
Love GunThis song was written by Paul while the band were aboard Pan Am flight #801 traveling to Japan for their March 1977 tour. The subject matter is very obvious, though there are some interesting similarities between Paul's song and the Al Jackson Jr., Booker T. Jones, Donald "Duck" Dunn, Steve Cropper, and Carl Wells composition "The Hunter." That song has a repetitive verse structure which contains the lyric: "I got my love gun loaded / Loaded with a-huggin' and kissin' / And when I pull the trigger / There ain't gonna be no missin' / Ain't no use to hide / No there ain't no use to run / Cause I got you in the sights of my... / My love gun, my love gun, my love gun." It is probably correct to look at this song in a manner similar to how Led Zeppelin re-interpreted other act's material.
While the music is different, Paul must have been aware of the song, it having been recorded by the likes of Albert King (whom Paul was a fan of, and whose V guitar Paul loved), Blue Cheer, Ike & Tina Turner, and, most notably in the context of Paul's influences, Free and Led Zeppelin. When it came time for the band to record the song, no changes were made and the demo and recorded version sound nearly identical. Paul was very clear of his vision for the song and apparently played bass on the recording. There is a certain amount of controversy about this song with Sean Delaney claiming that he actually co-wrote it: "Actually, I co-wrote 'Love Gun' (in front of witnesses). After I came up with the chorus line in the second verse, Paul says 'I'm not going to give you credit on this one!' And I said, 'Fine Paul, whatever.' Richie Fontana, who was the drummer for Billy Squier, who lives in New York, was there" (Steve Stierwalt, Jr., Sean Delaney Interview). That would also negate Paul's suggestion that the song was written on the "KISS Clipper." And then there's Ace's Blues Magoos inspired guitar solo...
© KissFAQ, From "Rock And Roll All Nite: The Music of Kiss" (Used with permission).
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