Speaker 1: We got a little bit of time left. We'll we'll,
we'll do this. Uh, we should talk about the Gene
Simmons the latestmonsuff so regular listeners, longtime listeners of the show. No,
Kiss is my my all time favorite band, But Gene
Gene Simmons, for as long as I can remember, has
had these moments where he upsets people. Uh. Here's the
latest little controversy and it involves Peter Chris and the
song Beth. Everybody knows that song Beth. I hear you
call in all right, So this is from parade dot com, who,
by the way, shame on parade dot com because in
the uh, the picture that they used is not in
the headline. They used a picture of Eric Carr, not
Peter Cris. Eric Carr is not the original singer of Beth.
Peter Cris is, but they use the wrong drummer, Wow,
replaced Peter Chris.
Speaker 2: Oh that's really that's a really shoddy journey.
Speaker 1: Really sloppy, Yeah, really sloppy. All right, he's here's what
the article says. In nineteen seventy six, Kiss released what
would become their biggest hit song, Beth, the power rock
ballad I wouldn't call it a power rock ballad appeared
on the glam band's fourth studio album, Destroyer, and started
out as the B side to Detroit Rock City, which
is which is true, which is interesting, and this is
not you know, this has happened with other hit songs.
But but yeah, a lot of people might not know
that Beth was actually the B side. Beth was never
intended to be the single. And you know, the reason
Beth was the B side is because and I remember
noticing this when I was a kid. You know, singles
would usually have on the A side would be what
was supposed to be the single, and the B side
would usually be actually one of the weakest tracks on
the album. Because they would always record labels would always
make sure that the B side was a song that
they didn't think had any chance. They didn't want the
B side to be something they might want to release
as a single later, because so they would put what
they considered to be a throwaway track as the B side.
At least in America, British bands have a history of
actually recording a separate song for the B side that
isn't on the album, so it's kind of like a
bonus track. But that's but that I think is cooler.
Oh me too, But that was not the case in America.
Hasn't been the case in America generally. So so the
B side to Detroit Rock City. Everyone knows the song
Detroit Rock City, but the B side was Beth. So
Beth reached number seven on the Billboard Hot one hundred
and won the People's Choice Award for Favorite New Song
of nineteen seventy six. In a post on his official website,
Chris Peter Cris has touted Beth as Kiss his biggest hit.
He added that the People's Choice honor was his favorite
award because the people voted, and he's even prouder of
the song decades later than he was in nineteen seventy six.
But in a January twenty twenty sixth interview with the
Professor of Rock podcast Kiss co founder Gene Simmons downplayed
Peter Cris's involvement with the hit song. Now, part of
this story I already knew, but part of it I,
as well as I think most Kiss fans, was hearing
for the first time. Okay, here's what Jean Simmons said. Quote.
The history of Beth is that Peter and I were
in a limo and he starts humming. I'm like, that's
a nice melody. What is that? He goes, Oh, it's
a song I wrote called Beck because we had started
working with Bob Ezrin. I said, why don't you bring
up that song? By the way, what are the chords
to that? He goes, Oh, I don't know. I thought
that was peculiar. But before then I suggested in the car,
why don't you change it to Beth, because when you
say Beck, that hard syllable stops the and Beth is
a much more romantic idea. By the way, In another interview,
Jeene Simmons had once said about that specific moment, because
this is part of the story I already had heard,
and this is part of the story that's been consistent
over the years, that they were in a limo and
Jean said to Peter, Hey, that's interesting. What's that? And
Peter said it's Beck and and But the previous version
of the story, Jean said, he suggests these are his
exact words. He said, Oh, why don't you make it
instead of Beck?
Speaker 3: What?
Speaker 1: Oh, that's right, I remember now he said to Peter Beck,
what is that about? Is that? Is it? About Jeff
beck and uh, and Peter said, no, no, it's about
Becky because I guess I was his girlfriend. And and
then Jean said, well, I wonder you should instead of
beck maybe you should change it to Beth so that
people don't think you're playing for the other team. Those
Jean's words, that's how he puts. Yeah, yeah, but anyway,
but but so that's but that's the basic story, very
the basic story.
