No Regrets: A Rock'n'Roll Memoir by Ace Frehley

Author:Ace Frehley [Frehley, Ace]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Biography, Music, Non-Fiction, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9781451613940
Publisher: Gallery Books/MTV Books/Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Published: 2011-11-01T00:00:00+00:00

Interesting, really, since Destroyer’s signature song belonged to Peter Criss.

“Beth” was such an odd song for KISS at the time, and the circumstances behind its writing and recording, and subsequent ascent up the singles charts, only add to its legend. All were completely improbable. Like me, Peter was always a bit hesitant about presenting material to the band, primarily because he figured he’d be shot down anyway. In the case of “Beth” his reluctance was understandable. First of all, it was a ballad, and KISS did not do ballads. Second, it was a bittersweet love song, filled with tenderness and regret. KISS didn’t do tenderness, either. KISS did sex. KISS did volume. On the surface, at least, everything about the song seemed… wrong.

But Peter had guts. He’d originally coauthored the tune with another bandmate a few years earlier, prior to KISS. The song had originally been titled “Beck,” which was short for Rebecca (the wife of a different bandmate). The first time Peter played the song for the guys in KISS, the reaction was mixed. Paul didn’t like it. I was ambivalent, but Peter and I were such close friends that I usually felt compelled to support his suggestions. Gene actually thought it was interesting—enough of a departure that it might help serve Destroyer’s mission, which was to move the band in a slightly different direction. Bob Ezrin agreed, but only if he could put his stamp on the song (just as he would put his mark on the whole album). Bob was not the kind of producer who believed in letting musicians sit around the studio and create. He was an active participant in all phases of production. In the case of Peter’s ballad, that meant rewriting and reworking.

Whatever you might think of Bob, he deserves significant credit for “Beth.” It was his idea to change the title (to something that sounded less androgynous); it was his idea to sweeten the sound of the song with orchestration—strings and piano. Bob was a classically trained musician, and he was blessed with a unique ear. Both of these things impressed the hell out of everyone in the band, since we didn’t even know how to read music; we were all self-taught and therefore in the same wobbly boat. To a degree, Bob intimidated all of us in the studio; we felt inferior to him. When you’re around a guy like that, especially if he has a bit of a swagger, you tend to think he knows his shit. And while we would have second thoughts down the road, it’s hard to criticize much of what Bob did on Destroyer. “Beth” was a good song that he transformed into something extraordinary.

The story behind the record’s success is part of KISS lore, how it originally was tossed onto the backside of the first single, “Detroit Rock City.” As sometimes happens, though, a few radio stations began playing the flip side of the record, and people started calling in, saying how much they liked it, and how they couldn’t believe “Beth” was a KISS song.

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