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Billy Corgan

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Billy Corgan

William Patrick "Billy" Corgan, Jr. (born March 17, 1967 in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, U.S.A.) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter best known for his work in the alternative rock band The Smashing Pumpkins. The Smashing Pumpkins is one of alternative rock's biggest acts and is known for their complex, layered style, and Corgan's distinctive vocals and guitar solos.

Music journalist Jim DeRogatis declared, "Of all the memorable artists and characters that the alternative era produced, [Corgan] was the most traditional rock star, with all of the good and bad traits that implies."[1] When the band broke up in 2000, Corgan went on to form the short-lived Zwan with former Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. After releasing a solo album and a collection of poetry, Corgan announced that he was reforming The Smashing Pumpkins in 2005.

Childhood and formative years

Corgan is the oldest son of William Corgan Sr. and Martha Louise Maes Corgan Lutz. He has a younger half brother, Jesse, who is physically and mentally disabled and another younger brother, Ricky, who is a painter. Corgan's parents divorced at an early age, and his father remarried soon after. His early years were spent with his grandparents, but most of his childhood was spent living with his father and stepmother in Glendale Heights, Illinois. During this time, Corgan alleges he was subject to much physical and emotional abuse by his stepmother. His father was a professional musician. Martha Lutz, Corgan's natural mother, had also been suffering from mental illness. She was committed to a mental institution for a brief period of time. Corgan spent a good deal of his youth taking care of and defending his younger brother Jesse, whom he still visits and supports[2]. Corgan was also an honors student at Glenbard North High School in Carol Stream, Illinois.

Corgan decided to start playing guitar when he went over to a friend's house and saw his friend's Flying V. Corgan gave his savings to his father, in good faith that he would buy him a proper guitar. His first guitar was a used Gibson Les Paul. Corgan Sr., a jazz guitarist, steered his son stylistically, encouraging him to listen to Jeff Beck and Jimi Hendrix; however, in a Howard Stern interview, Billy Corgan claimed he was an autodidactic guitarist. In this, Corgan was similar to contemporaries like Kurt Cobain, who were mostly self taught and not mentored. When asked by Robin Quivers if he could read notes, Billy responded, "No. I play whatever I hear in my head". Corgan has also said that his father refused on-hand instruction because he was skeptical of his son's dedication.

Corgan grew up listening to hard rock and heavy metal like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. He eventually discovered alternative rock through Bauhaus, The Cure, and The Smiths. By the time he started attending high school, Corgan had begun playing in bands.[3] Corgan was very active in the Chicago music scene beginning in 1983 and formed a band with Greg Bates named Coat of Eyes which included other guest musicians including Jim Marcus founder of the industrial band Die Warzau. Corgan moved from Chicago to St. Petersburg, Florida in 1985 with his first major band, The Marked, named for the noticeable birthmarks of Billy and Ron Roesing, the drummer. The band lasted for around nine months and disbanded, with Billy returning to Chicago to live with his father.

The Smashing Pumpkins

Main article: The Smashing Pumpkins

While working at a record store, Corgan met up with guitarist James Iha through a friend and the two began recording demos in Corgan's father house, described as "doomy little goth-pop records" in the video compilation Vieuphoria. He then met bassist D'arcy Wretzky after a local show, arguing with her about a band that had just played. Soon after, The Smashing Pumpkins were formed. The trio began to play together at local clubs with only a drum machine for percussion. During this period Billy perfected his style of vocal delivery, a trademark in all his works since. The band tried to book a show at the Cabaret Metro, a notable Chicago venue. Metro owner Joe Shanahan refused to let the band play until they found a live drummer. The band was introduced to jazz fusion drummer Jimmy Chamberlin by a mutual friend. The Metro show on October 5, 1988 was the band's first show with the full lineup.

The new band fused diverse threads such as psychedelic rock and heavy metal into a distinctive sound on their inaugural album, Gish (1991). After the success of Gish, the Pumpkins contributed their 1992 single "Drown," to the Singles soundtrack, and followed that with the massively successful Siamese Dream. The Pumpkins became known for their elaborate production techniques, Corgan's technical guitar skill, layering dozens of different tracks over one another with a wide variety of effects. Siamese Dream's "Soma" uses over 40 guitar tracks alone. The band became known for internal drama during this period, with Corgan frequently characterized in the music press as a "control freak" who reportedly went so far as to unilaterally erase other band members' studio tracks and rerecord his own performances over them. The reality of the situation was Corgan had developed a deep depression and worked overtime for both Gish and Siamese Dream, recording some of the guitar and bass tracks for the former and almost all for the latter. The album was well received by critics, and the songs "Today" and "Disarm" became smash hits, with the accompanying music videos receiving heavy airplay on MTV.

