Wicked Lester
Encyclopedia
Wicked Lester was the name of the New York
-based rock and roll
group that would eventually come to be known as Kiss
. The band, under its original name, Rainbow, formed in 1970. The most notable original members were bassist
Gene Klein, (born Chaim Witz), and rhythm guitar
ist Stanley Eisen. The two would later be known as Gene Simmons
and Paul Stanley
, respectively. In 1971 the band changed their name to Wicked Lester, and recorded an album for Epic Records
, which was never officially released. The sessions have been released in bootleg
form as The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
.
Kiss eventually released three tracks from these sessions on their 2001 Box Set release. Wicked Lester's music featured elements of rock and roll
, folk rock
, and pop
. Simmons and Stanley, feeling that the group lacked a unifying musical vision, began forming a second version of the band in late 1972. This second version, with an emphasis on more straightforward rock and roll plus theatrics, became Kiss
in early 1973.
Gene Klein and keyboardist
Brooke Ostrander recruited lead guitarist
Stephen Coronel
, a childhood friend and former bandmate of Klein's. The group took the name Rainbow shortly thereafter. Coronel recommended rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen, who had actually been rejected by the group after a previous audition. Shortly after Eisen joined, Ostrander recruited drummer
Joe Davidson, and the first Rainbow lineup was completed. Davidson's stay did not last long, and he was soon replaced by Tony Zarrella.
In early 1971, Rainbow played its first show, which consisted of two sets performed at Richmond Community College
in Staten Island
. After the show, the group discovered that there was already another band called Rainbow. They decided to drop the name, and out of thin air came up with the name Wicked Lester, which Simmons liked because it was so unusual. While the decision to change the group's name came partly out of a desire to avoid any potential legal issues, it also reflected Klein and Eisen's desire to start playing more original compositions.
on April 23, 1971. The second, in late summer 1971, was at an Atlantic City, New Jersey
hotel hosting a B'nai B'rith
Youth Organization event. Not long after that show, the band suffered a major setback when they had all of their musical gear stolen.
After a chance meeting with Electric Lady Studios
engineer Ron Johnsen, Wicked Lester was given the opportunity to record some demos
in late 1971. Johnsen, who produced the demo tape, shopped it to a few labels, with no success. Eventually the tape was screened by Epic Records, who purchased the masters
and agreed to fund the recording of a full album. One of the conditions, however, was the firing of Stephen Coronel.
Coronel was replaced by session musician
Ron Leejack
, and the group continued their efforts to finish the album. Some songs were completely re-recorded to accommodate Leejack's different playing style. The entire recording process, which followed a haphazard schedule, took nearly a year to complete. When the completed album was presented to Don Ellis, Epic's A&R
director, he stated that he hated the album and was not going to release it. The next day, Wicked Lester manager Lew Linet requested and received the group's release from Epic Records.
, retiring in 2007. Ostrander passed away on September 3, 2011 from cancer. For a short time Ron Leejack continued on with a second version of Wicked Lester.
Whereas Wicked Lester's original sound was rooted in varied musical styles, including folk
and pop
, when Simmons and Stanley decided to recruit new members, they also made the decision to focus on a more aggressive and simple style of rock and roll. The first new member they added was drummer Peter Criss
, who had placed an ad in Rolling Stone
. The ad stated, "EXPD. ROCK & roll drummer looking for orig. grp. doing soft & hard music. Peter, Brooklyn." The new Wicked Lester, without a recording contract, began a strict and regular regimen of rehearsals.
In November 1972, the group arranged a showcase with Don Ellis, the Epic Records executive who earlier had rejected Wicked Lester's album. While one Epic executive, Tom Werman, was impressed by the power and theatrics of this new incarnation of Wicked Lester, Ellis once again turned them down. As Ellis was leaving, Peter Criss's brother, who was drunk, vomited on his foot.
In early December, Paul Stanley placed an ad in The Village Voice
stating, "LEAD GUITARIST WANTED with Flash and Balls. Album Out Shortly. No time wasters please." The ad ran for two issues, December 7 and December 14, 1972, leading to several audition sessions. One early audition was by Paul "Ace" Frehley
who showed up wearing different colored shoes. Frehley was asked back for a second audition and was a member of the band by Christmas 1972. Within a few weeks, the group had changed its name to Kiss and played their first concert on January 30, 1973.
in Greenwich Village
, took place over multiple sessions and was finished in July 1972. The album was a mixture of original material and covers
, showcasing the group's eclectic style. Three of the songs recorded for the Wicked Lester album would later resurface as Kiss songs, with varying degrees of similarity.