Speaker 2: Okay, Well, what did did Peter ever give his side
of that? I don't he ever say that conversation didn't
happen or it did happen.
Speaker 1: No, I've never heard Peter dispute any of that. Okay,
but he's But here's where it gets interesting. So here's
here's what Jean said on the on the podcast, he said,
it's time for the truth. Peter does not write songs.
He doesn't play a musical instrument. Drums are not a
musical instrument by definition, as far as I know. Peter
plays no other instruments that I've ever seen, not keyboards,
extreme instruments. Peter's got a very Peter's got a great
whiskey voice in the early days, had a great whisky voice.
He said, This is the important part. The person who
wrote Beth is a guy named stan Pendrich. Stan Pendrich
was with Peter in a group called Chelsea. They had
a record out, actually it was on MCA. So Peter
did not write Beth. Stan Pendrich wrote that, but through
politics and hint hint, nudge, nudge, and I wasn't there
when the conversation went down, stan Pendrich apparently agreed that
Peter's name would go in the songwriting credit. It appears
first Peter, Chris bob Ezrin, Stan Pendrich or the other
way around. But Peter's first Peter had nothing to do
with that song. He sang it. In other words, he
had nothing to do with writing it. I'd like to
know that.
Speaker 2: Any of those people have to say.
Speaker 1: Well, Pendrich died in two thousand and one, so we'll
never get his story, but say that he's not a
musicians so oh, well, what he said and they didn't
include the full quote here, So what he actually said
is he said drums are not a musical instrument. They're
a percussive instrument, which is nitpicking and insulting. So Gene
was definitely out of line for saying that that's a
that's a crazy thing to say. Now this is the part,
the part that I did not know. So because everyone
knows the song Beth, but I'll just play for anyone
who doesn't, I'll just play a little bit of it.
But then, this is the part that blew my mind
was when I found the Chelsea version. I actually went
and listened to the Chelsea version of Beth. We'll go
ahead and play a little bit of this, but then,
well then we'll play the Chelsea version.
Speaker 2: You call in but I can't come home and this
Chelsea and the boys.
Speaker 1: No, this is the kiss version.
Speaker 2: Oh okay, throw me up like really, yeah.
Speaker 1: No, this is the Kiss version. I'll be to you.
Speaker 3: What can I do?
Speaker 2: What can.
Speaker 1: Okay? So that's that's Beth by Kiss with with Peter singing. Now,
this is what I had never heard before. This is Chelsea.
This is Beck. It's called Beck, and the band is Chelsea.
And this is the band that Stan Pendrich was in.
Again he's dead, so nobody can get his side of
things from from. Uh. This is this is the original
this blew my mind from from when Peter and Stan
Pendrich were in a band together called Chelsea.
Speaker 3: But a.
Speaker 1: But we just can't sow. Yeah, so it's definitely the
same song jeans.
Speaker 2: Sour because this is the song that got real. That's
the number one.
Speaker 1: No, I don't think he cares about that, and it
wasn't one he wrote. I don't. I don't think. I
don't think that's why do you think he's so so
part of his I don't think he's I don't think
he's sour necessarily.
Speaker 2: I think you just look hateful after somebody dies.
Speaker 1: Well you're now you're conflating with uh A.
Speaker 2: But you don't find it, you don't find it odd
that they're happening so close together that he dies and
now suddenly we're hearing this about Peter. I don't know.
Speaker 1: No, it's Jean's uh it's very on brand for Gene.
Speaker 3: He's been doing this for decades, making enemies. Well he does, Yeah,
but why why do this? Why why do this? It's
such a great Now this is nastiness about it?
Speaker 2: Or is he trying to garner more money by creating controversy.
Speaker 1: I think I think he likes being in the news certainly, but.
Speaker 2: This say we should say the podcast is the professor
of rocks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, but I mean he's not wrong though here, Like,
I had no idea. See this to me as a
as a Kiss fan, this is very interesting to me.