The band's 1995 follow up effort, the massive 2 disc set Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, was even more wildly successful, spawning a string of hit singles and eventually a box set (The Aeroplane Flies High, 1996) of songs recorded during the Mellon Collie sessions which were cut from the album. Releasing a 2 disc album was a risky move for the band, as the album holds over two hours of music. The album was nominated for seven Grammy awards that year and would eventually be certified 9 times platinum in the United States. The song "1979" was Corgan's biggest hit to date, reaching #1 on Billboard's modern rock chart.

Their appearance on Saturday Night Live on November 11, 1995 to promote this material also was the debut TV appearance of Corgan's shaved head, which he has maintained consistently ever since (as of 2007). Previously, Corgan had, in typical rockstar fashion, varied his hair styles fairly often.

During the album's tour, the band was plagued by Chamberlin's heroin addiction. On July 12, 1996, Chamberlin and touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin overdosed in a hotel room. Chamberlin survived, but Melvoin did not. The Pumpkins made the decision to fire Chamberlin. They completed the tour with Filter drummer Matt Walker and Frogs keyboardist Dennis Flemion, but the band missed the intense energy that Chamberlin's drumming provided.

Their next effort, 1998's Adore, was undertaken with drum machines and studio drummers in place of Chamberlin, and consisted mostly of subdued material. Corgan's mother, Martha, had died from cancer during the making of the record, and in the absence of Chamberlin—Corgan's longtime creative foil—some thought the proceedings took on a halting, confused tone. Adore earned high praise from some critics and many fans, but other critics and most of the more casual listeners thought the band had strayed too far from its strengths, resulting in a significant decrease in album sales (it sold 1.3 million copies, as opposed to 4.5 with Mellon Collie...).

File:Bill P Corgan.jpg
Corgan performing live with Zwan. Jimmy Chamberlin's "JC" drumkit is seen in the background.

Chamberlin was reunited with the band in 1999, and 2000 saw Machina/The Machines of God, a concept album on which the band deliberately played to their public image; critics were again divided, and sales were not very impressive. At the end of the recording for Machina, bassist D'Arcy quit the band and was replaced for the upcoming tour by former Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur.

The band's last album would be Machina II/The Friends & Enemies of Modern Music. Machina/The Machines of God was originally planned to be released as a double album, just like Mellon Collie..., but was denied by their record label, Virgin. The album was thus distributed to 25 chosen fans, with instructions to release the songs for free in MP3 format over the Internet as soon as possible.

The Smashing Pumpkins split up later in 2000 and played their last show on December 2 of that year at the Metro in Chicago, Illinois.

Post-Pumpkins

In 2000, Corgan co-wrote the song "Black Oblivion" with Tony Iommi for Iommi's eponymous solo album. In July & August 2001, Corgan joined New Order in the UK and Japan on stage and performed with them in San Francisco, Vancouver, Seattle and Los Angeles on Moby's Area One Tour supporting their new CD "Get Ready". Later in 2001, Corgan formed Zwan with Chamberlin and guitarists Matt Sweeney and David Pajo, with former A Perfect Circle bassist Paz Lenchantin joining in 2002. Zwan's focus on sunny, melodic pop-rock surprised fans and critics, and its album Mary Star of the Sea (written in and inspired by Key West, Florida) garnered generally positive reviews. Billy and Zwan also contributed tracks to the 2002 film Spun (though the tracks were never put on CD). In March 2003, Corgan and Chamberlin performed with Jazz vocalist Kurt Elling at "The Waltz", an annual benefit for homeless and abused teenagers. Together, they performed a version of Jimi Hendrix's "Freedom". During an interview with WGN-9 on September 15 that same year, Corgan announced that Zwan had officially disbanded.

In addition to performing, Corgan has produced albums for Ric Ocasek, Hole, The Frogs, and Catherine. He shared songwriting credit on several songs on Hole's 1998 album Celebrity Skin; the title track became Corgan's second #1 modern rock hit. He also acted as a consultant for Marilyn Manson during the album Mechanical Animals. He wrote the song "Eye" for the movie Lost Highway (1997) and has produced three soundtracks for the movies Ransom (1996), Stigmata (1999) and Spun (2002). He has performed vocals and guitar for New Order and Marianne Faithfull. Corgan was also featured on Blindside's 2004 album About a Burning Fire, in the song "Hooray, It's LA". Corgan has also written a song entitled "Lost In The Woods" with Taproot for their 2005 LP Blue-Sky Research. He also had a hand in creating the songs "Forget It", "Rain", Follow" and 2 other tracks unreleased for Breaking Benjamin's We Are Not Alone album released in 2004, Corgan helped write and perform the songs.

