ThePumpkins.net

that's funny ^^

blueczarina wrote:
If James and Billy were on equal ground when the band first formed, when was about the time that Billy became the main member and James and D'Arcy were shifted to the backseat?

Also, I don't know if you guys were replying to my question correctly, sorry if it was confusing, but I meant who recorded their respective instrument parts, not who wrote them. (Billy, obviously wrote most of it.) What I'm asking was if Billy (and Jimmy) did %97 of the recording of the parts, what was the point of James and D'Arcy of being there at all? If that is the case, then, in reality, wouldn't that setup merely make James and D'Arcy touring members and not really full-fledged band members?

Unnecesary members makes me muy triste.

Sikamikanico999 wrote:
I would say it's safe to say they were touring member.
Billy probably was hoping they would be more contribution from them, but he must have seen/heard something from their playing for him to decide to have him and Jimmy do the 97%.
I don't know, that's just my thoughts

Reggaeluv2000 wrote:
And what, if Billy just lied and they used to be a "proper band" until Adore in which everyone mostly played his/her instrument for recordings?
And now he just needs to justify his Pseudo-Pumpkins in which only Jimmy is left...
Just an idea...as I told before, MCIS sounds as it was performed by at least two different guitar players (Billy +......James, maybe?).
Compare the featured guitars of MACHINA to it...(though, the album is brilliant, as brilliant can be) they don't sound as if they were played by anyone else than Billy...

DON wrote:
That's sort of what I was thinking, I was always under the impression Gish and Mellon Collie (and maybe some of Siamese Dream) were recorded by all the members. I was asking, since you forum guys seem to know the history more.

By the way, did it ever make sense that James co-wrote "Soma" and "Mayonaise" and "Blew Away" yet Billy claims to have recorded EVERYTHING during the SD sessions? Sounds pretty suspicious to me.

In my opinion, the 97% comment was designed to hurt the former members, or else was greatly exaggerated to impose how much he worked. Does anybody know the royalties James and D'arcy recieve? If Billy is telling the truth, it would only make sense that they get 1.5 percent of the money from the albums.

I think, no one (except former Pumpkins) knows for sure who used to record/write what...but, well, OK, 97% were clearly WRITTEN by Billy...but NOT recorded...
but the SD-Sessions Quote you came up with also seems to be crap...hell yeah, James Co-wrote Soma and Mayonaise, indeed...and look, what great songs those became...I also red somwhere (I guess, it was the spfc.org's Pumpkins history) that James made up and recorded that nostalgic blues solo for Love on Mellon Collie...
Billy used to be the engine, of course, but I think, the original (ond one and only8-) ) Pumpkins used to have more "Iha stuff" in their art as Billy would like to admit now...
I mean, Billy is a genious musician, but what exactly made Zeitgeist that awfull and dull, leaving the feeling to me, that just something was missing? Maybe, Billy just had bad days in writing that, but maybe some former member couldn't bring his influences in...If I was James, I'd surely be pissed, aswell...especially now...

Im sorry but is there any concrete evidence that Billy recorded Adore on his own?

Nope...but one can guess that, I suppose...
those few guitars have surely been played by him & there's simply almost no bass in it...if he was supported by James and D'arcy, I think they only brought in very, very few things...

Yeah, i guess you're right. I suppose i'm just in denial over how little D'arcy and James have contributed to studio recordings.

Actually there's evidence to support that some songs on adore were recorded by the full band, often in live takes. Billy notes this in his confessions somewhere. But i assume a lot of the more simple songs were done by him.

Shame wrote:
Yeah, i seem to recall him during his Confessions talking about them recording Shame.
Although I think Billy is quoted as saying that D'arcy was insistant on Adore being Billy's first solo album, so maybe that's an indication of how the recording process went for Adore.

IAGW - Billy talks about James' contribution to Soma and Mayonaise. He says that James only came up with the chord structure for the intro.

Adore documentary - James talks about atmospheric noodling over top of the music.

Hey Sikamikanico999,

If you'd like the inside-track on the recording sessions of SD & Adore - for what it's worth - Billy has commented on them in his Confessions blog:

billycorgan.livejournal.com/?skip=50

The order of the posts are all over the place. 1997 at the bottom of that page, 1992 in the middle and 1993 higher up.

I think you'll find this post the most insightful:

billycorgan.livejournal.com/18665.html

In my opinion, 99% of the songs start with Billy. He brings them to rehearsal, the rest of the band add their parts and see what fits. As regards to what you hear on the CD - I think and recorded their parts and if they weren't up to Billy and the producer's standards then Billy re-recorded them (I think most of the bass and a small amount of the guitar).

I think Zeitgeist suffers because Billy didn't have the band rehearsal forum to try different arrangements and more noticeably it lacks a certain style that I think and particularly brought to the band.

Agreed on that, especially your Zeitgeist comment....
Billy isn't = The Smahing Pumpkins all alone...

I've always thought when listening to Adore, that I was hearing D'arcy on bass, but i guess not after reading those Confessions!

And no one can deny that Zeitgeist suffered because of the lack of a ''band'' environment, and I think Billy realises this.

Would I be the only one that would be totally excited to hear that Billy and Jimmy AS WELL AS Jeff, Ginger and Lisa were heading into the studio to make another album?

Maybe Billy is having some regrets about the current band because remember in that interview he did late last year for Rolling Stone? He said that he's not sure whether The Pumpkins bring out the beast in him musically.....

I don't want Jeff or Ginger in the studio, it just wouldn't seem right. I wouldn't mind seeing Lisa do something, though.

Billy Corgan wrote:
Referring to the Adore sessions, it does look like all three of them participated on Adore.

superchrist wrote:Well since they are a singles band now, maybe they should record a single with the band members and one with just Billy and Jimmy as a B side to it

Nice thoughts, but I don't think Ginger , Jeff or the puppets X, Y and Z will join Billy and Jimmy into studio...maybe Billy (who is just a human aswell:D ) doesn't really know what his Smashing Pumpkins are supposed to be today and maybe he actually saw that it didn't work like the same band in the past and thats why he withdraws himslef these days to overthink anything once again...with some singles, he can play save and maybe Pumpkins will one day be back to their old form or they won't last that much more longer...I think, Billy saw such problems, because he really is no idiot and now it's a very fragile phase of the Pumpkins, because if they won't come back with either once again a legendary album or a with a legendary tune or some kind of "pumpkinsevent" (and I'm not talking about writing punky cheese for Hyundai and performing it) if such things won't come, I'll give them just two more years then they'll be a zombie who maybe gives one or the other half-hearted gig with their best showtunes...It just won't be Billy's heart in it anymore because there's no way back into the brilliant past with just trying to copieing his earlier success but bringing in zero innovation...
Those are black thoughts, I know, but the way, Pumpkins are taking these days is more than concerning me...