Greg Prato
Although Ace Frehley has certainly penned (or co-penned) quite a few rock classics – “Cold Gin,” “Parasite,” “Shock Me,” etc. – he has always had a knack for selecting cover songs by others, resulting in some of his best-known tunes. In case you forgot, I’m talkin’ ’bout his biggest hit, “New York Groove” (penned by Russ Ballard), “2000 Man” (by Jagger-Richards),” and “Into The Night” (another penned by Ballard).
So it made sense when Ace went “the all-covers route” with 2016’s Origins Vol. 1, which saw Kiss’ original “spaceman” take on tunes by the likes of the Stones, Hendrix, and Cream, among others. The album was such a success that four years later, Ace released a follow-up, Origins Vol. 2.
Here, Ace goes track-by-track through Origins Vol. 2, explaining what it was about the originals that got his attention. And also, we couldn’t resist asking him to name his top Kiss guitar solos and explain how he comes up with them. That breakdown is after the track-by-track.
“Good Times Bad Times” by Led Zeppelin
That was the first Led Zeppelin song I ever heard on record because it was the first song on Led Zeppelin I. I was lucky enough to see Led Zeppelin’s first New York appearance at the Fillmore East when I was a teenager – they were opening for Iron Butterfly. They just blew me away. I knew from the minute I saw them that they were going to be huge. And of course, we all know the history behind Led Zeppelin.
“Never In My Life” by Mountain
I was always a big Mountain fan. Later on in life, I became friends with Leslie West because we met on the road and he invited me to his house for dinner. He was always a guitar player that impressed me, because he never played really super-fast solos. He always did melodic, bluesy guitar solos, but he knew where to place the notes. He was a master at that.