I'm actually glad. I mean, I don't agree with what
he said about Peter doesn't play a musical instrument and
all that. That's absurd, it's mean, but but it is mean,
and I don't know that he intended it that way.
But but I had no idea. I had never heard.
I knew. I mean, you know, obviously I know a
lot about Kiss and I knew that Peter Chris was
in a band called Chelsea with Pendrich.
Speaker 2: That's all I knew. I had no idea that he
was involved at all with this song. You thought this
song came from Kissed, right.
Speaker 1: So I didn't know. Well, I knew that San Pendrich
was because he has a songwriting.
Speaker 2: Writer, but it was Kissed that did it first? That
there wasn't a bandit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I had no idea this song beck by Chelsea existed.
And by the way I'm looking at this, I just
I found it on YouTube. This was posted on YouTube
fourteen years ago, and I had no idea until now.
Speaker 2: Doesn't the guy kind of sound like Rod Stewart?
Speaker 1: Well, that's Peter singing on it the way.
Speaker 2: I don't know, maybe it just sounds like Rod Star.
Speaker 1: Well, well, Peter sounds like Rod Stewart, he's got that
same kind of voice. Yeah, Yeah, that's why there's this
there's this weird story that's gone around for decades that
we even talked about it. I'm not sure if we
talked about it on air or off air, but it
was on Retrospectrum Radio one night. We were talking about
how I think we talked about it on air, this
this story about Beth, that uh, that it was actually
written for Rod Stewart and that and that he rejected
it because it sounded too much like Maggie May. But
I don't believe that.
Speaker 2: Story anymore anyway.
Speaker 1: I don't.
Speaker 2: Even if you halfway believed that, you.
Speaker 1: Can't believe it anymore. Yeah. I don't believe that story anyway, right,
because that doesn't even make sense. Why would you know?
Why would why do that? I think I think the
way that story started. This is my theory. I think
that back when when Beth came out, a lot of
people probably thought, oh that kind of uh, that kind
of reminds me of Rod Stewart, And so then it
just became this thing. You know, some people just write
an urban legend exactly. But uh but no, uh, that
that is the same song. I mean, there's no getting
around that.
Speaker 2: The revelation about the song fine and acknowledging that it
came from another band could be very good, but to
do so in the same breath as just being rotten.
I'm sorry, it's rotten. I think drummers and musicians, and
I think their drums are there their instrument. I don't
understand that one either musical instrument versus percussion instrument. They
both have instrument in the sentence. So how is how
do you how do you explain that one?
Speaker 1: I understand what he's saying. I just don't. I don't agree,
don't agree.
Speaker 2: I think drums is one of the hardest things to
learn because all your limbs are moving in different directions.
And then some of the people we watch, like under
the Horizon singing at the same time. Oh by god,
both legs are going, the arms are going, and singing
versus screaming all in the same It's amazing talent, it's
and they're incredibly musicians. And to cut them off at
the knees and call them you know, anything other or
make them less than anybody playing any other instrument, whether
it's a guitar or whatever. It kind of gives that
feeling of a drummer being less than the guitarist or
the bassist. And I don't I don't like that at all.
I think it's pretty cold and rude and wrong. And
I guess, like you said, in keeping with his style.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, we gotta go. Thank you everybody who
joined us today. And I thought it was a fun show.
Paul Nazzole, I'm sure I'm not saying his name correctly.
Of course, we had the members of Generations join us
and in the first hour, of course, Uh sick dude.
Hell yeah. I love those guys so much fun as
I love their music, and they're really good people too.
So if you want to know more about what I'm
up to, Matt Connerton dot com especially you know it
is January. If you want to book a hypnotherapy session,
you can do that right through the website. And Jenny,
you want to mention your website.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, you can always keep up with the good trouble
I'm getting into at Jencoffee dot com. J E N
N C O F F e y dot com and
stay tuned for some stuff coming.
Speaker 1: Up this week. That's right, that's right.