The chorus of their cover version of The Hollies
' "I Wanna Shout" would serve as the inspiration for "Shout It Out Loud
" from 1976's Destroyer, although the two songs are completely different in every other respect. Two of the tracks, "Love Her All I Can", written by Paul Stanley, and "She", written by Simmons and Steve Coronel would resurface on 1975's Dressed to Kill
. "Love Her All I Can" featured similar arrangements in both versions while the Kiss version of "She" lacked the congas and flute
of the original.
The only part of Wicked Lester's album to initially be released, was the cover art, which was used for The Laughing Dogs
' self-titled debut album in 1979. CBS Records
, who owned the rights to the album, remixed it and planned to release it in late 1976 to capitalize on Kiss's commercial popularity. Kiss and Neil Bogart
, the president of their label, Casablanca Records
, purchased the master tapes
from CBS for $137,500 and never released it. The label and band feared that if CBS released the tracks it would diminish their commercial appeal. The band worried that their hard rock
image would be damaged by these more eclectic recordings. It was also feared that the release would be accompanied by pictures of Simmons and Stanley without their trademark make-up, at this point in their career very few photographs of Kiss without their makeup existed. In later years the album surfaced as a bootleg named The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
. The band bought Bogart's share and eventually released three of the tracks, "Keep Me Waiting," "She," and "Love Her All I Can", in 2001 as part of a five-disc box set.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
group that would eventually come to be known as Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
. The band, under its original name, Rainbow, formed in 1970. The most notable original members were bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Gene Klein, (born Chaim Witz), and rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar
Rhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
ist Stanley Eisen. The two would later be known as Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons
Gene Simmons is an Israeli-American entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, actor, and rock bassist. Known as "The Demon", he is the bassist/vocalist of Kiss, a hard rock band he co-founded in the early 1970s.-Early life:...
and Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley
Stanley Harvey Eisen , better known by his stage name Paul Stanley, is an American hard rock guitarist, singer, musician, painter and songwriter best known for being the rhythm guitarist and primary lead vocalist of the rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's...
, respectively. In 1971 the band changed their name to Wicked Lester, and recorded an album for Epic Records
Epic Records
Epic Records is an American record label, owned by Sony Music Entertainment. Though it was originally conceived as a jazz imprint, it has since expanded to represent various genres. L.A...
, which was never officially released. The sessions have been released in bootleg
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
form as The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
The Original Wicked Lester Sessions is the first album recorded by the band now known as KISS. The original lineup featured Gene Simmons , Paul Stanley , Ron Leejack , Brook Ostrander , Tony Zarrella , and Steve Coronel .The album was shelved by the recording company and has...
.
Kiss eventually released three tracks from these sessions on their 2001 Box Set release. Wicked Lester's music featured elements of rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
, and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
. Simmons and Stanley, feeling that the group lacked a unifying musical vision, began forming a second version of the band in late 1972. This second version, with an emphasis on more straightforward rock and roll plus theatrics, became Kiss
KISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
in early 1973.
Rainbow is born
The origins of the band trace to 1970, when bassistBassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Gene Klein and keyboardist
Keyboardist
A keyboardist is a musician who plays keyboard instruments. Until the early 1960s musicians who played keyboards were generally classified as either pianists or organists. Since the mid-1960s, a plethora of new musical instruments with keyboards have come into common usage, requiring a more...
Brooke Ostrander recruited lead guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Stephen Coronel
Stephen Coronel
Stephen Coronel Steve Coronel is a guitarist and friend of Gene Simmons since 1963. Coronel was one of the members of the band Wicked Lester.-Biography:He created the riff and chord structure of "She" and "Goin' Blind", co-authoring the songs with Simmons...
, a childhood friend and former bandmate of Klein's. The group took the name Rainbow shortly thereafter. Coronel recommended rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen, who had actually been rejected by the group after a previous audition. Shortly after Eisen joined, Ostrander recruited drummer
Drummer
A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...
Joe Davidson, and the first Rainbow lineup was completed. Davidson's stay did not last long, and he was soon replaced by Tony Zarrella.
