CHAPTER 3 - Gene Simmons pre-KISS

 

03.01. There’s A Place

03.02. Cathy’s Clown

Neither of these songs were original compositions by Gene’s first band Lynx (aka “The Missing Links”). These songs are notable for being the first songs performed by the band when they participated in a talent show at Joseph Pulitzer Middle School in Queens. “There’s A Place” was a Beatles recording while “Cathy’s Clown” was by the Everly Brothers. Lynx was composed of Danny Haber and Seth Dogramaijan on guitars and Gene on vocals, though both Danny and Seth would also sing. The two songs had specifically been chosen because they featured harmonies that enabled all three members to sing. The band won the talent show and saw their name changed from “Lynx” to the “Missing Links” by the presenter.

 

03.03. Hang On Sloopy

The first song Gene learned how to play on guitar. Somewhat amusingly, for later KISS reference, The McCoys included one Rick Derringer on guitar when this song hit #1 in the US in 1965.

 

03.04. Eskimo Sun

“Eskimo Sun” was originally recorded around 1969, since it was one of the tracks that Gene included on his rejected publishing tape. That version timed at 3:55 and was written solely by Gene. According to Gene, the song would be recycled during the “Elder” era as “Only You” (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). Like many of Gene’s other early compositions, this song would tend toward the mellower and would have a more McCartney/Beatles’ feel to it. This song was performed live by Rainbow/Wicked Lester (Sharp, Ken - BtM).

 

03.05. Little Lady

“Little Lady” was written by Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel prior to Wicked Lester and had been included on Gene’s 1969/70 publishing tape in a 3:25 format. While the song would become “Goin’ Blind” on KISS’ “Hotter Than Hell” album, it would be one of the songs performed live by Rainbow/Wicked Lester. The song would not get its new title until well into the recording sessions for the “Hotter Than Hell” album after much of the material on the album had been selected. Some lyrics, such as the “Little lady, from the land beneath the sea” line, would remain changed for decades before Gene returned to using them. Gene has admitted borrowing parts of Eric Clapton’s “Layla” played backwards for part of the chorus while the style of the song demonstrates Gene’s Cream influences.

 

03.06. Moon Maiden (Is A Harsh Mistress)

Featured on Gene’s rejected publishing tape, this song would be a solo composition running to 3:34. This song would contain a riff that Gene liked, and kept a note of for possible recycling. It’s not clear whether he ever did use the riff.

 

03.07. Stanley The Parrot

While this very early song shows Gene’s emerging talent, it is a very strange country-folk fusion diametrically opposite to the persona and later writing style of the Demon. In essence, the piece is psychedelic and disjointed, being composed of two separate and distinctive parts: a 1:56 Instrumental / Harmonizing non-lyrical vocal introductory piece which leaves one wondering whether they’re actually listening to the other Gene Simmons, the “Jumpin” one! The other 2:19 of the track is really a song, and this piece has long been known in KISS circles as the song on which “Strutter” was based, due to some of the chord patterns.

 

Unfortunately, any connection between the two songs is rather hard to hear in the music especially with the distraction of the extremely strange lyrics that sound more like a sex guilt song than anything! Gene has stated that it was the chords of the chorus he’d play for Paul all the time and with the addition of the riff basically became the verse of the song “Strutter.” Regardless, that’s one strange parrot! The song runs 4:15 of twangy Duane Eddy-style guitar. Interestingly, Gene’s own handwritten lyrics of the song differ from what is “heard” on the recording with “Stanley the parrot / That one off, old Stan demands / He gave it to her / Despite himself, she said he was grand” appearing as “Stanley the parrot / Met one of those can cans / He gave it to her / Despite himself, she said he was grand.” Rainbow/Wicked Lester performed this song live.

 

03.08. Chimney Sweeps

Written around 1969, this song would be another of Gene’s rather odd early creations, much in the same vein as other material written around the same time (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine).

 

03.09. Leeta

“Leeta” demonstrates Gene’s musical roots more than being a snapshot of where he was at musically in 1969, and this is one of the first songs Gene ever wrote. Heavy on the harmonies that had made his idols, The Beatles, famous, this song is also heavier on the piano that seems likely to have been played exquisitely, by Brooke Ostrander. Recorded during a session at Sander’s Recording Studios in New York, the song is essentially a short ballad.

