Tribute To Johnny
"Our tribute to Johnny Winter, circa 1974; a true original, and one of my favorite guitarists. "
-1997 Guitar World
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GS: I think that someone like Johnny Winter has been a victim of that, solely because he does look different.
CORGAN: It's funny that you mentioned Johnny Winter, because we have a Johnny Winter tribute song that we're going to record for the next album. It sounds like Rick Derringer-era Johnny Winter, like the "Rock 'n' Roll, Hoochie Koo" days. I'm really into his Robert Johnson stuff, that whole trip, like the song "Dallas" from his first album. And there's a really beautiful song called "Cheap Tequila" [Still Alive And Well]. I love that song! The tribute song is mostly an instrumental, and then every once in a while I go [screams in a Johnny Winter voice], "Oh yeah!!!" You have to hear it; I wonder how many people will get the reference.
GS: Why don't you record something with Johnny, or have him play with you live?
CORGAN: Oh, god. I'd be so intimidated by a pure guitar player like him. I'm pretty aware of my deficiencies as a guitarist, and I'd end up babbling on about how I wish I practiced more or something.
GS: As a fan of both Smashing Pumpkins and Johnny Winter, it's totally cool to imagine Johnny walking out and playing live with you guys, and I can see it as kind of making sense, too.
CORGAN: Yeah, right, like, "Hey Johnny, learn 'Cherub Rock', would ya?" [laughs] All I know is, when I watched the Bob Dylan tribute, the only part that smoked me was when Johnny came out and did "Highway 61." He was unbelievable. Even James Iha, who could give two shits about Johnny Winter, had his mouth hanging open. We'll record that tribute and put it out somehow, someway, and we'll just call it "Tribute To Johnny" so you'll know. I have that underdog thing. I look at someone like him, who is so amazing, and has had an interesting, strange career, and I'm more apt to root for him. Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix don't need any more rooting for them. If anything, they've had too much hype.
1995 - Guitar School
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GS:The box set includes a tribute to Johnny Winter. What is it that you like about him?
CORGAN: He fuckin' rocks. that's what. Few guitarists have maintained as pure an approach to the blues throughout the post-Hendrix era. Stevie Ray Vaughan and even real blues blues guitarists have been influenced by Hendrix, just in their phrasing and stuff. Few guys kept so straight an arrow course and play so true to their own style as Johnny Winter. He's an amazingly kinetic guitar player for someone with so pure a tone and style. The only thing that probably ever pushed him in one way or another, stylistically, was when he was playing with Rick Derringer. It had this weird dynamic where Derringer was kind of glam. And on that song "Tribute to Johnny," we're trying to cop that Derringer-era Johnny Winter vibe. Circa '74--somewhere around there.
IHA: Although in a very sub-par kind of way. We would definitely be one of the worst roots, traditionalist sort of bands. Maybe the closest we ever came was when we used to try and play this Cheap Trick song that had kind of a Fifties rock riff in it. but we were so bad at it. We only know how to play those cyber-metal rhythms that have been created over the past couple of years.
1997-Guitar School