Post Description

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 guitarist 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
The recording of Wicked Lester's album, which began in November 1971 at Electric Lady Studios 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' "We Wanna Shout It Out Loud" 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[12] 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.
(Bron Wikipedia)

Track op deze CD :

1 Simple type
2  She
3  Too many mondays
4  When the bell rings
5  Molly
6  Love her all I  can
7  Sweet Ophelia
8  Keep me waiting
9  What happened in the darkness
10 (We want to) Shout it out loud
11 Love her all I can
12 Simple type
13 She
14 Too many mondays
15 Keep me waiting
16 Molly (Percussion mix)
17 When the bell rings
18 Sweet Ophelia
19 Long long road
20 Simple type
21 Too many mondays  (Gene on vocals)
22 Molly (A cappella mix)

Incl. covers