 

Written solely by Gene, the recording would initially be pressed on Sanders 7” acetate marked as recording #2. It would later be re-pressed on the backside of Gene’s 10” Richcraft “Stanley The Parrot” acetate. Gene would distribute a 2:15 version of the song on his publishing tape. Lyrically, the song is basic, revolving around a main verse comprised of: “Leeta forever please remember me / Leeta forever please remember me / I used to love her / Do you remember / Leeta, will you know” with a piano solo following the second repetition of the verse.

 

03.10. About Her

Included on Gene’s publishing tape as a 5:30 recording, this song was collaboration between Gene and childhood friend Stephen Coronel. Like “Stanley The Parrot,” which dates from the same time, the song is a country-rock hybrid (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). It is likely that Brooke Ostrander appeared on the recording of this song or that it was at least recorded using his 4-track recorder. Rainbow/Wicked Lester performed this song live.

 

03.11. The Amen Corner

With a title inspired (or “borrowed from”) by a band with the same name, “Amen Corner” (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine) would be one of the shortest songs on Gene’s publishing tape, timing in at only 1:55. This song would be part of the originals section of Bullfrog Bheer’s live set.

 

03.12. Black Moon June

This song would at times include lyrics “Much Too Soon,” making it something of a hybrid since it often appears that the titles were interchangeable (or at least Gene may have intended to rewrite the song as such), the song features surreal lyrics, like many of Gene’s early songs. This song would be Gene Simmons without any band and has a closer feel, stylistically, to Jethro Tull than The Beatles (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). Not as strange as “Stanley The Parrot,” perhaps, but still sticking close to topics close to Gene’s heart while going off on a wild lyrical tangent! The song, as “Much Too Soon,” would be considered for use when KISS were planning their second studio album, “Hotter Than Hell.” This song’s title has also been noted as “Wicked June.”

 

03.13. Against The Grain

Written on an acoustic guitar, this song was not written for any of the bands Gene played with around the time and was simply a piece he was working on with no specific target at the time: “It’s much too bad you’re in pain / His hands are at it again / It’s too bad he’s going / He’s going against the grain” (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). Bruce Kulick would later record a piece with the same title, but there the relationship ends.

 

03.14. Feel Lazy Today

From the Gene 1969/70 publishing tape. This demo runs 2:35 and was written solely by Gene. All of the songs on Gene’s 12-song publishing tape were recorded without drums “for reasons having to do with the clarity of the tape” (Sex Money KISS, p. 54). Gene put his collection together in an unsuccessful attempt to get a publishing deal. The letter that accompanies the reel shows a young and naive Gene: “The purpose of this thing is to show you what I have.”

 

03.15. Put On Your Slippers

From the Gene 1969/70 publishing tape, a demo that runs 2:40 and was written solely by Gene.

 

03.16. A Story

From the Gene 1969/70 publishing tape, a demo that runs 4:15 and was written solely by Gene. Rainbow/Wicked Lester performed this song live.

 

03.17. When I Awoke

From the Gene 1969/70 publishing tape, a demo that runs 4:15 and was written solely by Gene. Rainbow/Wicked Lester performed this song live.

 

03.18. A Reevus In The Eye

From the Gene 1969/70 publishing tape clocking in at 1:25, one can only wonder what Gene meant by “Reevus.”

 

03.19. My Uncle Is A Raft

This piece was probably written around the same time as “Stanley The Parrot,” in a somewhat autobiographical manner about Gene’s relationship with his uncle, Larry Klein. Gene and his mother would initially live with his uncle’s family following their emigration to America in 1958. While the lyrics may be lame in the “rock” sense, they do show a possibly sentimental Gene. It is not clear whether Gene ever demoed the piece, or whether it was simply a lyrical idea piece.

 

This would be one of the songs Gene played at the brief jam session at Steven Coronel’s house at his first meeting with Paul Stanley and has been described, by Gene as sounding similar to The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. This would be another of the early songs written by Gene: “My uncle is a raft / And he always keeps me floating / He is so good to me / He treats me tenderly / It doesn’t matter who you are.”

