Recordings that prove James killed it on guitar
 

Been seeing some slanderous comments about our boy James and felt the need to remind people he’s a talented guitarist.

Today live 93 on SNL: https://youtu.be/ViK8Tlpr03g

Thru the eyes of Ruby live 96@Brixton Academy: https://youtu.be/NdjIdc9-13U

Thru the Eyes of Ruby live 97@Les Eurockeennes: https://youtu.be/hBBKxOIlUjw


Please post more. Sorry I don’t know how to embed.

man i wish i could find them but there were some glass and the ghost childrens live that had some amazing jamez leads.

great thread

any live Zero solo

cued

Thanks for sharing and good addition. D’Arcy’s bass sounds great there too! Really thumping.

It is weird that a band that is so much about the guitars has this thing where one of the guitarists' presence and contribution is constantly called into question. Like don't get me wrong. I completely understand and appreciate Jimmy's contribution and that he makes a lot of things possible. At the same time though, if I go to an SP concert I want to hear two loud, shredding, dueling guitars over everything else.

Anyone who dismisses James’ importance or talent is nuts. Just because he can’t play as well as Billy doesn’t mean he’s not a really good guitarist who plays with a lot of emotion.

I know. It's ridiculous that we even have to have this conversation. I mean the guy only played guitar in one of the most rocking guitar bands ever, and obviously contributed to the sound of the band.

A lot of people just listen to what Billy says about his bandmates and accept it as if he doesn’t have agendas.

a lot of people = clicks clucket & the sad machines?

Been an SP fan since fall '92, toured the united states based on my guitar playing, James is an average guitarist. Sorry folks. He does think outside the box and was way ahead of his time using the Digitech Whammy. Does anyone remember around the end of the Zeitgeist era where Jeff and Billy would have dueling solo's? I really wish they would have kept up with that style. Jeff is an average guitarist as well, but that shit was awesome at the time.

Eat sack or tell us the name of your band

Or do both, if u like sack

I actually don't remember Billy saying James and Darcy weren't good musicians, he only said they didn't contribute much to the band in the studio. I remember him saying the problem with Darcy was that she wouldn't practice the bass and that would slowdown the process every time the band got back together after a break. He also said James was a great guitarist when he cared, but that he seemed more and more distant to the band.

Do you know who always said they were terrible musicians? Jimmy! And butch Vig, and his assistant.

Jesus Billy fanboys are the worst.

Butch Vig said they were good. He did an AMA on Gearslutz years ago and IF I REMEMBER CORRECTLY he dispelled a few myths alright:

I'm sure he said James and D'arcy were both great and that you'd have to be great to be in a band like SP. He said they were rehearsing all the time and had a crazy schedule.. Billy has somewhat confirmed this when bitching about Zwan.
Billy was smoking 30 a day.
Billy wrote the songs, then the band fleshed them out together / wrote their own parts.
Butch Vig almost had to record the drums as Jimmy was always high or missing. The drums on the record got Lars Ulrich levels of help.
Billy recorded most of it because he was a control freak with a very solid vision of how he wanted it to sound. It was easier to just let him get on with it.
Billy was working on the Machina Mystery as far back as Gish.

:erm:

might wanna double-check these, chief

You got me.. only one out of those three things is true.

I remember he said D'arcy definitely played bass on "Luna" (which Corgan confirmed later) and James recorded his part on Mayonaise with the alternate tuning. IT basically came down to Billy having such a specific vision for what the album should sound like, that it was just easier for him to record the parts, but that he definitely considered the album a band effort.

Wait so D did play on SD?
I thought she was completely absent.

She only played on "Luna." Vig mentioned it in that interview. In a later interview with Matt Pinfield (I want to say in 2011 around the time of the Siamese Dream re-release) he mentioned D'arcy quit the band before they finished recording Siamese Dream. As a condition of her re-joining, she demanded that she got to play bass on any other songs being recorded from that point.Luna ended up being the only one that made the album.

I’m assuming she quit because Billy recorded over her?

Also is Mayonnaise the only Song on SD James plays guitar on?

She quit over the recording the bass parts and the general vibe of the band at the time. She mentioned in the Buttcannon interview that recording Siamese Dream was the worst experience in her life.

If I remember, Butch's answer regarding James was fairly non-committal. I think he said James definitely has guitar parts on the songs he co-wrote, and guessed that of the many overdubs done on the guitars, some of James' work made in, but he still estimated Billy played between 95-97% of the guitar parts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdDeHERT6sA

This is the link to the interview. Billy talking about recording Siamese Dream starts around 18 minutes.