"She" is a song by the American

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...

group

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

. It was released in 1975 on the band's third studio album, '' Dressed to Kill''. The song was written by

Gene Simmons Gene Simmons (born Chaim Witz; ; born August 25, 1949) also known by his stage persona "The Demon", is an Israeli-born American musician. He was the bassist and co-lead singer of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss, which he co-founded wit ...

and

Stephen Coronel Stephen Coronel (born March 21, 1951) is an American guitarist and former member of the rock band Wicked Lester. He co-wrote a handful of songs that would later be recorded by the group Kiss, a band which featured former Wicked Lester members ...

while Simmons was in a band called Bullfrog Bheer. Although it was first released in 1975,

had performed "She" on previous tours. It was removed from the set list during the 1980s and 1990s.

Background

Coronel was the originator of the song, with Simmons contributing the words and lyrics during an evening rehearsal with

Wicked Lester Wicked Lester was a rock band based in New York City. Two notable members were bassist Chaim Witz (as "Gene Klein") and rhythm guitarist Stanley Eisen. Originally formed in 1970 as Rainbow, the band changed its name to Wicked Lester in 1971 to av ...

. The song was originally called "She Walks by Moonlight", after a line in the film '' Hondo'' where, as Simmons said:

'I want your daughter.' he chief said:'You may not have my daughter.' he cowboy said:'Why not?' he chief said:'She walks by moonlight.' And that's the first line of the song. I didn't even know what it meant, I just loved the sound of it.

The Wicked Lester version of the song is 3:07 in length, while the later '' Dressed to Kill'' version is 4:08 long and the original line "she's no good" was changed to "she's so good". Also, the Kiss version lacked the original's

congas The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are stave (wood), staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (drum), quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), an ...

(played by session musician

Jimmy Maelen Jimmy Maelen (born March 26, 1940 – January 14, 1988) was an American percussionist from the 1960s to 1980s, who worked with many artists including Roxy Music, Bryan Ferry, Peter Gabriel, James Taylor, Dire Straits, Barry Manilow, Alice Cooper ...

) and

flute The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

Ace Frehley Paul Daniel "Ace" Frehley (, ; born April 27, 1951) is an American musician who was the original lead guitarist, occasional lead vocalist and founding member of the rock band Kiss (band), Kiss. He invented the persona of The Spaceman (a.k.a. ...

's solo in the song was based on

Robby Krieger Robert Alan Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American guitarist and founding member of the rock band the Doors. Krieger wrote or co-wrote many of the Doors' songs, including the hits " Light My Fire", " Love Me Two Times", " Touch Me", and " ...

's solo in

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

' song "

Five to One "Five to One" is a song by American rock band the Doors, from their 1968 album ''Waiting for the Sun''. The song's lyrics were written by lead singer Jim Morrison but officially credited to the whole band. Composition Unlike some of the Doors t ...

", starting in the same key and tempo. It was also self-admittedly "copied" by

Mike McCready Michael David McCready (born April 5, 1966) is an American musician known for being a founding member and lead guitarist of Pearl Jam. McCready was also a member of the side project bands Flight to Mars, Temple of the Dog, Mad Season (band), Ma ...

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. One of the key bands in the grunge, grunge movement of the early 1990s, Pearl Jam has outsold and outlasted many of its contemporaries from the early 1990s, ...

on that band's song " Alive".Gilbert, Jeff
"Prime Cuts: Mike McCready - The Best of Pearl Jam!"
''Guitar School''. May 1995. "She" is one of only three Kiss songs taken from the Wicked Lester era, with the others being the '' Hotter Than Hell'' "

Goin' Blind "Goin' Blind" is a ballad by American hard rock band Kiss, written by Gene Simmons and Stephen Coronel; it is sometimes referred to as "Going Blind". The song originally appeared on the band's second album, 1974's '' Hotter Than Hell''. The or ...

" and ''Dressed to Kill'' "Love Her All I Can". "She" and "Love Her All I Can" were intended for inclusion on the ''Hotter Than Hell'' album, but the band already had enough material for the album.

Live performances

Although not released officially until 1975, Kiss played "She" on previous tours.

also performed the song. Following the 1975

Alive! Tour The Alive! Tour was a concert tour by American rock band Kiss, in support of their 1975 live album '' Alive!''. The tour began on September 10, 1975 and concluded on June 6, 1976. History At the Cobo Hall show, Paul Stanley began using Pete ...

, "She" was dropped and was not performed during the 1980s and the 1990s. The band did play the song occasionally during the 1994–1995 shows and on Halloween night in 1998 at

Dodger Stadium Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

. The band returned the song to the setlist for the Rock the Nation Tour in 2004. It was performed again during the 2008–2009

Alive 35 World Tour The Alive 35 World Tour was a 2008–2009 concert tour by Kiss to celebrate their 35th anniversary. It was the band's first major tour since the Rock the Nation World Tour in 2004. On the tour, Kiss played in Europe for the first time since the ...

Appearances

"She" appears on following

albums: *'' Dressed to Kill'' – studio version *'' Alive!'' – live version *'' The Originals'' – studio version *''

Double Platinum Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording and reproduction, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video ...

'' – studio version with "Rock Bottom" intro *'' The Box Set'' –

version *''

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

'' – studio version *'' Kiss Chronicles: 3 Classic Albums'' – studio version *''

Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 ''Kiss Alive! 1975–2000'' is a collection of live recordings from American hard rock band Kiss, released by Universal Music on November 21, 2006. This box set marks the debut appearance of Kiss' Millennium Concert performance, recorded on De ...

'' – ''Alive!'' version

Covers

*S.G.M. covered the song in 1988. *

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium '' Bacillus anthracis'' or ''Bacillus cereus'' biovar ''anthracis''. Infection typically occurs by contact with the skin, inhalation, or intestinal absorption. Symptom onset occurs between one ...

's cover appears on the first official

tribute album '' Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved'', released in 1994. This version was more similar to the '' Alive!'' version of the song than to the studio take, as on the ''Alive!'' version, Kiss played the coda of "Let Me Know", just as Anthrax did on the cover. *Unmasked's cover is featured on the Norwegian 2005 Kiss tribute album '' Gods of Thunder: A Norwegian Tribute to Kiss''. *Snowblynd's version appears on the '' Lick It Up – A Millennium Tribute to Kiss'' 2008 tribute album. *Former

lead guitarist Ron Leejack covered "She" on his two-track demo tape ''Wicked'' *Still Wicked, a project consisting of Leejack and

's friend Gordon Gebert, covered the song on the band's 1998 EP ''Something Wicked This Way Comes'' *Ace Frehley covered the song on his 2020 covers album, ''Origins Vol. 2.''

Personnel

Wicked Lester version *

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, lead vocals * Tony Zarrella –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Ron Leejack –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

* Brooke Ostrander – keyboards Kiss version *Gene Simmons - bass guitar, lead vocals *Paul Stanley - rhythm guitar, lead vocals *

Peter Criss George Peter John Criscuola (born December 20, 1945), better known by his stage name Peter Criss, is an American musician, best known as a co-founder, original drummer, and an occasional vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss. Criss established th ...

- drums,

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

- lead guitar

References

{{Kiss Kiss (band) songs Anthrax (American band) songs Songs written by Gene Simmons 1975 songs