TheFutureEmbrace, Corgan's 2005 solo release.

Corgan began writing revealing autobiographical posts on his website and his MySpace page. Corgan told interviewers he was essentially writing his autobiography, and, "That part of my life is public, and I decided that I no longer want to protect the people I tormented."[4] On February 17, 2004, Corgan posted a bitter message on his blog in which he blamed guitarist James Iha for the sudden breakup of The Smashing Pumpkins four years prior. He also referred to bassist D'arcy Wretzky as "a mean spirited drug addict."[5] On June 3, 2004 he posted an apology of sorts to Iha, writing that "i love [Iha] very, very much...the depth of my hurt is only matched by the depth of my gratitude".[6] In another post, Corgan insulted his former Zwan bandmates, claiming they had been obnoxiously self-conscious about their "indie cred" to the point of hurting those around them. Poking fun at their indie stance, he called them "poseurs". Sounding both enraged and hurt, he declared them to be "filthy", opportunistic, and selfish.

Although it seems that most of Corgan's professional relationships wither quickly, he and Chamberlin have remained good friends. Corgan appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "Loki Cat" on Chamberlin's first solo album Life Begins Again with the band The Jimmy Chamberlin Complex. Likewise, Chamberlin played drums for the song "DIA" on Corgan's solo debut.

In late 2004, Corgan published Blinking with Fists, a book of poetry. The book debuted on the New York Times Best Seller list. It was also the best-selling poetry book in the United States in its first week of release.[citation needed] Throughout 2004, he worked on a number of folk songs related to Chicago history, and had planned to release an EP/DVD tentatively called "ChicagoSongs." In his 2005 newspaper announcement, he mentioned that he still intended to release the collection, but as of 2007, there have been no further reports.

Corgan released his first solo album TheFutureEmbrace on June 21, 2005 through Reprise Records. It warranted mostly lukewarm reviews from the press and only sold 69,000 copies.[7]

Corgan toured behind his solo album with a touring band that included Linda Strawberry, Brian Liesegang and Matt Walker in 2005. This tour was nowhere near as extensive as previous Smashing Pumpkins or Zwan tours.

In a February 3 2006 interview with RollingStone.com, Courtney Love revealed that she had recorded some new songs with help from Corgan for her forthcoming album, titled Nobody's Daughter.[8]

On October 29, it was revealed that Corgan is to work with Garbage vocalist Shirley Manson on a number of tracks for her debut solo album. [9]

Corgan appeared as a guest vocalist on the song "The Cross" on the Scorpions album Humanity - Hour 1.[10]

Smashing Pumpkins reunion

File:Billy Corgan - Tribune Ad reduced.jpg
Chicago Tribune ad.

In an 2005 interview with Spin magazine, Corgan rejected the possibilty that the Pumpkins would reunite. He told the interviewer, "If we're standing onstage in seven years, I owe you a good deal of money."[4] However, by the time the interview was published, Corgan had taken out a full-page ad in Chicago's two most prominent newspapers (The Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Sun-Times) revealing his desire to reform the Smashing Pumpkins.[11] Several days later, Jimmy Chamberlin accepted Billy Corgan's offer for a reunion. [3] On January 1, 2006, the Chicago Tribune published their 10th Annual Alewife Awards[12]; a sardonic critique of noteworthy cultural events and figures in the previous year. Amongst the 2005 recipients was Corgan for having "pulled the rug out from under his well-reviewed first solo album... by taking out full-page newspaper ads the day of its release to herald his decision to 'renew and revive The Smashing Pumpkins...'". The award summation also revealed that the advertisement was the means by which former bandmates James Iha and D'arcy Wretzky learned of Corgan's reunion plans.

