| "Cold Gin" | |
|---|---|
| Song byKiss | |
| from the albumKiss | |
| Released | February 18, 1974 |
| Recorded | November 1973 |
| Genre | Hard rock,glam rock,heavy metal[1] |
| Length | 4:22 |
| Label | Casablanca |
| Songwriter(s) | Ace Frehley |
| Producer(s) | Kenny Kerner, Richie Wise |
| Kisstrack listing | |
10 tracks
| |
"Cold Gin" is a song by the American hard rock groupKiss. The song was written by the band's lead guitaristAce Frehley and was released in 1974 on the band'seponymous debut album. The song is featured on many compilations released by the band. Live versions of the song were often extended for about two minutes due to Frehley's soloing.
Guitar World listed "Cold Gin" as #7 on their list of greatest drinking songs.[2] It is #14 on Liquor.com's list of top 15 drinking songs[3] and it is ranked #32 of the 50 best drinking songs on TimeOut.com.[4]
"Cold Gin" is about a person suffering from poverty, loneliness, and alcoholism. However, the song's meaning is widely misinterpreted to be about a struggling couple who uses alcohol to cope with a toxic relationship or about how coldgin affects the male sex drive, but thorough lyrical analysis shows this is not the case.[5] Ace Frehley confirms what the song is about in his 2011 bookNo Regrets.[6]
Frehley said he wrote the song while he was on the subway.[7] According to Frehley, the riff for the song was inspired by the song "Fire and Water" by Englishrock groupFree.[8]Gene Simmons actually wrote the bridge, according to Frehley, though Simmons turned down a writing credit: "Back then, it was definitely more of a brotherhood. It didn't matter who got credit, the only thing that mattered was if the song was good".[9] The song was recorded in 1973 and was one of two songs from the band's debut album written by Frehley, the other being the album's instrumental, "Love Theme from KISS", which was written by the whole band. Although "Cold Gin" was never released as a single, it has remained a concert staple during the years.
The studio version differs significantly from the demo version. In the demo, after the solo,Paul Stanley shouts "Whoa! Alright! C'mon!", but in the studio version, he shouts "Whoa yeah!". The second guitar solo was also cut and the outro was shortened.[10][11]
As Frehley was insecure about his singing ability, Simmons sang the song on the original studio version and in most live versions (despite the fact that Simmons is ateetotaler), although during theAlive/Worldwide Tour, Frehley would sing parts of the song.[12] Frehley would provide the lead vocals when touring with his solo band.
"Cold Gin" soon became a fan favorite, with the band performing it on subsequent tours (the song was also featured on Kiss's breakthrough albumAlive!) but it would be dropped for theLove Gun Tour and the band did not play the song for three years, until theUnmasked Tour. The band once again dropped the song from the setlist for theAerosmith/Kiss co-headlinedRocksimus Maximus Tour/World Domination Tour but returned it for theKiss Alive/35 World Tour.
Frehley performed "Cold Gin" during his solo tours, along with other Kiss songs.
"Cold Gin" appeared on the following Kiss releases:
