I Am One

:"I Am One" is also the name of a song by W.A.S.P. on the album The Crimson Idol."Infobox Single
Name = I Am One

---

Artist = The Smashing Pumpkins
from Album = Gish
Released = May 1990 (Limited Potential)
1992 ("Gish" version)
Format = Vinyl record (7")
CD
Recorded = 1990 (Limited Potential)
1991 ("Gish" version)
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 4:16 (Limited Potential)
4:07 ("Gish" version)
Label = Limited Potential
Caroline Records, Hut Recordings
Writer = Billy Corgan and James Iha
Producer = Billy Corgan (Limited Potential)
Billy Corgan and Butch Vig ("Gish" version)
Certification =
Chart position = * #73 (UK Singles Chart)
Last single = N/A
This single = "I Am One"
(1990)
Next single = "Tristessa"
(1990)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = "Gish" Version
Type = single


Lower caption = CD single of "Gish" version Extra tracklisting
Album = Gish
Type = studio
prev_track = N/A
prev_no =
this_track = "I Am One"
track_no = 1
next_track = "Siva"
next_no = 2 "I Am One" is the first single by The Smashing Pumpkins. It was the band's first ever release and remains the only single issued by the band with co-writing credits to both Billy Corgan and James Iha.

Two recordings of the song were released. One was recorded in 1990 and was the Pumpkins' first release and first on Limited Potential. This recording was financed with the money from Corgan's college tuition fund left by his grandmother. [Fricke, David. " [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/smashingpumpkins/articles/story/5918770/smashing_pumpkins_look_back_in_wonder Smashing Pumpkins Look Back in Wonder] ". "Rolling Stone" Magazine. 2000-12-20.] "I Am One" was re-recorded for "Gish" and a new single was released on Caroline Records and Hut Recordings. Corgan later stated his regret with not re-working the song for "Gish", as the two versions are nearly identical.Fact|date=March 2008 A video for the song was also filmed, but never released (until 2001) due to the band being unhappy with the result. Footage from the video was instead used on the long form video, "Vieuphoria".

Due to this historical significance of the single, and its rarity with only 1500 copies pressed, the release is highly sought after by collectors. There are apparently three test pressings also in existence, two owned by Billy Corgan and one by Limited Potential owner, Mike Potential.fact|date=August 2008

"I Am One" features a doubled guitar solo - a technique later used on Pumpkins songs like "Ava Adore", "Tarantula", and "Bring the Light."

Performance

In live performance (starting around the release of "Siamese Dream") Corgan would often improvise a speech during the extended bass break; as a result the song could extend to 8-10 minutes in length. The speech section is known among fans as "the I Am One rant". These rants were criticized, sometimes even by the other band members, due to their abrasive nature. Jimmy Chamberlin considered these rants to be "art-breakdown". [cite news
last = Blashill
first = Pat
title = Out on a Limb
publisher = Details Magazine
date = October 1996] The rants were apparently based around the erosion of the belief structure in America's youth, and Corgan has stated they were the gestation for many ideas he later explored on "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". Some of the rants contained lyrics for future songs, most notably "Zero". The recording of "I Am One" on "Vieuphoria" / "Earphoria" features one such rant.When the band released their greatest hits compilation, "Rotten Apples", in 2001, "I Am One" was one of the few singles that did not make the cut (the others were "Tristessa", "Rocket", " Thirty-Three" "The End is the Beginning is the End, and on American copies of the album, "Try, Try, Try".

Formats and tracklisting

;Limited Potential Version:US 7" vinyl single (Limp 006) [ [http://www.discogs.com/release/1211606 Smashing Pumpkins, The - I Am One / Not Worth Asking ] ]
#"I Am One" -4:16
#"Not Worth Asking" -4:00

;"Gish" Version:CD single (HUTCD 18), UK 7" vinyl single (HUTT-18 A1 [] HUTT-18 B1) and UK 12" vinyl single (HUTT 18-A1 [] HUTT 18-B1)
# "I Am One" -4:07
# "Plume" -3:37
# "Starla" -11:01

UK 7" Promo vinyl single (black vinyl)
#"I Am One" -4:07

German Promo CD single (Radio 1 Hannover PRO-4152105) [ [http://spfreaks.com/Default.aspx?page=COLLDETAILS&item=917 : SPfreaks : ] ]
# "I Am One" -4:07
# "Plume" -3:37
# "Starla" -11:01
# "Rocket" -4:06
# "Fuck You (An Ode To No One)" -4:21
# "La Dolly Vita" -4:15

Dutch 10" vinyl single (HUTEN 18)< [ [http://spfreaks.com/Default.aspx?page=COLLDETAILS&item=1877 : SPfreaks : ] ]
# "I Am One" -4:07
# "Terrapin" (Syd Barrett) cover -2:55
# "Bullet Train To Osaka -4:16

ingle Personnel

*The Smashing Pumpkins
**Billy Corgan - vocals, guitar, producer
**James Iha (as "James" on Limited Potential) - guitar, photography ("Gish" version)
**D'arcy Wretzky - bass
**Jimmy Chamberlin - drums
*Butch Vig - producer, "Gish" version
*Lynne Fischer - design, photography (Limited Potential)
*Kerry Brown - producer, CD single b-sides

Covers

The band +44 did a notable cover of this song for the MySpace Records album entitled, "MySpace Tribute to The Smashing Pumpkins." The cover sounds very similar to the original, although Mark Hoppus's vocals are in a notably different style than Billy Corgan's.

References

External links

* Allmusic [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:73820r5a34kb review]