This Noteās For You

After a dry spell that saw few new names added, the Beale Street Walk of Fame has undergone some tremendous growth lately. Lining both sides of the historic street, the Walk of Fame is a series of markers ÷ brass, music-note-shaped plaques embedded in the sidewalk ÷ that are meant to commemorate the contributions of selected people to Beale Street and the music industry.

After an initial spate of inductions, additions to the Walk of Fame had tapered off, but earlier this year a reinvigorated selection committee began expanding the project aggressively. In just the past two months, blues and gospel musician Rev. Gatemouth Moore, Stax songwriter David Porter, Stax founders Jim Stewart and Estelle Axton, and the Bar-Kays have all had their names added. And last Tuesday, Rev. James E. Smith was scheduled to have his name added to the honor roll, becoming one of the few non-musicians to be so recognized. A pastor at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Smith was chairman of the Beale Street Development Foundation for much of the ā80s and was one of those most instrumental in the districtās redevelopment as the cityās top tourism draw.

According to Sherry Adams at Performa, the company that manages Beale Street, the Walk of Fame inductions will take the winter off, but come spring, when the weather will hopefully be more agreeable, even more artists are expected to be added.

Each of the brass markers along the Walk of Fame is paid for with private funds. Anyone wishing to help fund a note on the Beale Street Walk of Fame is asked to call Adams at 526-0110.

Moā Music

Just in time for Thanksgiving, there are several new local releases in the stores. Memphis-based, God-fearing grungers Skillet recently released their debut effort on Ardent/Forefront. Donāt get hung up on the contemporary Christian label. These guys are not Amy Grant.

Inside Sounds has just unleashed several new releases on labels under its umbrella. Matter of Time, the second album from local songsmith Wally Ford and the Lizzard Kings, was released on the Psychorock label at the beginning of the month, and three new discs of archival material are now out on Memphis Archives. The first, Marvelous, is a collection of songs recorded by Ted Weems & His Orchestra, a popular dance band of the late Twenties. College Rhythm mines the music of the same period by compiling dance-band music from various artists. The complete recordings of Lieutenant Jim Europeās 369th U.S. Infantry "Hell Fighters" Band is just what it sounds like. A man whose life is just screaming to be made into a movie, Europe organized and led the all-black "Hell Fighters" Band through World War I until he was murdered in 1919. To learn more, check out the exhaustive 44-page booklet that comes with the disc.

And finally, local country rockers Mark and the Pawtuckets have released their debut titled Cloud Nine Ranch. This group ÷ one of many that suffer for Memphisā lack of a small, middle-of-the-road rock venue with an open-booking policy ÷ combines twang and alternative in a style that is reminiscent (not derivative) of Uncle Tupelo and Son Volt.

Throughout their seven-year career, Chicagoās Smashing Pumpkins have gained a reputation as perhaps rockās most dysfunctional band, a group whose compatibility, on more than a few occasions, has been so tenuous that at any moment it appeared the group would split amidst a flurry of recriminations and accusations.

So one really had to wonder about the future of the Smashing Pumpkins when just three months ago the bandās members faced perhaps their biggest crisis.

On July 12th, the Pumpkins were set to play a two-night stand at New Yorkās Madison Square Garden when, at 5 a.m., bandleader Billy Corgan received a phone call.

The keyboardist hired for the tour, Johnny Melvoin, had been found dead from an overdose of heroin and alcohol. Drummer Jimmy Cham-berlin, who allegedly had been using drugs with Melvoin, had been charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Immediately, the groupās tour was put on hold. Five days later, Chamberlin was fired. Fans were left to wonder once again about the future of Corgan and his bandmates ÷ bassist DāArcy and guitarist James Iha.

But instead of striking a crippling blow to the Pumpkins, the events of July 12th seem to have added a level of cohesion to the band, which is now touring with drummer Matt Walker of Filter and keyboardist Dennis Fleming.

"After everything that happened with Jimmy and all that stuff, things are just even better now," DāArcy says. "Theyāve just been getting better and better, and I think weāre all learning to understand each other, especially after what happened with Jimmy. . . . I mean, we never really used to hang out together that much. Now weāve been spending a lot of time together and the shows have been really enjoyable. Iāve actually been enjoying being on tour.

"It was sort of a different chemistry in the band before, with Jimmy in the band. It was kind of like Billy and Jimmy and myself and James. But now itās just brought me and James and Billy really much closer together."

Formed in 1989, the Smashing Pumpkins made an immediate impact in the alternative music world with their 1991 debut, Gish, which sold 300,000 copies. Their second CD, Siamese Dream, became their breakthrough album, selling more than two million copies. Now, their two-disc set Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness has turned the group into high-profile superstars. At this yearās MTV Video Music Awards, the group grabbed more trophies than any other group, including the award for best video for the clip "Tonight, Tonight."

All this success has apparently only spurred the Pumpkins to work at a more frenzied pace. The band has spent a good portion of the past year on the road. Between shows Corgan somehow found time to write music for the new Mel Gibson film Ransom, and this winter will see the release of the groupās new, mammoth five-disc set, The Aeroplane Flies High.

But despite their meteoric rise, the Smashing Pumpkinsā seven-year history has been replete with controversy, with personal tensions and difficulties often being as big a story as the bandās music. The group survived a broken romance as Iha and DāArcy split on the Gish tour. Chamberlin frequently battled a drug problem, something he claimed to have overcome by the time of the Siamese Dream tour. Corgan suffered a nervous breakdown prior to the Siamese Dream recording sessions and also went through major difficulties with his girlfriend at the time, though the two have since married.

Then thereās the subject of the working roles in the band. Corgan has widely been viewed as tyrannical in his control of the groupās creative processes. Many articles indicated that during the Siamese Dream sessions, he played virtually all the bass and guitar, leaving Iha and DāArcy largely uninvolved. DāArcy, however, says that while the situation was exaggerated, the tensions between band members during the Siamese Dream sessions were very real.

"During that time, it was like being in a prison camp or something. It was absolutely horrible. We had no friends and no family [in Atlanta where Siamese Dream was recorded] and no kind of support system at all. We were just completely cut off and in the studio for like 14 hours a day every day. It was just not a smart thing to do. It was a really unhealthy thing to do. Just all these things welled up, these things that had been festering just kind of came to a head then."

Following the Siamese Dream sessions, relations in the band began improving to the point that the band had generated enough material to justify making Mellon Collie. . . into a double CD. The finished product is clearly the bandās finest hour yet. Its sprawling set is one of the more diverse records in recent memory, with gentle ballads like "Thirty-Three" and "Take Me Down," sweeping rockers like "Thru The Eyes Of Ruby" and "Tonight, Tonight," and brittle, stormy rockers like "Jellybelly" and "Zero."

Plenty of observers have speculated that the much-publicized tension within the band, in fact, has been a key contributor to the Pumpkinsā creativity. DāArcy, however, doesnāt buy into that theory, especially given the newfound spirit of harmony in the band.

"I think thereās so much more that we could have accomplished if we had all been functional all the time and able to communicate with each other better," she says. "I donāt think any of us believes that, the suffering artist thing."