''Peter Criss'' is the first solo studio album by

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is a retired American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established The Ca ...

, the drummer of American hard rock band

Kiss A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...

. It was one of four solo albums released by the members of Kiss on September 18, 1978. The album was produced by

Vini Poncia Vincent "Vini" Poncia Jr. (born April 29, 1942) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. Life and career The 1960s In the 1960s, Poncia formed a songwriting team with Peter Anders (née Peter Andreoli). An album of songs co-writt ...

, who went on to produce the Kiss albums ''

Dynasty A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A ...

'' (1979) and '' Unmasked'' (1980). Criss covered "

Tossin' and Turnin' "Tossin' and Turnin'" is a song written by Ritchie Adams and Malou René, and originally recorded by Bobby Lewis in the fall of 1960. The record was released on the Beltone label in December 1960. It reached number one on both the ''Billboard' ...

", which was a No. 1 hit for

Bobby Lewis Robert Alan Lewis (February 9, 1925 – April 28, 2020) was an American rock and roll and rhythm and blues singer, best known for his 1961 hit singles " Tossin' and Turnin'" and "One Track Mind". Biography Lewis was born in Indianapolis, Indiana ...

in the U.S. during the summer of

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

. The song was subsequently covered by Kiss on their 1979 tour.

Songs

Much of the material on the album was originally written in 1971 for Criss's pre-Kiss band Lips. These include "I’m Gonna Love You", "Don't You Let Me Down", "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes", and "Hooked on Rock 'n' Roll". The album also includes a cover of the song "Tossin' and Turnin'" by Bobby Lewis.

Reception

Reviews for ''Peter Criss'' were mostly negative.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

called it "the most undistinguished of the bunch, lacking hooks on either the pop-metal rockers or the power ballads, as well as personality throughout." The album was the lowest charting of all the Kiss solo albums of 1978, reaching No. 43 on the US '' Billboard'' album chart. Of the four solo albums, ''Peter Criss'' was the only album to have two singles released from it: "Don't You Let Me Down" and "You Matter to Me", neither of which charted.

Track listing

All credits adapted from the original release. All songs were written by

and Stan Penridge, except where noted.

Cover versions

Harvey Milk Harvey Bernard Milk (May 22, 1930 – November 27, 1978) was an American politician and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Milk was born and raised in ...

covered "Easy Thing" for their compilation album ''The Singles''. * Awaken covered "I'm Gonna Love You" on their double album ''Party In Lyceum's Toilets''. *The Slam covered "Hooked on Rock 'n Roll" on their album ''Hit It!''.

Personnel

– lead vocals, drums on all songs except tracks 6–7, and 10, percussion on track 8, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

Allan Schwartzberg Allan Schwartzberg (born December 28, 1942) is an American musician and record producer. He has been a member of the rock band Mountain, Peter Gabriel's first solo band, toured with Brecker Brothers' Dreams, B.J. Thomas, Linda Rondstadt, Stan Get ...

– drums on tracks 6-7 and 10 * Bill Bodine – bass guitar on tracks 1-5 and 9 *

Neil Jason Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

– bass guitar on tracks 6-7 and 10 * Art Munson – guitars on tracks 1-5 and 9 * Stan Penridge – guitars on 1-5 and 8–9, backing vocals *

Elliot Randall Elliott Randall (born June 15, 1947) is an American guitarist best known for being a session musician with popular artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos from Steely Dan's song "Reelin' In the Years, Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Ca ...

– guitars on "Easy Thing" and "I Can't Stop the Rain" *

John Tropea John Tropea (pronounced 'tro-pay'; born January 7, 1946) is an American guitarist. Career Tropea began guitar studies at the age of 12. His musical education continued at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he studied jazz guitar, harmo ...

– guitars on tracks 6-7 and 10 * Brendan Harkin – guitars on "Easy Thing" * Steve Lukather – guitar solo on "That's the Kind of Sugar Papa Likes" and "Hooked on Rock and Roll" * Bill Cuomo – keyboards 1-5 and 9 * Richard Gerstein – keyboards on tracks 6–7, and 10 *

Davey Faragher David Allen "Davey" Faragher (born August 18, 1957) is an American bass guitarist from Redlands, California. Faragher's career took off and received critical notice as a founding member of the nineties band Cracker, and his subsequent work with ...

, Tommy Faragher, Danny Faragher, Jimmy Faragher, Maxine Dixon, Maxine Willard, Julia Tillman, Vini Poncia, Annie Sutton, Gordon Grody – backing vocals * Tom Saviano – Horns arranged * Michael Carnahan –

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

solo on "Tossin' and Turnin'",

baritone sax The baritone saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of instruments, larger (and lower-pitched) than the tenor saxophone, but smaller (and higher-pitched) than the bass. It is the lowest-pitched saxophone in common use - the bass, contra ...

on "Hooked on Rock 'n' Roll" * Lenny Castro – percussion on "Tossin' and Turnin'" and "Don't You Let Me Down" ;Production * Mike D. Stone – engineer at the Record Plant, New York City * Eraldo Carugati – album artwork

Charts

Certification

Release history

* Casablanca NBLP-7122 (September 18, 1978): 1st LP issue (with poster) *Casablanca NBPIX-7122 (September 18, 1978): US

picture disc Picture discs are gramophone (phonograph) records that show images on their playing surface, rather than being of plain black or colored vinyl. Collectors traditionally reserve the term picture disc for records with graphics that extend at lea ...

*Casablanca 826 917-2 (1988): US 1st CD release. * Mercury 314 532 386-2 (September 16, 1997): Remastered CD (with poster) *Universal Music B0020537-01 (2014): Remastered LP (with poster)

References

External links

*
Kiss FAQ – Peter Criss
Accessed on July 13, 2005.
KISSONLINE.COM Discoography- Peter Criss
Accessed on July 28, 2008.

Accessed on July 28, 2008 {{Authority control 1978 debut albums Albums produced by Vini Poncia Albums recorded at Electric Lady Studios Albums recorded at Sunset Sound Recorders Casablanca Records albums Peter Criss albums