Billy Corgan recently invited Tom Morello to guest on his new The Magnificent Others interview series. During the conversation, he took the opportunity to voice a long-held theory that concerned him, the Rage Against the Machine titan, and one other electric guitar player who all formed a de facto ‘Yardbirds of metal’ trio.
As youngsters and aspiring musicians, Corgan and Morello both came from neighbouring areas, and as the Smashing Pumpkins frontman puts it in this new chat, they "grew up in the same atmosphere” and shared similar music experiences.
Corgan also namedrops Tool’s Adam Jones – who famously started a band with Morello during that time – as a third player to have shared social and sonic circles. They all listened to similar music, started rock bands, and wrote riff-driven music.
However, despite having near-identical interests – and having shared such similar experiences – when their careers took off, all three players branched out into significantly different niches.
Morello went down the activist rock route with Rage Against the Machine, Jones went progressive with Tool, and Corgan developed the Smashing Pumpkins’ alt-rock sound. It’s a branching of styles that has baffled Corgan ever since.
“I have this theory no-one seems to pick up on, so I'm bringing it to you,” Corgan says to Morello. “I'm sure I told you about this before, but I do find it fascinating that Adam [Jones] from Tool... obviously you guys had a band together when you were young.
“And there I am, living probably 20 miles away from you guys. We all grew up in the same atmosphere. We all started rock bands that were predominantly riff-driven… and we took music in three completely different directions. I find that really fascinating.”
That the three heavy players would be so closely connected by one shared musical experience, only to then split off and explore their own avenues, is not a new phenomenon.
In fact, almost the exact same thing happened in England, with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, all of whom grew up in Surrey, UK, and would go on to join the same band. It’s a shared phenomenon that clearly hasn’t gone unnoticed by Corgan.
“Somebody will get mad at me, but it's the closest thing to Beck, Clapton and Page kind of growing up in the same hood,” Corgan goes on of the connection he had with Morello and Jones. “We have had our influence in what followed.
“If they want to get mad at me, they can, but that's not an insane theory. I find it really fascinating, because what was it in the water that we were all drinking?”
Indeed, similarities between the respective trio’s experiences can be drawn. Clapton, Beck and Page will forever be linked by the fact they all had stints in the Yardbirds, before they too embarked down notably differing guitar paths.
Page embraced hard rock with Led Zeppelin, Clapton pursued psychedelic rock and blues through Cream and his solo work, and Beck became revered for his blues rock and fusion style.
Again, the fact these three were all unified by Yardbird tenures that preceded stylistic deviations, is, at least in Corgan’s mind, the same thing he experienced with Adam Jones and Tom Morello.
“The one thing that all three have in common is metal, you know?” Morello says in response to Corgan’s theory. “Adam and I, we were in his truck driving up to the [Judas] Priest shows and the Iron Maiden shows.
“And then I think what's interesting is how that metal DNA appears in all three, but then there's how it branches off.”
While Clapton, Beck and Page only performed together during one magical tour, we have yet to hear what a Morello/Corgan/Jones collab sounds like.
Although, given the news that Ozzy Osbourne and Black Sabbath's final show will play host to a Tool, Rage Against the Machine and Smashing Pumpkins supergroup, it could be on the cards…
Visit Billy Corgan's YouTube channel to watch the full interview.
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