On December 11 2005, Corgan wrote on his MySpace account that a "big surprise" is shortly to be announced. He posted: "The surprise I have in store for you all will be announced soon enough....hold on to your horses. After all, good things surely comes to those who wait....Don't you just love the suspense?".[13]

In January 2006, rumors began to spread on the internet that The Smashing Pumpkins would reunite at Indio, California's Coachella music festival in April 2006. However, this was proven false when the correct lineup was posted on the Coachella website. The entire rumour was based on a facetious photoshopped promotional poster for the festival that spread on the internet. According to 91-X XTRA-FM San Diego music director Marcos Collins, who spoke to Corgan's label, "Reprise said that for whatever reason Billy backed out of it."[14][dead link] Claims that the band would be on the bill for Lollapalooza 2006 were also proven false to the dismay of many fans, as did rumors that the Pumpkins would appear the following year.

On April 20, 2006 the band's official website confirmed that the group was indeed reuniting. The page stated: "It's official, The Smashing Pumpkins are currently writing songs for their upcoming album, their first since 2000. No release date has yet been set, but the band plans to begin recording this summer."[15]. On February 7, 2007 at 7:07 AM the name of the new album and the release date were made public by Corgan through the band MySpace page. The band performed its first show in seven years on May 22, 2007. The album, titled Zeitgeist, was released in the U.S. on July 10, 2007.

The American leg kicked off with a sold-out, nine-day residency at the Orange Peel in Asheville, North Carolina, on June 23, 2007. These performances continue the balance of new songs with some of the more familiar works from the back catalog, with a few obscure songs thrown in. In July, the Pumpkins performed at Al Gore's Live Earth festival, with a scheduled eleven-day residency at The Fillmore in San Francisco, CA to follow. Throughout their residency shows The Pumpkins repeatedly changed openers. Some of the openers included; Idiot Pilot, Stars of Track and Field, and War Tapes.

After a return to Europe for the Reading and Leeds Festivals, the Pumpkins will return to the United States for a more conventional fall tour.[16]

Personal life

Billy Corgan dated Courtney Love prior to her courtship and marriage to Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain. In 1993, he married Chris Fabian. The two divorced in 1997. Around this time, he started dating photographer Yelena Yemchuk, who had contributed to several Smashing Pumpkins videos and album art. The 2000 Smashing Pumpkins hit "Stand Inside Your Love" was written about her. He continued to date Yemchuk until around 2004. According to Corgan, his breakup with her contributed to the themes of his 2005 solo release, ‘’TheFutureEmbrace’’.[17] In early 2006, he moved in with Courtney Love and her daughter, Frances Bean Cobain. According to Love, he had his own wing in her new Hollywood Hills mansion.[18]

His birth mother, Martha, died in 1997. The song "For Martha", from Adore, was written in her honor. In the early 2000s, Corgan would name his label Martha's Music after her as well.

Musical style and influences

When asked in a 1994 Rolling Stone interview about his influences, Corgan replied:

"Eight years old, I put on the Black Sabbath record, and my life is forever changed. It sounded so fucking heavy. It rattled the bones. I wanted that feeling. With Bauhaus and The Cure, it was the ability to create a mood and an atmosphere. The air gets heavier. With Jimi Hendrix, it was the ability to translate this other level of guitar. Cheap Trick - it was a vocal influence. Although Tom Petersson once told me that Rick Nielsen called us 'tuneless and nonmelodic.'" He went on to explain that while many alternative guitarists came from punk rock, "anti-playing" roots, he has always valued musicianship, largely thanks to his father.[19]

Although All Music Guide said "Starla" "proves that Corgan was one of the finest (and most underrated) rock guitarists of the '90s"[20] and called "ruthless virtuosos" by Rolling Stone, Corgan is not widely known for his guitar ability. Within guitar circles, however, he has assumed a position of respect. He wrote six articles for Guitar World in 1995, and his solo for "Geek USA" was included on their list of the top guitar solos of all time.

His distinctive, nasal singing style is often a point of contention among critics.

He also is a fan of Eddie Van Halen and interviewed him in the late nineties for Guitar World.

He has also cited Thin Lizzy as a great influence[citation needed]. The Pumpkins covered one of their better known songs, "Dancin' In The Moonlight (It's Caught Me In Its Spotlight)," in the Siamese Dream era.

In a Chicago weekly newspaper during the late '90s, Corgan was quoted as listening to "Pantera. I really like Pantera."