 

03.20. My Mother Is The Most Beautiful Woman In The World

Another of the songs Gene is alleged to have played at the brief jam session at Steven Coronel’s house during his first meeting with Paul Stanley. Gene’s love for his mother is well known, so it’s hardly surprising that he’d write something as mushy as this, though Gene and Paul would laugh about this sort of material on the “Exposed” video!

 

03.21. Turtle Soup

Another of the songs Gene played at the brief jam session at Steven Coronel’s house at his first meeting with Paul Stanley that alienated Paul. With the title one can only wonder what this song was! This song and 03.19 were listed in an old fanzine and seem a bit far-fetched.

 

03.22. I Am A New Man

From the lyrics it would seem that this song has much in common with KISS’ “Carnival Of Souls”: “I am a new man born in the ashes of ruin / Born in the meadows of lies / Born in the meadows of your lies // You’ve got nothing to live for / You’ve got nothing to live for today // Walkin’ the streets around the bend / You will see a great entrance / Makin’ your way down the stairs / With no regrets.” This song was performed live by Rainbow/Wicked Lester and would later be have lyrics recycled by Gene for “Weapons (Of Mass Destruction)” in 1997/8.

 

03.23. Simple Type

“Simple Type” is somewhat more notable for its later reworking by Gene and Howard Marks as “Charisma” on the “Dynasty” album (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine). However, it was written by Gene prior to Rainbow/Wicked Lester as “The Simple Type.” Like some other songs from the Wicked Lester recording sessions, it features Gene and Paul trading off lead vocals on the verses and choruses. The song would survive the Wicked Lester transition into KISS and be played live by KISS in the clubs for much of 1973, though the form it then took was vastly different to the Wicked Lester version of the song. This song was performed live by Rainbow/Wicked Lester.

 

03.24. Doot-Doot Song

03.25. She Knows

03.26. I Rearrange

Listed in Gene’s “Sex Money KISS” as the titles of some of the songs he’d written by 1971. Nothing else is currently known about these songs.

 

03.27. I’m Going Down (Gene Simmons, c1970)

With its title being similar to lyrics used in “She,” it is possible to assume that this song, listed in Gene’s “Sex Money KISS” as one of the songs he’d written by 1971, may have been an early version or alternate title of “She.”

 

03.28. A Friar’s Song

A country-rock hybrid, probably in a similar vein and dating from the same period as “Stanley The Parrot” and Gene’s Bullfrog Bheer band (Sharp, Ken – Goldmine).

 

03.29. Level Headed Lady (aka “Much Too Soon”)

A couple of different drafts of this song exist. One has a first verse that goes: “A level headed lady / Walking through the park at noon / And someone soon / Looks her over / Gives her a quarter or two / But it’s much too soon.” The other: “A level headed lady / Strolling through the park at noon / And someone soon / Invites her over / Thinking she’s older / But it’s much too soon / Much too soon.” What is clear is that the song bears some relation to “Black Moon June” (03.12) and is a good example of Gene’s writing, rewriting, and simply writing down interesting phrases and structures. In Gene’s lyric notebooks this song was also noted as “Much Too Soon.”

 

03.30. Too Young

Parts of this song would later be incorporated into KISS’ “Acrobat,” a song that was performed during 1973 into early 1974. However, rather than being the “jam” piece it became, it started out as a song in its own right. “Oooh, oooh / I’m followin’ you / And you don’t want me to / Because you’re much too young // And oooh / Whatcha do, whatcha do (whatcha doin’) / I want you to do me / But you’re much too young.”

 

03.31. She’s Tubeless

03.32. All It Takes

03.33. Slip Shot

Titles appearing in a Gene Simmons lyric book dating from around 1971. While written, or partially written, it is not known whether these songs were demoed.

 

03.34. Movin’ On

Song cowritten with Anna Dalva, a girl who was in one of Gene’s early bands with Stephen Coronel.

 

03.35. Horse-Drawn Carriage

03.36. Just Ask Me What

03.37. Nancy

03.38. We’ll Always Be Together

03.39. Banner Day

Additional Gene songs, written but not necessarily recorded, prior to Wicked Lester.

 

03.40. A Crown To Wear (A King May Always Ask For Wine)

03.41. I’d Like To Please You Everytime

Additional songs written by Gene around 1971.