Kiss – ‘Wicked Lester’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection,… More

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Kiss – ‘Wicked Lester’ – Album Review (The Kiss Bootleg Series)

I have been doing a Kiss Bootleg Series for years. You get a review every time I add a new one to the collection. Well, after buying 38 Bootleg CDs from John Humphrey’s personal collection, I figured let’s jump right back in and do a whole lot of reviews on the Bootlegs. Oh, if you don’t know who John Humphrey is, you need to know he is a massive Kiss collector. And he is the drummer of the band Seether. John decided to sell off his entire collection…sort of…he kept all the vinyl (like 4,000 of them). He did it through an auction at Backstage Auctions and I had to have a piece of it…and I did wind up with somethings.

Now, to the review…We all know Kiss was started by Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Peter Criss and Ace Frehley. But did you know about the band prior to Kiss? It all started with Gene (Chaim Witz) and Paul (Stanley Eisen) in a band called Rainbow with Gene’s friend Stephen Coronel. Paul was the third member and then they brought in a drummer named Joe Davidson. This band didn’t last long at all and hell, the drummer even a shorter time as he was quickly replaced with Tony Zarella. They only played one show before they had to drop the name Rainbow because that name was already being used by some other band (and no, not the Richie Blackmore band).

And that is how Wicked Lester was born. After only a couple shows as Wicked Lester, they were approached by a label and were given the chance to record some demos. After listening to those demos, the label decided that Stephen was not good enough and had to be fired. And since Gene and Paul the upstanding citizens they are, they fired Stephen. I guess you do whatever it takes to make it in this business. Ron Leejack was then brought in for guitar duties and it was time to record the album.

Now the album would take about a year to complete and upon receiving the album and hearing it, the label were not quite thrilled with it…okay, they hated it. Hated it so much, they shelved it and it was never released. Well, never in a full, pure album form. It has been leaked out as a bootleg and that is what we have here. This particular release has a total of 9 demos of Wicked Lester and it also has the 5 demos done by Eddie Kramer before Kiss did their first album. Lastly, it claims to have 5 songs from Live at the Academy of Music in New York from 12/31/73, but this is not true from what I researched. It is actually 5 songs from the Long Beach recording on 5/31/74.

The album kicks off with “Sweet Ophelia” which is a cover of Barry Mann’s song from his 1971 album “Lay It All Out” and was written by Barry Mann and Gerry Goffin. The song holds true to the original with a big exception in that an entire verse is missing. The song is so dated with that late 60’s, early 70’s vibe. It is psychedelic and has some massive hippie vibes and scary to think this is Paul on vocals as he feels right at home.

“Keep Me Waiting” which is one of three songs Kiss would release on the Kiss Box Set. The other two were “Love Her All I Can” and “She”. “Keep Me Waiting” is full of horns and a cool bass groove from Gene. Paul is on vocals and he sounds so young yet so confident. There is a whole 60’s vibe to this tune, but I like it.

“Ladies in Waiting” is up next, but it I think it is really “Love Her All I Can”. Paul admits that the opening guitar work was strongly influenced by The Who song “Can’t Explain” and the guitar & bass parts were taken from “Open My Eyes” by Nazz. A complete Frankenstein song that works. Another great track in its original form. Definitely not Kiss, but you could see a band that had potential. The song ends with some congos and such which is the start of another song then cuts off quickly. Obviously this was pieced together from various sources, but the sound quality of the album is sensational.

“Simple Type” I believe is up next, but not listed. It is an interesting track with Gene and Paul sharing vocals. Paul sounds normal, but Gene sounds like a totally different person. Pure 60’s vibe from Gene. There is a flamenco type sounding moment which is weird. The song is a little all over the place and then abruptly ends after some tape wobble and the next thing you know is you are listening to “She”. The song is so different than what the band recorded for the album ‘Dressed to Kill’ years later. It has a jazzy, funky feel to it and includes the most metal instrument, the flute. Jethro Tull did it, so why not Wicked Lester.

Up next is “Too Many Days”, but I believe really is “Too Many Mondays” is such a 60’s hippie song is the only thing I can think of. Paul sounds like…well more like Peter, Paul & Mary than Kiss. It is bloody awful. “In The Darkness” comes straight at you and blows your mind, not in a good way. There are a ton of backing vocals on the chorus. This feels so 60’s psychedelic craziness or something. I don’t know how to describe it. But it is still kind of fun. The actual title is “What Happens in the Darkness”.

