Also known as The Demon and God of Thunder, Gene Simmons helped to form Kiss in New Your City back in 1973 alongside Peter Criss, Ace Frehley and Paul Stanley. He fronted the band alongside Stanley for 50 years until their retirement in 2023 and their songwriting partnership was crucial to make them one of the best-selling bands of all time.
They were influenced by several bands when they were starting and Gene Simmons was always a huge fan of the British guitarist Jeff Beck. Everytime he had the chance to praise the singer he would and he also said many times that he used to listen to his music before going on stage with Kiss. But which are the two Jeff Beck albums that Simmons said were some of his favorites?
The 2 Jeff Beck albums Gene Simmons picked as some of his favorites
“Truth” (1968) and “Beck-Ola” (1969)
Jeff Beck passed away in January 2023 at the age of 78 and at the time, in an interview with BBC News (Transcribed by Rock and Roll Garage), Gene praised him. Also mentioning the albums “Truth” (1968) and “Beck-Ola” (1969) as some of his favorite ones.“I will tell you that, and all the guitar players will tell you that.”
“The classics, the greats, the Claptons, the Jimmy Pages, the Brian Mays. All amazing, amazing talents. Only Jeff Beck had the ability. The God-given blessing to be able to easily be an icon in Jazz, in Fusion, Rock, Blues. He could do it all. You want to hear something classic? Listen to Jeff Beck’s version of ‘Nessun Dorma’ with a symphony orchestra. If nobody’s around you will cry.”
He continued:
“I will tell that above and beyond the words. Everyday when we do shows we put a little music in the background. Every single pre-show, because it takes me about two hours to do the make-up and all that. Every day that we are about to go to a show, what fires me up is the same thing that fired up Jimmy Page and Led Zeppelin.”
“Before that was a Zeppelin, you would put on that first Jeff Beck record, ‘Truth’ and then ‘Beck-Ola’, the second one. It’s just undeniable, nothing like it has been done before, during or since. In fact, it’s fair to say that Jeff Beck Group began Led Zeppelin. I listen to it all the time. When he plays, unlike any other guitar players, I hum along with the solos. That’s the sound of greatness,” Gene Simmons said.
The albums and the friendship with Beck
The album “Truth” had many famous tracks like “Shapes of Things”, “Morning Dew”, “You Shook Me”, “Ol’ Man River”, “Greensleeves”, “Beck’s Bolero” and “I Ain’t Superstitious”. At the time Beck’s band had Rod Stewart on vocals, Ronnie Wood on bass and Micky Waller on drums. But there were some additional musicians like Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Keith Moon and Nicky Hopkins.
Released in 1969, “Beck-Ola” also had many famous songs “All Shook Up”, “Jailhouse Rock” and “Spanish Boots”. The album once again had Rod Stewart and Ronnie Wood, but this time also had Nicky Hopkins on piano and organ and Tony Newman on drums. Micky Waller played the drums in the track “Sweet Little Angel”.
Gene Simmons had the chance to meet Jeff Beck many times during his career and they were good friends. Until his death in 2023, the British musician released 17 studio albums. But had sold an estimated amount of more than 5 million records worldwide. Curiously, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2009 by his longtime friend Jimmy Page. During his speech, Page said: “He’d just keep getting better and better and he leaves us – mere mortals”.