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Gene Simmons

#42
StarscreamG1 said:
I have been a KISS fan almost all my life. It was Gene Simmons that inspired me to pick up a bass when I was 13. Yet ironically it was Ace Frehley that influenced me the most on bass (go figure)....the only thing of Gene's playing that rubbed off on me was using a pick. Back in the late 70s -early 80s a bass player with a pick was looked down upon..least in my area. I refused to budge on my use of a pick but developed a 'hybrid' picking/plucking style -- pick held in thumb and first finger, plucked when it would help the riff with second and third finger. Have no clue if there are any other bassists here that do that or whatever but anyway....

Gene's playing is just enough to get the job done. Hes not bad, but hes not driven to be better then what it takes to make the song. He'd only interested in doing just enough to make the song and thats it. It is a shame because perhaps if he had more passion with his playing, he might have become something really good. Though he did only pick up the bass just for the goal of making money and one can surmise with an axe that only had 4 strings it would /seem/ easy enough...

Does he or did he play in the studio laying down the tracks? Most of the stuff he did but not everything. God of Thunder for example as far as I can recall he may not have. Funnily enough I know the riff to that song like the back of my hand and when I picked up a bass again after a decade or so out of it that was the ONLY thing I could play as I took some basses for 'test drives' at the local shop.

I know some other KISS songs...they are nothing spectacular in my book. As I said, they do the job and that is it. His early stuff was better and had more energy IMO.

If it wasn't for Gene I probably never would have picked up a bass. I was 13 and he was my idol... I wanted to emulate him but from there I went my own way with the axe. I will always be grateful in a sense that I became a player of my most favorite instrument in the world. But I do not consider him a 'super' bass player. I have seen them in concert 4 times (yea only 4..hehe most KISS fans have seen them far more then that) and twice on was up at the stage on his side. He plays it like its a job and nothing more....though his solos live aren't that bad....*shrug*

As for him being an *******? I knew a man who knew him a few years ago. KISS is a business and nothing more to him. Pauls creativity has always been stifled and under Genes thumb from the legal business aspect of it. Gene had no patience for Aces partying BS.... Peter was too restricted in what Gene wanted to do with the band. Kulick was considered and employee for KISS and nothing more. Same with the last drummer before Peter came back. Vinnie was not tolerated because of his partying ways and Eric was the only none original member that was ever considered part of the band and not just paid help... Gene was the biggest reason why Ace and Peter left....and the way Gene worked their rejoining the band as paid players and nothing more.

Ok I took this way off topic..sorry...
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No worries, it was an interesting read :)!
 
#44
StarscreamG1 said:
...and Eric was the only none original member that was ever considered part of the band and not just paid help...
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Carr or Singer?

Qvist said:
No worries, it was an interesting read !
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Yeah it was.


CelinderMotoMan said:
...Gene doesn't get the respect due to the whole make up/comic book thing.
Check out the bass lines to
"Love her all I can"
"Room Service"
"Mr. Speed"
"Take Me"
"Sure Know Something"
He did some very tasty stuff.
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Agreed.
 
#47
After Peter then Ace left the band, everyone thereafter were hired guns. Actually, Ace and Peter were still "owners" and were paid until around 1987.

Gene and Paul owned "Kiss" there after. Eric Carr got a (small) cut of merchandise sales on the Hot In the Shade tour, but otherwise, everyone has been paid a salary.

As far as how much did Gene play...

On the first 3 records, each member played their own parts. After that, it kind of depends. Take the Animalize album for example. Recording was done at 2 studios. Paul would work at one, and across town Gene was working on other songs. Mark St. John (thier guitarist at the time) tells a story of Gene calling Paul saying "are you done with Mark yet - I need him. Paul says no. Mark says he was cabbed back and forth between the studios 14 hours a day and worked his ass off on that album. Bruce Kulick, who ended up being their next guitarist after Mark got sick, actually played on 2 tracks on Animalize. Much of the reason was because if people weren't available, someone else would do the part. Remember, those albums were coming out at a pretty good clip up until 1985, so its not out of the question others would play. On Destroyer, the producer brought in Dick (?) Wagner to play on Sweet Pain because Ace wasn't around. I don't remember exactly why, but either everyone went home for the day or whatnot, the producer just called up Dick to get the track done.

