4,500-word Rolling Stone piece explores Billy Corgan’s last decade: burnt bridges, lost loves, critics, cults, and firing Jimmy Chamberlin 9:44 pm // Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Posted by jjb in billy corgan, interview, magazines, news.trackback
Where to start with Brian Hiatt’s six-page feature article (preview) on Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan?
Keeping in mind general reservations about the nature of transcribed oral interviews — the loss of context and tonal cues to a speaker’s intention — knowledgeable fans will find plenty to ponder in the March 18 issue of Rolling Stone. Hiatt focuses on the man and not the music so much, tracing out Corgan’s relationships with women, with family members, with collaborators past and present, and with notions of reputation, spirituality, and health.
Over the next week, we will make a few posts addressing these various elements and excerpting bits of the article where necessary. In the meantime, try to find a retailer who has a fresh shipment of printed-upon slick paper, and then set aside a block of reading time…
OY VEY.
People, obviously, if I was cool with linking to the PDF of the article, I would have done it already.
Perhaps this article will serve as a turning point, a moment of clarity after he suffers through the humiliation it will bring, to realize that he is his own legacy/career detriment. You shouldn’t have some pointless juvenile glee in saying something like, “I’m very good at burning bridges”. Why? Just cause? Dude, you’re in your 40′s.
Although its nice to know me and him share a similar disgust for “Animal Collective”.
That line could easily have been rueful self-observation, even self-mockery…
Rat in a Cage obviously has a lot to learn about midwest humor.
wry
adj. wri·er or wry·er, wri·est or wry·est
1. Dryly humorous, often with a touch of irony.
2. Temporarily twisted in an expression of distaste or displeasure: made a wry face.
3. Abnormally twisted or bent to one side; crooked: a wry nose.
4. Being at variance with what is right, proper, or suitable; perverse.
wry isn’t just a midwest trait, Davin.
of all people i’m interested in your take on this article (Davin).. seeing as you’ve been with this band literally since day 1.
so this article pissed me off right from the beginning. is it me or have i been reading the same BC/SP article over and over and over and over and over and over again, regardless of whose in the band, which band, or which former bandmate he’s bitching about. history lesson. how its mostly billy on the albums. shitting on ex bandmates. abusive childhood. his mother, his father. i know typically RS does its articles fr more casual fans….but at this point even casal fans know this stuff already too.
with 50 songs on the verge, can’t we talk a little bit about them? or about music in general. thats why we care about this man, remember? his music. the tone and content of the article will probably make less people want to hear anythign by him. the same fucking article could have came out (and did) in 2007.
…and its not even that they care more about the man than the music. they care more about the celebrity than the man….the music is an afterthought.
the author turns his nose up at TMZ with his phrasing early in the comntext of the article, and then proceeds to jump from each TMZ worthy topic to the next. even in so far as to get reaction comments from not 1, not 2, not 3, but 4+ celebrity persona’s as if its the fucking Jerry Springer show. “You say Jimmy’s unhealthy and destructive? Let’s see what he has to say about it!”
I don’t see how anyone could defend Billy’s reasoning for firing Jimmy. It’s completely insane. Destructive character, unhealthy? WTF. That cult that he got himself involved with has seriously fucked with is head.
and the jimmy stuff pisses me off. partly because its totally true, knowing how things went down and what was said. it all fits. it sucks that JC doesn’t want to work as hard as BC does, but thats because BC has more at stake.
However, I still don’t agree with the firing….because it seems more like BC got his feelings hurt. I mean there’s no way Ginger’s cares abotu the music any more than Jimmy does. I think the issue is that JC was part of the band and not just a hired gun. So he is supposed to care more, and it hurt billy’s feelings when he didn’t.
billy fired jimmy in 2009????????? wtf??????
and the other bit i didn’t like is the recognition-related comments. The one at the end sounds like he’s begging to get into the rock n roll hall of fame or something. Or the earlier comment that he deserves a place in history or whatever becase of all the time & effort he’s put in. It bothers me that he’s vocal about these things. it makes it seem disingenuine.
sure deep down you can think “motherfuckers better appreciate me”, but you do that while keeping your head down. its like that Barry Bonds, Kanye West self-awareness of talent thing again. having no modesty doesn’t come across well.
but then again, they do mention the greatness of SD and MCIS as matter-of-factly as “the sky is blue”…so maybe its not unwarranted.
So where are you guys finding the full article online?
*****SPOILER ALERT FOR TRAVIS***********
Remove the drumming and 99% of the stuff on any SP album is Billy. Also Billy can write another SD anytime he wants. Also Billy had an abusive childhood.
***************************************
Read in between the spoiler lines if you dare Travis. All the new info in this article will blow your mind.
