Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Gene Klein and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to avoid confusion with another local band named "Rainbow". Although it secured a record deal with
Epic Records and recorded an album, the deal fell through and the band fell apart during 1972. Klein and Eisen, feeling that the band's failure was a result of its lack of vision and direction, decided to found a new band from its remnants. They changed their names to the respective
Gene Simmons and
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
, auditioned a new drummer and lead guitarist, and formed the 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, ...
by the end of January 1973.
Although Kiss achieved massive success, Wicked Lester's album recorded for Epic has never been officially released in its entirety. The sessions have been released in
bootleg form as ''
The Original Wicked Lester Sessions''. Kiss officially 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 (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...
,
folk rock
Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...
and
pop.
History
Rainbow
The origins of the band trace to 1970, when
bassist Gene Klein and
keyboardist
A keyboardist or keyboard player 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 inst ...
Brooke Ostrander recruited lead
guitarist Stephen Coronel
Stephen Coronel (born March 21, 1951) is an American guitarist and former member of the rock band Wicked Lester. He co-wrote a handful of songs that would later be recorded by the group Kiss, a band which featured former Wicked Lester members ...
, a childhood friend and former bandmate of Klein. 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 replaced by drummer 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 came up with the name Wicked Lester, which Klein liked because it was 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.
Crossroads
During their brief existence, Wicked Lester performed in public twice. The first show took place at the
Rivoli Theatre in
South Fallsburg,
New York on April 23, 1971. The second, in late summer 1971, was at an
Atlantic City, New Jersey hotel hosting a
B'nai B'rith
B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peo ...
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 is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...
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 that Stephen Coronel be fired and replaced with a better guitarist.
Coronel was replaced by
session musician Ron Leejack (Ronald Jackowski, ex-
Cactus
A cactus (, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Gree ...
), 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.
Kiss
At this time, 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 move forward and start a new band. Wicked Lester began auditioning for a drummer. Tony Zarrella recorded all the Wicked Lester drum tracks at Electric Lady Studio produced by Ron Johsen. After completion, Tony Zarrella left the group & afterwards recorded & toured with NYC based groups "Dreams In Color" & "MYTH". Ostrander, feeling that the band was going nowhere, quit. He went on to teach music at
Missisquoi Valley Union High School in
Swanton, Vermont.
Ostrander died on September 3, 2011, from cancer. For a short time, Ron Leejack continued on with the new version of Wicked Lester.
Whereas Wicked Lester's original sound was rooted in varied musical styles, including
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fo ...
and
pop, when Simmons and Stanley decided to recruit new members, they 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
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 ...
, who had placed an ad in ''
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
''. 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
Tom Werman (born 1945) is an American former record producer responsible for many hard rock and heavy metal albums.
Early life and education
Werman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and grew up in Newton. He earned a bachelor's degree and an ...
, 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'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, th ...
'' stating, "LEAD GUITARIST WANTED with Flash and Ability. Album Out Shortly. No time wasters please." The ad ran for two issues, December 7 and 14, 1972, leading to several audition sessions. One audition was by
Paul "Ace" Frehley who showed up wearing different-colored shoes, walked into the room without saying a word, hooked up his guitar and started playing. Frehley was asked back for a second audition and was a member of the band by Christmas 1972. Within a few weeks, the group changed its name to Kiss and played their first concert on January 30, 1973.
Unreleased album
The recording of Wicked Lester's album, which began in November 1971 at
Electric Lady Studios
Electric Lady Studios is a recording studio in Greenwich Village, New York City. It was commissioned by rock musician Jimi Hendrix in 1968 and designed by architect John Storyk and audio engineer Eddie Kramer by 1970. Hendrix spent only ten we ...
in
Greenwich Village
Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. 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
The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...
' "I Wanna Shout" would serve as the inspiration for "
Shout It Out Loud" from 1976's ''
Destroyer'', although the two songs otherwise bear little similarity.
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 CBS Records may refer to:
* CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company
* CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990
* CBS Records (2006), founde ...
, who owned the rights to the album, remixed it and planned to release it in late 1976 to capitalize on Kiss's popularity at the time. Kiss and
Neil Bogart
Neil E. Bogart (born Neil Scott Bogatz, February 3, 1943 – May 8, 1982) was an American record executive. He was the founder of Casablanca Records, which later became Casablanca Record and Filmworks.
Life and career
Born Neil Scott Bogatz in t ...
, the president of their label,
Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...
, purchased the
master tapes
Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via me ...
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 makeup; Kiss had yet to officially unmask themselves at the time.
In later years the album surfaced as a bootleg titled ''
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.
Track listing
# "Love Her All I Can" (2:28) Stanley
# "Sweet Ophelia" (2:56) Barry Mann/Gerry Goffin
# "Keep Me Waiting" (3:04) Stanley
# "Simple Type" (2:33) Simmons
# "She" (2:54) Coronel/Simmons
# "Too Many Mondays" (3:27) Barry Mann/Cynthia Weil
# "What Happens In the Darkness" (2:59) Tamy Lester Smith
# "When The Bell Rings" (3:11) Austin Roberts/Christopher Welch
# "Molly" (aka "Some Other Guy") (2:23) Stanley
# "We Want To Shout It Out Loud" (2:04) The Hollies
The band also recorded a song called "Long, Long Road" that might have made it onto the album.
Members
*
Paul Stanley
Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who is the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. He is the writer or co-writer of many of the band's most popula ...
– rhythm guitar, vocals
*
Gene Simmons – bass, vocals
* Brooke Ostrander – keyboards
*
Stephen Coronel
Stephen Coronel (born March 21, 1951) is an American guitarist and former member of the rock band Wicked Lester. He co-wrote a handful of songs that would later be recorded by the group Kiss, a band which featured former Wicked Lester members ...
– lead guitar
* Joe Davidson – drums
* Tony Zarrella – drums & percussion
* Ron Leejack – lead guitar
*
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 ...
– drums
Timeline
See also
*
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
, another pre-Kiss band, featuring Kiss drummer Peter Criss
Notes
References
*
*
*
{{Authority control
Rock music groups from New York (state)
American folk rock groups
Musical groups established in 1970
Musical groups disestablished in 1973
Kiss (band)
Musical groups from New York City
Epic Records artists