In early 1971, Rainbow played its first show, which consisted of two sets performed at Richmond Community College
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island is a four-year, senior college of and is one of the 11 senior colleges in the City University of New York. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studies lead to bachelor's and associate's degrees. The master's degree is awarded in 13 professional...
in Staten Island
Staten Island
Staten Island is a borough of New York City, New York, United States, located in the southwest part of the city. Staten Island is separated from New Jersey by the Arthur Kill and the Kill Van Kull, and from the rest of New York by New York Bay...
. After the show, the group discovered that there was already another band called Rainbow. They decided to drop the name, and out of thin air came up with the name Wicked Lester, which Simmons liked because it was so unusual. While the decision to change the group's name came partly out of a desire to avoid any potential legal issues, it also reflected Klein and Eisen's desire to start playing more original compositions.
At a crossroads
During their brief existence, Wicked Lester performed in public twice. The first show took place at the Rivoli Theatre in South Fallsburg, New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
on April 23, 1971. The second, in late summer 1971, was at an Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
hotel hosting a B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International |Covenant]]" is the oldest continually operating Jewish service organization in the world. It was initially founded as the Independent Order of B'nai B'rith in New York City, on , 1843, by Henry Jones and 11 others....
Youth Organization event. Not long after that show, the band suffered a major setback when they had all of their musical gear stolen.
After a chance meeting with Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
engineer Ron Johnsen, Wicked Lester was given the opportunity to record some demos
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
in late 1971. Johnsen, who produced the demo tape, shopped it to a few labels, with no success. Eventually the tape was screened by Epic Records, who purchased the masters
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
and agreed to fund the recording of a full album. One of the conditions, however, was the firing of Stephen Coronel.
Coronel was replaced by session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Ron Leejack
Ron Leejack
Ron Leejack was the lead guitarist for Wicked Lester, an early 1970s band that included future Kiss band mates Gene Simmons , Paul Stanley and Peter Criss. Ron Leejack had met Jimi Hendrix and had worked with Eddie Kramer prior to joining the band. He also appeared on the 1971 release by Cactus,...
, and the group continued their efforts to finish the album. Some songs were completely re-recorded to accommodate Leejack's different playing style. The entire recording process, which followed a haphazard schedule, took nearly a year to complete. When the completed album was presented to Don Ellis, Epic's A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
director, he stated that he hated the album and was not going to release it. The next day, Wicked Lester manager Lew Linet requested and received the group's release from Epic Records.
The genesis of Kiss
It was at this time that Klein and Eisen, now using the stage names Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley, decided that one of the reasons for Wicked Lester's lack of success was their lack of a singular image and musical vision. They made the decision to start a new version of the group, and began auditioning for a drummer in late 1972. Soon after, Tony Zarrella left the original group. Ostrander, feeling that the band was going nowhere, quit. He went on to teach music at Missisquoi Valley Union High School in Swanton, VermontSwanton (town), Vermont
Swanton is a town in Franklin County, Vermont, United States. The population was 6,203 at the 2000 census.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 61.7 square miles , of which 48.4 square miles is land and 13.3 square miles is...
, retiring in 2007. Ostrander passed away on September 3, 2011 from cancer. For a short time Ron Leejack continued on with a second version of Wicked Lester.
Whereas Wicked Lester's original sound was rooted in varied musical styles, including folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, when Simmons and Stanley decided to recruit new members, they also made the decision to focus on a more aggressive and simple style of rock and roll. The first new member they added was drummer Peter Criss
Peter Criss
George Peter John Criscuola , better known as Peter Criss, is an American drummer and singer, best known as the original drummer for the rock band Kiss...
, who had placed an ad in Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
. The ad stated, "EXPD. ROCK & roll drummer looking for orig. grp. doing soft & hard music. Peter, Brooklyn." The new Wicked Lester, without a recording contract, began a strict and regular regimen of rehearsals.
In November 1972, the group arranged a showcase with Don Ellis, the Epic Records executive who earlier had rejected Wicked Lester's album. While one Epic executive, Tom Werman, was impressed by the power and theatrics of this new incarnation of Wicked Lester, Ellis once again turned them down. As Ellis was leaving, Peter Criss's brother, who was drunk, vomited on his foot.