After reading the article, I have to say that the whole “Billy fired Jimmy” vs. “Jimmy quit the band” is a matter of semantics. If “The Smashing Pumpkins” (2.0) band is merely a combination of (I did this quasi-research a couple of years ago) The Smashing Pumpkins Machine Inc. and/or Martha’s Music LLC (etc.), with Corgan the majority shareholder of the corporation and/or sole member of the LLC, then sure – Billy could have just as well fired Jimmy (the employee?) at any time.
If “The Smashing Pumpkins” band (2.0) was a partnership between Corgan and Chamberlin, then Jimmy leaving just basically dissolved the partnership, and somehow Billy got to keep the band name as a d/b/a (“doing business as” fictitious business name).
In any case, it’s a sad situation. From the information in the article, Billy seems to be friends only with people useful to him, and enemies with those no longer working with (for?) him. I think ‘apathy’ is the classier way to go for non-friendly people, but that’s just me.
I still like Jimmy’s mantra of not wanting dwell on past regrets if the present is a good situation, as he said on ‘The Chris Isaak Hour’ previously, and in the ‘RS’ article. I also like James’ diplomatic “official statement” to only remember the good times. More power to Iha if he actually believes that in real life.
As for Billy, oh Billy…I can’t wait for the next ‘Teargarden’ track. (I’m just trying to keep it positive!)
it wasn’t all bad though….
seeing new song titles as the result of a whiteboard is always good for nostalgia and happy vibrations. :-) It wont be long before the “it doesn’t sound like an SP song title” and “what kind of song do you think Blurricane is going to be?” comments come up. It was also good to see As Rome Burns is still in the mix (you better be practicing Mike Byrne)…and I hope that means we can expect to hear a studio version of The March Hare as well.
I also really really like Billy’s comments about the VISA commerical stuff. Not only what he specifcally did with the money, which was cool, but also his attitude toward it kinda being the last gasp of his big company dealings. I doubt its the last SP song we’ll see on a TV commercial, but just the overall symbolic nature of him cashing in his past to finance his future. I can appreciate that way of thinking. Not to mention the insghtful comments about a TV commerical being no different than iTunes, as far as “getting it out there” is concerned. Well put. There is no difference.
i just read “the source family” preaches sex without orgasm … weird stuff
“and the jimmy stuff pisses me off. partly because its totally true, knowing how things went down and what was said.”
Can you elaborate more on this, Davin?
Davin:
Good to see you. I have not really heard anything from you since I stopped going to Netphoria. I think what upset people the most was that we felt lied to about the Jimmy situation. For the last year, we have heard that Jimmy chose to quit the band, that the two were still best friends, and that Billy only hired a new drummer as a way to pick up the shards after Jimmy chose to leave. Now, all of a sudden, not only did Jimmy get fired, but the two don’t like each other?
There was no reason to break ties with Jimmy like Billy did. There is no way Mike Byrne cares more about the music than Jimmy does. I am sure Mike doesn’t live in the studio and eat and drink the music. Billy lost the best drummer in the biz. Jimmy has a family, there was no reason tnat o live in the studio. It sounds like Jimmy’s band is almost done with their album. Sounds like he still loves music!
Without having read the article, I feel completely at peace with my total lack of interest in SP 2.0 just based on the comments I’m reading.
It’s a long slow slide to insanity, but he might have finally gotten there.
Well, had to read the article online, as they still don’t have the new issue out where I live in Canada. I’m going to make a safe assumption that perhaps Billy didn’t elaborate enough on the Jimmy firing. I mean I’m sure stuff happened in between the end of the 20th Anniversary tour and that announcement in March (?). Perhaps Jimmy wasn’t all too enthusiastic about the prospects of never-ending studio time with TBK and that whole Source Family thing was probably too weird for him as well, and everything just came to a head?
I liked the article. Billy’s personality as much as we may dislike it from time to time is all part of what makes the guy a genius and he is. I can’t believe there are people talking about letting Billy go like they’re breaking up with him. Ok… Obviously these fans are as melodramatic as the big guy himself. Just listen to the fucking music.
Billy is not a genius. talented yes, but genius no.
@gyang333: Jimmy was often way more about energy than BC was, so I doubt the Source stuff was weird for him.
Ive said it before, but Im glad Jimmy is gone. I doubt a track like Stitch would have no drums on it if Jimmy were still around. Because Jimmy is so good and the only other member, it made no sense to leave him off tracks. This is, to me, the biggest flaw with the “acoustic” EP, American Gothic. Some of those songs could have benefited from less in-your-face-I-am-TEH-Jimmy drumming.
I can see how having no Jimmy would give BC additional freedom to create. Ya, sure, Jimmy isnt all over every MCIS track, but he hadnt really reached the status he’d reached at that point.
And then I remember: why do I care? Lol.
