Today Show

MrScott65

Tim McPhate | KissFAQ

Guitarist fondly remembers great music and great vibes during the “Paul Stanley” album sessions, the positive musical chemistry between himself and Stanley, and offers insight on his guitar tracks and his opinion on the album 35 years later.

Below are excerpts from Kulick’s interview with KissFAQ’s Tim McPhate

KissFAQ: Bob, when the calendar turned to 1978, in terms of your work with KISS, you had come off playing some guitar tracks on the studio recordings on “Alive II.” When did you first learn about the KISS solo album project?

Bob Kulick: Well actually, I got a call from Paul and I got a call from Gene as well. Both asked me to play guitar on their solo albums. Paul was trying to do a more organic band-like approach, whereas Gene was trying to get a whole bunch of guests and piece it all together. You know, I would have liked to have played on both records. But the reality was if I played on Gene’s record, as Gene pointed out to me, then there’s two records with the same lead player on it, which I could understand his point. And also the fact that Paul was like, “Well, wait a minute. I’m using him so you can’t use him.” So I basically just said, “No problem. I totally understand.” But [Paul’s album] was a different project than the KISS “Alive II” thing in that Paul certainly gave me more latitude and longitude in terms of what I was able to play by virtue of me not trying to have to be somebody else.

KF: Right. And I know that Gene was interested in you playing on his album but ultimately it didn’t come to be since you were on Paul’s album. Was this initially decided from the get-go then?

BK: No, I wouldn’t say it was from the get-go because we started Paul’s record and then Gene went to England. And then it still went on from there. Gene actually sent me a letter, “I’m really sorry that it didn’t work out. I feel bad.” It was like, “No worries.” I ended up writing a couple of things with Gene that saw the light of day. So you know, it kind of turned into like, “I write with Gene but I play with Paul.” Although that changed when I got up and played with Gene at that beer fest they had here in downtown L.A. during Octoberfest [last year].

KF: Bob, when you first got together with Paul regarding his solo album, did he play you some of the music he was working on? I’m curious what your first reaction was to hearing the material.

BK: Well, by the time we got ready to do this, we basically went into the recording studio. And he would show us the song. “Here’s what I wrote. Here’s ‘Move On.’ “OK.” “Here’s how it goes.” And we’d play along, learn the song and come up with a vibe for the songs. The New York portion of the program was recorded at Electric Lady Studios, I believe with Dave Wittman as engineer. Paul conducted the sessions. You know, we really didn’t have a producer. He asked me to suggest a bass player, which I did. Steve Buslowe, who was also the guy I suggested for the Meat Loaf gig. He is an amazingly creative bass player!!! And Paul wanted to use Richie Fontana, who I knew from Billy Squier’s thing, Piper.

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