Shifty’s biggest guitar hero joins the podcast to run down his unique lead picking on the 1977 Love Gun hit.
Ace Frehley is the reason Chris Shiflett picked up a guitar in the first place, so it’s only natural that Shifty invites his original tone teacher onto the pod to recap one his iconic solos. Frehley, saddled with a classic black-and-cream triple-humbucker Les Paul, shares that “Shock Me” was the first KISS track on which he took lead vocal duty. The first time he sang it live, he remembers, was in front of 18,000 screaming fans at Madison Square Garden. As Frehley explains, that was quite a step up from how he recorded the vocals in the studio for Love Gun: lying flat on the floor on his back, racked with stage fright.
Frehley recalls that he ripped most of his solos through a dimed Marshall stack, and always on the bridge pickup. Turns out, he never went for pedals or boards because he’d trip over them onstage. “Wearing those boots?” he snorts. “Forget about it. It’s like a minefield!” His signature sauce, he says, is in the way he picks the strings: He holds his picks loose, but plucks in such a way that his thumb often hits the string at the same time, producing a sound just shy of a pinched squeal, but more spunky than a regular strike.
Frehley drops tons of golden bits of KISS history: the engineering behind his famous “smoke bomb” effect, the time he woke up in Paris with his eyes swollen shut from makeup, how he accidentally roadied for Hendrix, the shared genealogy between his technique and Eddie Van Halen’s, and which KISS member smelled the worst after shows.
Credits
Producer: Jason Shadrick
Executive Producers: Brady Sadler and Jake Brennan for Double Elvis
Engineering Support by Matt Tahaney and Matt Beaudion
Video Editors: Dan Destefano and Addison Sauvan
Special thanks to Chris Peterson, Greg Nacron, and the entire Volume.com crew.
Origins Vol. 2 features covers of classic tunes by Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, Cream, The Rolling Stones, and more.
Los Angeles, CA (July 28, 2020) -- Founding KISS guitarist and Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame member Ace Frehley announces the release of Origins Vol. 2, his highly-anticipated second collection of eleven rock 'n' roll covers, due out on September 18, 2020. Today, he also releases the first single, a flawless cover of Deep Purple's 1972 hit, "Space Truckin'" available now on all streaming platforms, and as an official music video.
Recorded at The Creation Lab in Turlock, CA, Frehley recorded guitar, bass, and vocals on "Space Truckin'" with long-time studio drummer Matt Star and keyboard player Rob Sabino (Peter Frampton, Simon & Garfunkel).
Ace offers,"'Space Truckin' was recorded years ago, and then I just re-recorded some parts and changed it a little. We never ended up putting it on a record, so it was just sitting around. It turned out very well. Rob Sabino is a very accomplished studio musician, and we actually grew up in the Bronx together, so we go way back."
The official video for “Space Truckin’” was directed by eOne's Ken Gullic (VP, Sales & Acquisitions, Music) and animated by Chris Fequiere, the same team behind the "Mission to Mars" music video from Frehley's Spaceman album in 2018.
Frehley has also re-signed with eOne for more new releases, which extends his original deal signed in 2013. During his tenure, he has released three albums worth of new material, Origins Vol. 2 is the fourth. A new studio album is planned for 2021 with two additional releases to follow.
eOne’s Scott Givens, SVP, Rock & Metal, Music says, "I am thrilled to extend our partnership with Ace Frehley. He is a core artist for eOne and I look forward to more continued success with him."
eOne’s Ken Gullic, VP, Sales & Acquisitions, Music, offers, “We were warned, before our first meeting with Ace in 2014, that he’d never deliver an album or get on the plane for that very meeting. He showed up with an early version of Steve Miller’s “The Joker” in hand and then cranked out eleven brand new songs at lightning speed for his first top 10 solo album ever, 'Space Invader,' just in time for his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction as a KISS member in 2014. With nine albums into his vibrant solo career, one that clearly stands on its own, it's time for Ace to be considered as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted solo performer too."
Frehley continues his reflections on a lifetime in music with this release of Origins Vol. 2. No stranger to cover versions throughout his musical history — having recorded, rebranded and repossessed such notable nuggets as "New York Groove," "Do Ya" and "I Wanna Go Back" throughout his eight previous studio efforts — this new collection presents a thoughtful and exciting selection of songs that inspired and helped shape the legendary guitarist. That spirit of fun is carried through with exquisite execution, and guitar aficionados will enjoy Frehley's fresh interpretations of these classic songs.
Origins Vol 2. features some extraordinary guests, including Robin Zander of Cheap Trick on Humble Pie's "30 Days In The Hole," and former KISS comrade Bruce Kulick on Jimi Hendrix's "Manic Depression." Origins Vol.1 alumnus John5 also returns, playing on Cream's "Politician," and The Beatles' "I'm Down." Finally, the exquisite Lita Ford returns on vocals, this time on The Rolling Stones' 1968 hit "Jumpin' Jack Flash." Full tracklisting below.
Track List:
- Good Times Bad Times (Led Zeppelin)
- Never In My Life (Mountain)
- Space Truckin' (Deep Purple)
- I'm Down (The Beatles)
- Jumpin' Jack Flash (The Rolling Stones)
- Politician (Cream)
- Lola (The Kinks)
- 30 Days In The Hole (Humble Pie)
- Manic Depression (The Jimi Hendrix Experience)
- Kicks (Paul Revere & the Raiders)
- We Gotta Get Out Of This Place (The Animals)
- She (KISS) [Bonus Track]
Watch the video for "Space Truckin'":
For more information:
Ace Frehley
