Beth (song)

"Beth" is a song by American rock band Kiss, originally released on their 1976 album Destroyer. It was composed by drummer Peter Criss, his friend Stan Penridge and producer Bob Ezrin. Casablanca Records released it as a single in August 1976, after it was released as the B-side of "Detroit Rock City". "Beth" is Kiss's biggest commercial hit in the United States; it reached #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, received a Gold Record certification from the RIAA and a People's Choice Award in the "Favorite Song" category in 1977. "Beth" ranked #3 in VH1's 25 Greatest Power Ballads.[2]

"Beth"
Single by Kiss
from the album Destroyer
B-side"Detroit Rock City"
ReleasedAugust 1976
Recorded1976
StudioRecord Plant, New York City
GenreSoft rock[1]
Length2:49
LabelCasablanca Records
Songwriter(s)Peter Criss, Stan Penridge and Bob Ezrin
Producer(s)Bob Ezrin
Kiss singles chronology
"Flaming Youth"
(1976)		 "Beth"
(1976)		 "Hard Luck Woman"
(1976)

The song, originally titled "Beck", was composed by Criss and Penridge during their time with the band Chelsea. During the recording of Destroyer, Criss showed it to Ezrin, who made several changes to it and recommended changing its title to "Beth". Due to its positive commercial reception, the song appeared in a large part of Criss's concerts, where most of the time, he sang it over an instrumental track. "Beth" has appeared on several compilations and live albums, including Kiss Unplugged (1996), where the group performed it acoustically.

Background

By 1975, Kiss had released three studio albums, in which the compositional contributions of drummer Peter Criss were minimal;[3] the only track on which he appeared credited was the instrumental track "Love Theme from Kiss", written by the four members of the band and included in their debut album.[4] Criss assumed the role of vocalist in other songs created by his bandmates;[5] however, for Destroyer, Criss set himself the goal of adding one of his own compositions. During a limousine ride, Criss sang a fast-paced version of "Beck" for bassist Gene Simmons and guitarist Paul Stanley, assuming they would not be interested in including a sentimental ballad on the album. Simmons and Stanley suggested that he sing it to producer Bob Ezrin, who agreed to record it and assured him that it would be a success.[6]

Composition and recording

During Criss's time in Chelsea, he and the group's guitarist Stan Penridge decided to write a mocking song about the wife of their bandmate Mike Brand, Becky. According to Criss, she regularly called the group during rehearsals to ask when her husband would come home, and this gave them the idea of composing the first verse of the song: "Beck, I hear you callin', but I can't come home right now. Me and the boys are playin', and we just can't find the sound".[6] Criss later admitted that he composed the song for his first wife, Lydia.[7]

Criss sang the song to Bob Ezrin, who decided to include it in Destroyer because Kiss' other songs were primarily about sex, and "Beck" was a love song that "everyone would relate to".[6] Ezrin made several arrangements of the song's melody and wrote part of the lyrics.[3] Gene Simmons suggested changing the name to "Beth" because it would be easier to sing and to avoid confusion with Jeff Beck.[8] However, Lydia Criss later claimed credit for proposing the change for the same reason, and because the original Becky had a twin sister named Beth.[9]

In his autobiography, Simmons recounted that "I have never seen [Criss] compose a single song. Peter might have contributed a line or two of the lyrics, but after listening to Penridge's original demo, it's clear who made the original song".[10] In 2014, during an interview for Rolling Stone, Paul Stanley agreed with Simmons's assessment that Penridge was the main author, and he commented that Criss had nothing to do with the composition of "Beth", adding that "if you write one hit, you should be able to write two".[11] Criss, in his defense, mentioned that Stanley was jealous because "he is the main vocalist of a group in which he did not write the greatest success. That's his problem. They hate the fact that I was the songwriter of a hit and won the People's Choice".[12]

