where the Guest List Explodes
The 2019 covers album is the busiest interchange on the map. Alongside the touring band, the credits pull in singers from all over: Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Ed Droste of Grizzly Bear, Sameer Gadhia of Young the Giant, Petra Haden, Ariel Engle and Lydia Night all appear on backing or guest vocals.
My favourite credit on the whole record belongs to Little Willie Iniesta, listed for dog barking. When I am researching a map I take the credits as they are printed, and sometimes the credits include a dog.
Which Version Makes the Right Gift for Morrissey Fans?
Every print is a Giclée on 230gsm textured matte fine art paper, archival and acid-free, deeply researched and designed by me in East Sussex. Prices start from £42, and each size comes unframed or in a black wood frame, ready to hang.
The print is sold in four formats. The A sizes and the inch sizes are separate formats rather than conversions of one another, so pick whichever suits the wall and any frames already in the house.
| Format | Dimensions | From |
|---|---|---|
| A2 | 594 x 420 mm | £42 |
| A1 | 841 x 594 mm | £58 |
| 24 x 18 in | US inch format | £42 |
| 36 x 24 in | US inch format | £58 |
A2 suits a study, a hallway or a desk wall, and it is the natural choice for a first print. A1 is the one for the fan who will want to trace Boorer's line across three decades without leaning in, and it earns its place in a living room or music room.
"Brilliant idea" - Billy Bragg
"Truly amazing" - Bruce Springsteen Archives, Monmouth University
Morrissey Discography Tube Map Art Print
Every solo studio album as a station, every credited musician as a line. A2 or A1, unframed or in a black wood frame, from £42.
View the Morrissey mapRelated Music Maps
If the person you are buying for came in through The Smiths, the natural companions are my Johnny Marr discography map and the Smiths discography map, drawn in the same style. The full range is in my Music Wall Art Prints collection.
Questions Buyers Ask About the Morrissey Map
Does the map include The Smiths albums?
No. This map covers the solo studio albums, with the stations running chronologically from Viva Hate in 1988 through the later records. The Smiths and Johnny Marr each have their own maps.
Why is Mick Ronson not on the map?
His credit on Your Arsenal is production only, and a producer only earns a line on my maps when they are also credited playing something. Stephen Street, by contrast, is on the map because he played bass and guitar on Viva Hate as well as producing it.
Did Ennio Morricone really record with Morrissey?
Yes. He is credited with the string arrangement on "Dear God Please Help Me" from Ringleader of the Tormentors in 2006, and his branch line is on the map.
What is not on the Morrissey map?
The Smiths albums, live records, compilations and singles. This map covers the solo studio albums only. Track-level roles are not shown either: each line tells you which albums a musician is credited on, and only my Rolling Stones Goats Head Soup album map goes down to individual tracks.
What is the print made of?
Each one is a Giclée on 230gsm textured matte premium fine art paper, archival and acid-free, so the colours hold for years. It comes unframed or in a black wood frame, ready to hang.
Ready to give the gift that gets read as much as looked at? Order the Morrissey discography map here.
Not sure which map or size they would choose? An art print gift card lets them pick for themselves.