In early December, Paul Stanley placed an ad in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
stating, "LEAD GUITARIST WANTED with Flash and Balls. Album Out Shortly. No time wasters please." The ad ran for two issues, December 7 and December 14, 1972, leading to several audition sessions. One early audition was by Paul "Ace" Frehley
Ace Frehley
Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley is an American musician best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Kiss. He took on the persona of the "Spaceman" or "Space Ace" when the band adopted costumes and theatrics...
who showed up wearing different colored shoes. Frehley was asked back for a second audition and was a member of the band by Christmas 1972. Within a few weeks, the group had changed its name to Kiss and played their first concert on January 30, 1973.
The unreleased album
The recording of Wicked Lester's album, which began in November 1971 at Electric Lady StudiosElectric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios, at 52 West 8th Street, in New York City's Greenwich Village, is a recording studio originally built by Jimi Hendrix and designed by John Storyk in 1970...
in Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village, , , , .in New York often simply called "the Village", is a largely residential neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City. A large majority of the district is home to upper middle class families...
, took place over multiple sessions and was finished in July 1972. The album was a mixture of original material and covers
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
, showcasing the group's eclectic style. Three of the songs recorded for the Wicked Lester album would later resurface as Kiss songs, with varying degrees of similarity.
The chorus of their cover version of The Hollies
The Hollies
The Hollies are an English pop and rock group, formed in Manchester in the early 1960s, though most of the band members are from throughout East Lancashire. Known for their distinctive vocal harmony style, they became one of the leading British groups of the 1960s and 1970s...
' "I Wanna Shout" would serve as the inspiration for "Shout It Out Loud
Shout It Out Loud (KISS song)
"Shout It Out Loud" is a song by the American hard rock group Kiss originally released on their 1976 album, Destroyer.-Overview:Released as a single in 1976, the band and their record company, Casablanca Records, were trying to cash in on the success of their previous single, the live version of...
" from 1976's Destroyer, although the two songs are completely different in every other respect. Two of the tracks, "Love Her All I Can", written by Paul Stanley, and "She", written by Simmons and Steve Coronel would resurface on 1975's Dressed to Kill
Dressed to Kill (album)
Dressed to Kill is the third studio album from American hard rock band Kiss. It is unique for having been produced by Casablanca Records president Neil Bogart, as the financial situation of the label at the time did not allow the hiring of a professional producer."C'mon and Love Me" and "Rock and...
. "Love Her All I Can" featured similar arrangements in both versions while the Kiss version of "She" lacked the congas and flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
of the original.
The only part of Wicked Lester's album to initially be released, was the cover art, which was used for The Laughing Dogs
The Laughing Dogs
The Laughing Dogs first became popular in the New York underground music scene at CBGB's and went on to release two critically acclaimed albums on Columbia Records, The Laughing Dogs and The Laughing Dogs Meet Their Makers, and several indie CDs. The two Columbia albums were reissued on American...
' self-titled debut album in 1979. CBS Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, who owned the rights to the album, remixed it and planned to release it in late 1976 to capitalize on Kiss's commercial popularity. Kiss and Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart
Neil Bogart was an American record executive. He is perhaps best known as the founder of Casablanca Records, with Peter Guber....
, the president of their label, Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records was an American record label started by Neil Bogart, who partnered with Cecil Holmes, Larry Harris, and Buck Reingold in 1973, and based in Los Angeles. The label was formed after all of them had left Buddah Records and secured financing by Warner Bros. Records to start the venture...
, purchased the master tapes
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
from CBS for $137,500 and never released it. The label and band feared that if CBS released the tracks it would diminish their commercial appeal. The band worried that their hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...
image would be damaged by these more eclectic recordings. It was also feared that the release would be accompanied by pictures of Simmons and Stanley without their trademark make-up, at this point in their career very few photographs of Kiss without their makeup existed. In later years the album surfaced as a bootleg named The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
The Original Wicked Lester Sessions
The Original Wicked Lester Sessions is the first album recorded by the band now known as KISS. The original lineup featured Gene Simmons , Paul Stanley , Ron Leejack , Brook Ostrander , Tony Zarrella , and Steve Coronel .The album was shelved by the recording company and has...
. The band bought Bogart's share and eventually released three of the tracks, "Keep Me Waiting," "She," and "Love Her All I Can", in 2001 as part of a five-disc box set.