1974 song by Kiss
"
Deuce
" is a song by the American
hard rock
band
Kiss
, written by bassist and vocalist
Gene Simmons
. The song appeared on Kiss' eponymous 1974
debut album
. In addition to being one of the band's most popular and most-
covered
songs, "Deuce" is a traditional concert opener. The song has appeared on many Kiss live and compilation albums.
Background
[
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]
According to Gene Simmons, he simply copied the bassline of
the Rolling Stones
' "
Bitch
" and played it more or less backwards. "I wrote 'Deuce' on the bass," he said, "so the guitars ended up shadowing the bass line or variations of it in different octaves".
[1]
The entire song was written nearly linearly; the riff came first, then the bridge, then finally the chorus. While uncredited,
Paul Stanley
provided the lightly
phased
intro riff, inspired by
the Raspberries
' "
Go All the Way
".
[2]
"It's an integral part of the song," he observed, "but should I get credit for that? I don't think so".
[3]
"Deuce" also has special significance for
Ace Frehley
, as it was the first song he ever played with Kiss. "When I auditioned for Kiss", recalled Frehley, "they said, 'We're going to play you a song for you to listen to, and then try playing along ? it's in the
key
of '
A
'. They played ["Deuce"] as a three-piece. I thought, 'That's easy enough,' so I got up and wailed for four minutes playing lead work over it". Frehley has also stated that "Deuce" is his favorite Kiss song
[4]
[5]
Gene Simmons stated in reference to the song: "Lyrically, I had no idea what I was talking about. Sometimes stuff means a lot, sometimes it means nothing."
[6]
[7]
On July 28, 2009, a live version of "Deuce" was released (along with live versions of "100,000 Years" and "Parasite") in the Kiss 01 track pack for
Rock Band 2
.
Live performances
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]
The song was performed during the first Kiss tours, mostly as the opener. It was dropped from the setlist for the
Rock and Roll Over Tour
and was not performed regularly in the US until the
Hot in the Shade Tour
in 1990. After 1976, it was not played again until a show in
Evansville, Indiana
, in January 1978. It was played in some one-off shows in the US in 1988 as well as the European Crazy Nights Tour in 1988. Simmons has said that during the band's first tours, after they did the usual setlist and encore, they did not have any more songs to play so they played "Deuce" again.
[8]
Reception
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]
"Deuce" is widely considered one of Kiss's best songs. In 2014,
Paste
ranked the song number one on their list of the 20 greatest Kiss songs,
[9]
and in 2019,
Louder Sound
ranked the song number two on their list of the 40 greatest Kiss songs.
[10]
Appearances
[
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]
"Deuce" has appeared on the following
Kiss
albums:
Personnel
[
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]
Kiss
,
Alive!
and
Alive! The Millennium Concert
personnel
[
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]
Alive III
personnel
[
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]
- Gene Simmons ? bass guitar, lead vocals
- Paul Stanley ? rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Eric Singer
? drums
- Bruce Kulick
? lead guitar
Kiss Symphony: Alive IV
personnel
[
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]
- Gene Simmons ? bass guitar, lead vocals
- Paul Stanley ? rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Peter Criss ? drums
- Tommy Thayer
? lead guitar
Kiss Instant Live
,
Kiss Alive 35
,
Kiss Sonic Boom Over Europe
and
Jigoku-Retsuden
personnel
[
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]
- Gene Simmons ? bass guitar, lead vocals
- Paul Stanley ? rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Eric Singer ? drums
- Tommy Thayer ? lead guitar
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Kitts, Jeff: 'Back in black (and white)',
Guitar World
, September 1996, p. 79
- ^
Simmons, Gene and Stanley, Paul.
The KISS Box Setes
, The Island Def Jam Music Group, 2001
- ^
Kitts, Jeff: 'Back in black (and white)',
Guitar World
, September 1996, p. 79
- ^
Frehley, Ace.
The KISS Box Set
liner notes, The Island Def Jam Music Group, 2001
- ^
"- YouTube"
.
YouTube
.
- ^
"Deuce by Kiss"
. SongFacts
. Retrieved
17 October
2014
.
- ^
Thompson, Dave (2011).
1000 Songs That Rock Your World
. kp / fw media.
ISBN
9781440218996
.
- ^
Kiss
- Deuce
SongFacts
. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- ^
Lore, Mark (June 26, 2014).
"The 20 Best KISS Songs"
.
Paste
. Retrieved
April 5,
2022
.
- ^
"The 40 best Kiss songs of all time"
.
Louder Sound
. July 15, 2019
. Retrieved
April 5,
2022
.
External links
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]
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