“When the Bell Rings” is a more straightforward rocker with both Gene and Paul singing. Gene starts to sound closer to Gene rather than that dainty flower we heard earlier. It is an okay track, nothing write home about though. Then comes some Beatle style song called “Molly (Some Other Guy)” with Paul on vocals singing too softly. You can hear Gene’s bass prominently. Another 60’s vibe song and not that sensational. And lastly we get a cover of the Hollies “(We Want To) Shout It Out Loud” which would be the inspiration for a song with a similar song later. Gene sings this one and he is not really recognizable. It would’ve fit well on The Vault though. It is decent enough. Sadly, it suddenly cuts off as they jammed too many songs on one side of the vinyl and they ran out of space.

After the album was nixed by the label, Wicked Lester still played on but Gene and Pual wanted to go in a new direction so they let everyone else in the band go. Now they needed to piece a new band together and first up was drummer Peter Criscuola from an ad in Rolling Stone magazine. Of course we know him as Peter Criss. The band played on without a contract now. After a little while they decided, you know…we need a lead guitarist. So in December 1972, the band placed an ad in the Village Voice for a lead guitarist and they started auditioning numerous guitarists. One of these strange cast of charcters walked in was this unusual looking dude with two different colored shoes. He plugged in and played without saying a word. Paul Frehley was his name and “Ace” is who he became.

A cool piece of Kisstory is that Bob Kulick is the guitarist that auditioned right before Ace. And to think, if Ace didn’t show up, he probably would’ve been it…who knows. Bob came back in to the Kiss world numerous times and did a lot of the guitar work when Ace was in a place that he couldn’t. We will get to know Bob later in the Kisstory. But first, I want to pay my respects to Bob as he passed on Friday, May 29th, 2020. He was a big part of the Kiss world and it wouldn’t have been the same without him. Heck, we might have not even got his brother Bruce in the band years later if it wasn’t for him. Okay, thanks for allowing me that sidetrack…now back to the regularly scheduled program.

The band was now set so they changed their name to Kiss and played their first show on January 30, 1973. Not soon after, they got the opportunity to do demos with Eddie Kramer and that is the next set of songs.

The demos kick off with “Deuce” good quality equal to what the Wicked Lester demos sounded like if not a little better. I’m not going to go through each track as I went in to great detail when I reviewed all the debut Kiss album. These tracks, which all end up on the debut album except “Watching You” which finds its way on to ‘Hotter Than Hell’, sound fantastic. The songs are a little more raw and have more punch than the debut album, I feel like that is the case anyway. Some really cool stuff to have.

Lastly, we get a handful of songs Live at the Academy of Music in New York from 12/31/73, but this is not true from what I researched. It is actually 5 songs from the Long Beach recording on 5/31/74. With the classic introduction of “Are You Ready to Rock?…well put your two lips together and Kiss”, we get some live Kiss. This recording is rough. The instruments sound flat almost hollow at times, but the vocals are strong and in your face. Gene really gives it his all on “Deuce”. “Nothing to Lose” has some sloppy guitar work and Paul trying to get the crowd clapping along. Gene yells out the lyrics with some help from Paul.

After a little tuning, we get a much better sounding guitar with some great Ace riffing on “She”. Drums aren’t too high in the mix though. More Gene on vocals. Does Paul actually sing yet in Kiss?? (Kidding). Wow, did the volume get turned up a little with “Firehouse”…oh wait…there is Paul singing now. Yeah!! Gene does sing along too. Best sounding song yet. And lastly, the volume turns down a little, then back up on “Strutter”. Even as rough as the guitar sound is and the overall quality, still a fun set of songs.

Now, this was a fun kick off to the John Humphrey Bootleg collection. I love the Wicked Lester stuff. No, it isn’t that great, but it is historic and fun…I like fun. The quality of the CD is really great for the Wicked Lester and the Kiss Demos. The live tracks are a little rough, but a whole lot of cool. This has really pumped me up for the rest of the albums to get through and I hope you will be too. My Overall Score is a 4.5 out of 5.0 Stars as it ain’t perfect, but it is awesome!!