Paul “Ace” Frehley’s passing on Thursday, at the age of 74, leaves us with a lot of memories. He will forever be Kiss’s Spaceman, the lead guitarist with the slightly vacant look but the undeniably present chops, as he fired Roman candles from his headstock and rocked through the likes of his songs “Shock Me,” “Cold Gin” “New York Groove,” and other Kiss favorites.
After answering a Village Voice ad placed by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, Frehley went on to serve two tenures with the band — from its formation in 1973 to 1982, and then from 1996 to 2002. During that time, he appeared on 11 of the group’s studio albums and three of its live releases, and guested on four tracks from 1996’s Kiss Unplugged.
Frehley’s self-titled set in 1978 went Platinum and was the top seller of the four Kiss solo albums released concurrently. He went on to issue nine other albums — two with his band Frehley’s Comet and another pair of Origins projects on which he covered songs from the catalogs of his very favorite bands (he was working on a third at the time of his death).
Ace certainly let the music — and his electric guitar — do the talking, but he always had plenty to say away from the stage. Which makes his passing seem like a good time to share a dozen of the interesting things he’s shared over the years.
On meeting Jimi Hendrix in 1969
“I was lucky enough to sneak backstage and I ended up roadie-ing for Jimi. I set up Mitch Mitchell’s drums, which was a very surreal experience ’cause I used to walk around high school with the Are You Experienced album under my arm and just stare at it. I actually froze for a second and said, ‘This can’t really be happening!’ [laughs] But [Hendrix] just shook my hand and said, ‘Thanks for helping,’ which is a helluva memory to have.”
On seeing Led Zeppelin
“It was their first New York appearance, at the Fillmore East [on January 31 and February 1, 1969], when I was 16, 17 years old, and it changed my life. They were opening up for Iron Butterfly, and a friend of mine — actually it was the lead singer of my band at the time, Larry Kelly — he told me about this new band: ‘They’re going to be great!’ I got a hold of the record, and it blew me away. When I went to see them live it was just like, ‘Whoa…!’ I said to myself, ‘This is gonna be the next big band.’ And the rest was history.”
On getting sober
“It took me a long time. I’m stubborn. [laughs] I’m a Taurus. By the time I left Kiss for good [in 2002] all my addictions and abuses caught up with me. I had to get clean and sober and get my life back together. I basically worked through the 12-step program and therapy, changing my friends, hanging out with people who are clean and sober, changing my life, getting in touch with my higher power, turning my life around.
“It’s easy to say ‘I don’t want to drink anymore’ or do this or that. But you can’t do it halfway. You have to follow through. There’s some people who can do that the first time in rehab, then there’s other people who go in and out and end up in rehab a dozen times before they get it, and one day they just get it.”
On the hardest song to play since then
“I feel a little funny playing ‘Cold Gin’ ’cause I don’t drink anymore and I don’t promote it. But it’s such a kick-ass song… I think that me talking about the fact I’m clean and sober and I’m not a party animal anymore is plenty. I can still get away with playing it.”
On Simmons and Stanley
“We had some great times together — more good than bad. We’re all still friends. I know a lot of people think we hate each other, but that’s not true. We’re just like a family; sometimes brothers and sisters have arguments and so on, but when the shit hits the fan, we’re there for each other.
“I wish them the best, I really do. There were just times when I had enough and I had to leave and do my own thing. I’m driven by the quality of the music, and Paul and Gene are driven by different things, that’s all.”
Was End of the Road really the end for Kiss?
“Kiss is supposedly retired — which I don’t believe is gonna happen. I wouldn’t be surprised if they reformed. No matter what they say, that’s what those guys do.”
On maintaining the Kiss legacy
“I’ve actually added two more Kiss songs to my set; I added ‘Shout It Out Loud’ and ‘Rock and Roll All Nite,’ and everybody was on their feet and having a good time. As far as I’m concerned it doesn’t matter who wrote the song; I played the guitar solos on those records, and that’s good enough for me.
“And I’ve decided I’m gonna keep going until the wheels fall off. There have been a lot of ups and downs since I got sober 18 years ago… but to me the music was always the most important thing, not the makeup and all that shit.”
On the makeup — and all that shit
“Y’know, I hated reading reviews that said, ‘Yeah, Kiss played last night at such-and-such arena and their show was incredible and somebody breathed fire and somebody’s guitar smoked and rockets and explosions and blah, blah, blah.’ And they didn’t really talk about the music. That used to piss me off all the time, ’cause to me it’s always the music first and the other shit second. It’s even more important to me now.”
On Simmons' and Stanley's plans for a Kiss avatar show
“I wish them all the best [they filmed motion capture for before the end of the farewell tour], but deep in my gut I have a feeling it may not be as successful as they think it’s gonna be. That’s not just me talking; a lot of people I’ve talked to feel that way. As far as I’m concerned there’s nothing like a live band onstage with real amps and singing into the microphones, but that’s just my opinion. Let them prove us wrong. I just want them to be happy and doing their thing.”
On Alive!, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in September
“Well, that was a great record. That was the record that really broke Kiss. Prior to that album we put out three records which did okay; they were kind of mediocre sales. But once the live one hit, it broke all records. It was on the charts for years and that was the album that put us in arenas.
“It didn’t surprise me at all because Kiss is really known for its live show, and Alive! is kind of a souvenir of a Kiss concert and captures the essence of what Kiss was, live. We doctored up a lot of the mistakes, ’cause everybody makes mistakes live, so some of the mistakes were fixed in the studio with the help of Eddie Kramer, the producer. But the essence of the album comes across. The excitement comes across. It was the right move at the right time.”
On 2024’s 10,000 Volts, his last solo album
“It’s pretty much the same thing I set out to do on every record. I didn’t do anything different on this record than I’ve done on my other records, except I’ve been singing a lot more because I’ve been touring with my band. So I guess the more you sing the better you sing.
“I’m glad, ’cause here I am at age 72 and I put out one of the best records I’ve ever recorded and the singing is some of the best vocals I’ve ever done. This album surpasses all my expectations. It really doesn’t make any sense, but I’m the kind of guy that always broke rules, y’know?”
On Origins Vol. 3, the covers album he was working on at the time of his death
“When I was a kid, basically it was Led Zeppelin, it was the Cream, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Who, the Rolling Stones… and it’s so much fun to go back and do my own versions of their songs. I was on YouTube the other day and I typed in ‘classic rock songs from the ’60s and ’70s’ and nothing grabbed me yet.
“The Origins records are a different animal, ’cause the songs are already written and the lyrics are already written. All I have to do is Ace-ify it and put my stamp on it. Right now… I’ve got a lot of time to figure out what I want to do for the next record.”
