Smashing Pumpkins vocalist, guitarist and leader suggests producer and Kurt Cobain emulated a specific recording technique he used
Billy Corgan and Kurt Cobain fought one of the great creative rivalries of the 1990s. Smashing Pumpkins and Nirvanarespectively, they helped define the sound of an era and became a reference as alternative rock composers.
The leader of Smashing Pumpkins even admits that there was a kind of mutual feedback between them. However, Corgan suggests that Kurt and the producer Butch Vigwho worked with both bands, ended up going a little too far.
In an interview with Rick Beato (via American Songwriter), Corgan said he was shocked to hear “Smells Like Teen Spirit” for the first time. According to the musician, Vig showed him Nirvana’s hit even before the release of Nevermind (1991) and the song contained a guitar tone obtained from a typical recording technique of the Smashing Pumpkinswhich in the same year launched Gishhis debut album.
Corgan recalls the episode with Vig, which, according to him, occurred in Wisconsin, in July 1991:
“He squeezes, and it’s ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’. And, you know… the sun is setting on a beautiful summer day in Wisconsin. I had two reactions. At first I thought, ‘Ah, he copied ‘More Than a Feeling’ of Boston. Interesting’. Then when the song started, I looked at Butch and said, ‘You copied my guitar sounds, motherfucker.’”
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” was the single that catapulted the Nirvana to the star, and Billy Corgan states that he couldn’t avoid comparing the grunge anthem and the sound of his band:
“So now, the Nirvana it was on the radio every 18 seconds, and of course every time I hear that guitar, I think, ‘Oh, that’s the sound of my guitar’.”
The merits of Nirvana, according to Billy Corgan
Despite this case of similarity and supposed imitation, Corgan does not hesitate to recognize Kurt Cobain’s merits with the Nirvana. The leader of Smashing Pumpkins declared to Apple Music (via Consequence) that the “rival” was the big name of his generation. And his death, in 1994, left a gap:
“I’m not ashamed of it. I will always say that Kurt was the most talented guy of our generation. His ability was frightening, on the level of John Lennon or Prince. But he’s no longer here, unfortunately. So I looked around and thought, ‘okay, I can beat the rest’.”
Corgan added:
“When Kurt died, I cried about losing my biggest rival. I wanted to beat the best. I don’t want to win the championship because it’s just me and a bunch of Gabronis, to use a wrestling term. It’s like Michael Jordanarguably the greatest sports competitor I have ever seen in my life. That guy even wanted to earn the valet’s tip.”
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billy corgan
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Source: Rollingstone

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