Gene Simmons claims Ace Frehley’s solo in this Kiss song is copied “note-for-note” from a classic Doors track
Rock music is no stranger to borrowed riffs and recycled solos, and even Kiss are no exception.
Bassist Gene Simmons recently shed light on one particular instance, revealing how ex-bandmate Ace Frehley’s guitar solo in the band’s 1975 track She was essentially lifted “note-for-note” from The Doors’ Five to One, which was released in 1968.
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During a recent interview on The Magnificent Others with Billy Corgan podcast, Simmons recalls a conversation with Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready, who told him that Frehley’s playing had been a major influence when he started his band. Specifically, McCready said that one of the first solos he learned was from Kiss’s She, which he later used as inspiration for Pearl Jam’s Alive.
“I said, ‘Mike, I don’t know how to tell you this, but that’s a note-for-note guitar solo from the Doors [Five to One],” Simmons says [via Ultimate Guitar]. “Ace liked it so much, he just reproduced it. He goes, ‘No!’”
That said, Simmons was quick to point out that borrowing from other artists is nothing new.
“My point is, it’s always very appreciative when somebody says, ‘Loved your stuff.’ Everybody’s got bits and pieces of stuff,” he says. “Listen to Zeppelin songs, you’ll hear lots of blues, very recognisable, blues songs.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Simmons also reveals the memorable first impression Ace Frehley made on himself during the guitarist’s audition for Kiss back in the day.
According to Simmons, the band was deep in the middle of a discussion when Frehley walked in, plugged in his guitar, and started playing without a care in the world – a move that did not sit too well with the bassist at the time.
“We auditioned players… And Ace [comes in and] plugs in and starts playing while we’re talking to another guy, and I walked up to him and said, ‘Buddy, you better sit down before I knock you out. What are you doing? We’re talking.’”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