Dick also played on Aerosmith records. Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton et al have all used ghost players in the past.
 
#48
On the whole KISS is really about the show ... they are actors who put on a show ... the music is there to back up the show ... they are actors first and musicians second ... the theatrics often caused them to make mistakes playing ...

:bassist:
 
#50
Shannon-Tweed-1.jpg

:atoz:
 
#52
halvey said:
After Peter then Ace left the band, everyone thereafter were hired guns. Actually, Ace and Peter were still "owners" and were paid until around 1987.

Gene and Paul owned "Kiss" there after. Eric Carr got a (small) cut of merchandise sales on the Hot In the Shade tour, but otherwise, everyone has been paid a salary.

As far as how much did Gene play...

On the first 3 records, each member played their own parts. After that, it kind of depends. Take the Animalize album for example. Recording was done at 2 studios. Paul would work at one, and across town Gene was working on other songs. Mark St. John (thier guitarist at the time) tells a story of Gene calling Paul saying "are you done with Mark yet - I need him. Paul says no. Mark says he was cabbed back and forth between the studios 14 hours a day and worked his ass off on that album. Bruce Kulick, who ended up being their next guitarist after Mark got sick, actually played on 2 tracks on Animalize. Much of the reason was because if people weren't available, someone else would do the part. Remember, those albums were coming out at a pretty good clip up until 1985, so its not out of the question others would play. On Destroyer, the producer brought in Dick (?) Wagner to play on Sweet Pain because Ace wasn't around. I don't remember exactly why, but either everyone went home for the day or whatnot, the producer just called up Dick to get the track done.

Dick also played on Aerosmith records. Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton et al have all used ghost players in the past.[/QUO

But hom much bass did Gene do? I mean it's not a big deal if the guy just wants to concertrate on vocals, or do he just like doin the bass to? Either way. I think that facts like that are cool to know. Thanks for the info!
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#53
Just for the record, I've seen Gene in clubs a few times - twice from less than 5 feet away, and he can indeed play the melodic lines that are on record. He's a tasteful player with good touch and a great sense of melody when he wants to be. Watch Unplugged - you can get a sense from that.

I've definitely "outgrown" most of Kiss' music but Gene was an inspiration for me - I can definitely hear his influence in my own playing. He's no virtuoso but he is NOT a quarter/eighth player at all.

I feel the same way about McCartney - no one will ever mistake him with Jaco, but he's one of my favorite players of all time for the notes he played and how his lines fit the song.
 
#55
Ric5 said:
On the whole KISS is really about the show ... they are actors who put on a show ... the music is there to back up the show ... they are actors first and musicians second ... the theatrics often caused them to make mistakes playing ...

:bassist:
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This whole statement is ridiculous. Back in those days, you don't get record deals because of a show, you got it because of the music. They didn't even have an elaborate stage show in the early days, the show grew as the budget grew. KISS came out of the gate as entertainers and set the bar higher than most of the acts that they were opening for, but people tend to forget that because of their image became and where they are now.
Today KISS is a corperation but back in the early days they were a band who wrote and played some very good songs.
 
#57
I've always loved Gene. His presence on stage is huge and his songwriting is really underrated. And yes, especially in Kiss's early work, before he got complacecent about his musicianship he wrote some great melodic bass lines.

Some live examples: Goin' Blind

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#59
Gene Simmons is possibly the worst - most famous - bassist on the planet. I always called him the anti groove. As child/teenager of the 70/s and a rocker, I must say I was never impressed by Kiss in the slightest. Although Paul Stanley has a distinctely good vocal tone, the rest is pretty bad. When I hear their old stuff on the radio today I cant help but feel they were a garage band.
 
#60
In my youth, I began playing bass to the likes of the James Gang, Humble Pie, 10 years After, Led Zep, Hendrix, the Who, Sly, Cream, Traffic, The Band, Santana, the Doors etc... I was never impressed with any member or any song of KISS.... although I think this may be a function of my age, of which I've given you many hints already.. ;)
 

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