So, in summary, Billy is myopically obsessed with his music’s popularity (or lack thereof) – he’s blinded by the way people used to perceive him, and doesn’t realize that people now see him (and rightly so) as a washed-up and bitter man, angry at the world for not liking him anymore. So now he has to do battle with the world until they realize that he’s some kind of musical visionary, and then all will be well. The problem is, the more he pushes against people, and does insane things like fire the only remaining bandmember and, in his own words, “the best drummer in the world”, the more people will dislike even his proudest achievements, let alone the music he’s making alone in a studio in 2010.
The whole interview barely touches on the music, which is telling. I know there’s been a mixed reaction to the Teargarden tracks, especially now that people know that Billy possibly forced Jimmy to leave SP, but I think it’s a promising album that does indeed sound like what I used to imagine “Smashing Pumpkins” sound like. More 70s and psychedelic, but in the same vein.
I think the reason Jimmy said what he did, is that while he loves making music, he doesn’t want to view it as a vehicle to reclaimed fame, the way Billy does. The odd thing is that Jimmy seems to think it’s good that people aren’t listening to music intently anymore, maybe because they have more whole lives? Is that the idea?
@Acknowledge really? Man, I always got the impression that Jimmy was a down to earth mid-westerner that didn’t put up with shit like that. I guess I’m wrong on that end, but still….
oh and how has no one talked about the obelisk that’s on the first picture of the article?
[...] chamberlin, magazines. trackback One of the more-anticipated portions of Brian Hiatt’s sprawling profile of Billy Corgan in the latest issue of Rolling Stone was the promise of details regarding the [...]
@gyang333: It’s most apparent in the If All Goes Wrong documentary. Jimmy is right there talking about the vibrational frequency of Asheville, NC.
It’s probably for the best that Jimmy is out of this band despite the unruly way it seems to have went down. As a fan I’m happy hear he is taking time to spend with his family and preparing to have some fun playing music again. It’s really a breath of fresh air to hear that in juxtaposition to Billy’s Starbucks argument and pleas for radio play.
If Jimmy really wanted to he could just get some extremely talented musicians together and start his own rival Smashing Pumpkins tribute band. If Billy can do it, so can he.
I don’t think it’s such an arrogant thing to say “I should be part of the conversation”, especially in a Rolling Stone magazine. He is trying to get new fans to check out his catalog and learn something about alternative music compared to what’s out now. He’s confident in his own right about the music he produces and he needs to get his message out there as any entrepreneur would do. It seems like a silly thing to be upset or disappointed about. The firing of Jimmy is a totally different story though. Shame.
guys, obelisk!
@floppy nono
Of all the comments there have been around, your last one here is definitely the most stupidest one.
@Stephen Bayne
I totally agree with you, I couldn’t have said it better.
Music is what matters and if some fans want to let go of Billy despite the 3 amazing songs from Teargarden that have been released so far and the exciting future of the band, these people are more melodramatic than Billy himself.
“I also really really like Billy’s comments about the VISA commercial stuff. Not only what he specifically did with the money, which was cool, but also his attitude toward it kinda being the last gasp of his big company dealings. I doubt its the last SP song we’ll see on a TV commercial, but just the overall symbolic nature of him cashing in his past to finance his future. I can appreciate that way of thinking. Not to mention the insightful comments about a TV commercial being no different than iTunes, as far as “getting it out there” is concerned. Well put. There is no difference.”
I second this @Davin. I thought that was terrific. I agree with purple pumpkin. Other than that…I’ve had more ‘fun’ watching roadkill.
I wish the interview had more to do with the music (Teargarden), instead of ‘synergistic relationships’ et al.
I’m amazed at the candor. To me it’s not repetition ’cause I never read interviews before, oh, 2007 pretty much. So on one hand I see it as a very brave thing to do. (on the other hand it’s like a warning ‘i’m toxic waste’ lol)
Oh and just to step right off the edge. When he says he can levitate, he’s serious. Not his body. He still has the ability to leave his body the same way he relates he did in his ‘confessions’ at 3 years old. I don’t think that was a joke. Which for me is the most interesting part of the article, by a long shot.
The truth just hurts.
[...] 6:05 pm // Friday, March 5, 2010 Posted by jjb in billy corgan, interview, magazines. trackback In the March 18 issue of Rolling Stone, associate editor Brian Hiatt allows interview subject Billy Corgan ample room to [...]
[...] interview, magazines. trackback After briefly outlining Billy Corgan’s rough childhood in a new profile, Rolling Stone associate editor Brian Hiatt noted the 2008 arrest of William Corgan Sr., using it as [...]
For god’s sake, does anyone have a link or PDF copy of the whole Rolling Stone article?
Post it!
[...] the recently much discussed March 18th Rolling Stone article, writer Brian Hiatt gave us a little tease of the latest [...]