His literary influences include William S. Burroughs and Philip K. Dick.[21]

Equipment

Through his teens and into his early twenties, Corgan had a preference for Fender Mustangs. As Kurt Cobain also used this guitar frequently, Corgan began shifting towards the Stratocaster, his Fender '57 reissue Strat being the most prominent in early performances. This was reinforced as Iha played a Gibson Les Paul, a guitar which Corgan felt was a proper counterpoint to his Strat. For the band's third album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness, Corgan recorded with a variety of different guitars. Although his '57 Fender Stratocasters were still present, all five of the singles were recorded using various Gibson guitars. Also around this time, Corgan put Lace Sensor pickups (Red in the bridge, Silver in the middle, and Blue in the neck) on many of his Fenders. During the tour in support of Mellon Collie, Corgan used his '74 Strat (or the "I-Love-My-Mom"-labeled guitar) and '72 Gibson ES-335 for performances of "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" and "Tonight, Tonight." On the band's fourth album, Adore, and the tour in support, Corgan used mostly Gibson guitars. For the band's fifth album, Machina, Corgan used mostly a Gibson ES-335, Gibson Les Paul Special, Gibson SG Special, and Gibson SG Standard. For the Zwan tour he went back to mostly Stratocasters. He also used a Gibson Flying V, and began to adopt the Reverend line of guitars. On Corgan's solo tour he played Reverend guitars on almost every song.

An Ovation acoustic was used on 'Stumbleine,' and various 12-string Gibson acoustics were used on 'Take Me Down,' 'Thirty-Three,' and 'Farewell and Goodnight.' 'To Sheila' and the other acoustic tracks on Adore were recorded with a Martin classical guitar.

Every Smashing Pumpkins album also uses Corgan's 1984 Marshall JCM 800 100-watt amp[22], as well as a Marshall JMP-1 rack preamp. Billy used an ADA MP-1 preamp for all of Gish.[22] Later on, Corgan augmented his Marshall sound with other amplifiers. 'Tonight, Tonight' and 'By Starlight' use a Vox AC30, and for the recording of Adore, Corgan stored away his previous gear, using new amps altogether.

Corgan is a well-known user of Electro-Harmonix effects, including the Big Muff distortion pedal.[22] He also used Fender's extreme octave/fuzz pedal, the Fender Blender.[22] He has also made use of the Small Stone and Micro-Synthesizer pedals. More recently, Corgan has been using high-end rack effects and Diezel amplifiers. It is worth mentioning, however, that much of Corgan's recorded guitar tone is the result of densely layered guitar tracks rather than Corgan's equipment.

For the latest tour, Corgan's rig is powered by two Bogner Uberschall heads and two Diezel Herbert heads.

Solo discography

On May 24, 2007 at "den Atelier"

Albums

Singles

Soundtrack work

Notes

  1. ^ DeRogatis, Jim. Milk It!: Collected Musings on the Alternative Music Explosion of the 90's. Cambridge: Da Capo, 2003. ISBN 0-306-81271-1, pg. 73
  2. ^ http://www.netphoria.org/theband/brother.htm
  3. ^ DeRogatis, pg. 76
  4. ^ a b Spitz, Marc. "Head On," SPIN vol. 21, no. 8. August 2005.
  5. ^ Corgan, Billy (2004-02-17). "Smashing Pumpkins (weblog)" (http). LiveJournal.com. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Corgan, Billy (2004-06-03). "Smashing Pumpkins (weblog)" (http). LiveJournal.com. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Smashing Pumpkins Reunite... Sort Of" (http). Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
  8. ^ Courtney Is Cleared, Ready to Rock
  9. ^ SHIRLEY'S ALL STARS
  10. ^ SCORPIONS: New CD To Feature Guest Appearance By BILLY CORGAN
  11. ^ Corgan, Billy. "A Message to Chicago from Billy Corgan," Chicago Tribune. June 21, 2005.
  12. ^ [1]
  13. ^ Smashing Pumpkins Reunite, Sort Of
  14. ^ [2]
  15. ^ Smashing Pumpkins Site Says 'It's Official' — Band Has Reunited
  16. ^ Cohen, Jonathan (2007-07-02). "Smashing Pumpkins Reveal Fall Tour Plans". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2007-07-02. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Corgan, Billy. "Blue Room Interview, Part I." Recorded 2005. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neC8TzeR0tg
  18. ^ Friedman, Roger (2006-06-22). "Courtney Love to Play London's West End" (http). Fox News. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  19. ^ "Rolling Stone Interview, 1994". Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  20. ^ Prato, Greg. "Pisces Iscariot" (http). All Music Guide. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
  21. ^ "Listessa Interviews Billy Corgan, 1998/05/29". Retrieved 2007-06-08.
  22. ^ a b c d Corgan, Billy. "The Elements of Tone." Guitar World Magazine, November 1995.
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