Billy Corgan slams ‘greatest guitar player’ lists for not placing him higher: “They’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around”
The Smashing Pumpkins played a fundamental role in carving out the modern alt-rock and grunge landscape. At the helm, frontman Billy Corgan has penned countless riffs and melodies that have inspired many artists in his wake.
But Corgan admits that “most people don’t even recognise my contributions as a guitar player”, in a new interview with Guitar World, citing ‘greatest guitar player’ lists as where he’s often overlooked.
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“I usually don’t even make those lists,” he says. “Or they’ll put me behind somebody who I could play circles around. I don’t mean to denigrate the people in front of me… but come on, you know?”
“I’m writing the song, lyrics, melodies, arrangements and playing most of the complicated guitar. And I’m capable of doing a solo on top of that. I think that’s hard for people to process… They don’t want to believe one person can do all those things.”
In the past, he’s found that some people don’t react well upon discovering how much he plays on a Pumpkins record. If Corgan admits to playing a majority of the instrumentals on a track, suddenly he’s “the evil guy who wasn’t letting my band play on the records”.
“I’ve played on stage with George Lynch and Uli Jon Roth, two of the greatest guitar players in history,” he says. “I sat for hours across from Eddie Van Halen at 5150 with my jaw open, watching Eddie play, okay? My father was a great guitar player. I’ve got no problem acknowledging some of the greatest guitar players ever.”
“I would never even put myself in their company,” he is quick to clarify. “[But] there’s a lot of people who pretend to play guitar. I certainly have no problem believing I’m better than a lot of them.”
He also takes the time to explain why great gear isn’t always necessary to be a great player. Pointing to Eddie Van Halen and Uli Jon Roth as prime examples, he asserts that the real trick is mastering your picking skills. “The gear is important,” he admits. “But a lot of guitar players place too much stress on the gear and not enough on the pick attack.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net