For the song's recording, Ezrin brought the New York Philharmonic orchestra and musician Dick Wagner into the A&R studio as a substitute for Ace Frehley.[13] According to Criss and Simmons, Frehley did not participate in the recording because he was engaged in playing cards with friends.[6][8] Once the orchestra arrived at the studio, Ezrin suggested that all 25 members wear fake tuxedos and that Criss appear in the studio in his trademark makeup so he could take some pictures. For his part, Ezrin put on a top hat and played the grand piano.[14] Finally, Criss recorded the vocals at the Record Plant studio.[13]

Structurally, "Beth" lacks a solo; instead, the mid-octave section repeats the intro along with the chorus in an orchestral interlude. The sound of the violin and viola, led by the cello, change the key from C major to A minor and then the trumpets, tubas, trombones and French horns enter, accentuating the hook.[13]

The song was a last-minute addition to the Destroyer album. According to Bill Aucoin, the manager of Kiss at that time, Simmons and Stanley did not want "Beth" on the album because it was not a typical Kiss song. Aucoin insisted on keeping the song on the record.[15]

Release

When released as a single, "Beth" was initially the B-side of "Detroit Rock City". Some of the initial credit for the flip-hit goes to Rosalie Trombley, at the time the music director at "The Big 8" CKLW in Windsor, Ontario. Trombley's daughter had a copy of the 45 and was hooked on "Beth", and began nagging her mother about it. "Beth" wasn't being promoted as the "A" side, but Trombley added it to CKLW's playlist. After "Beth" became a smash, Kiss presented Trombley's daughter with a gold record.[16] Kiss and Casablanca Records reissued "Beth" as an A-side with "Detroit Rock City" as the B-side, and it was far more successful. The single went gold in the US (the first Kiss single to do so) on January 5, 1977[17] and in Canada on December 1, 1976.[18]

"Beth" is also credited as invigorating sluggish sales of the Destroyer album, which many fans initially saw as a misstep. In 1977, Kiss received a People's Choice Award for "Beth", one of the few industry awards the band ever won.

The song's television debut was on The Paul Lynde Halloween Special on October 29, 1976, where Criss lip-synced a shortened version of the song while miming on piano. Live, "Beth" was performed by Criss alone on stage backed by a tape of the instrumental track. The acoustic version featured on Kiss Unplugged is the only recording with members of Kiss solely backing up Criss. The version of "Beth" featured on the group's 2003 Kiss Symphony: Alive IV DVD and subsequent album would be the only time the song was performed live with an ensemble. In 2010, the song was performed live for the first time with Eric Singer on acoustic guitar during their Sonic Boom Over Europe Tour and again on their The Hottest Show on Earth Tour in 2011. It has since been again removed from setlists, but the band occasionally performs the song at meet and greet sessions. On the 2019 End of the Road World Tour, the song has been performed by Singer, miming it on the piano.

Re-Recording

At the time of the release of KISS's 1988 compilation album, Smashes, Thrashes & Hits, Eric Carr had replaced Peter Criss as the band's drummer. A re-recording of "Beth" was produced just for this greatest hits album with Carr singing the vocals in the same room of the Record Plant studio where the song was originally recorded. This recording used the same backing track as Criss' version, but Carr also overdubbed some drum parts.

Chart performance

Sales certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[25] Gold 1,000,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

Personnel

Other versions
  • An acoustic version of the song appears on Criss' 1994 album Cat #1
  • In 2010, a cover by the cast of Glee peaked at #44 on Billboard's digital song chart.[26]
  • The 2016 Volkswagen Passat used the song in television commercials to advertise their Car-Net App-Connect, which allows the driver to access certain apps from their Smartphone through the dashboard.[27]
  • A cover appears on punk band No Use For A Name’s 2017 album Rarities Vol. 1: The Covers.

Appearances on Kiss albums

"Beth" appears on the following Kiss albums:

gollark: No, you definitely pinged me.
gollark: Hi, why ping me?
gollark: Ah, but he's *nicknamed* that.
gollark: So pjals and pjals3.
gollark: Well, nobody is called "pjals" right now...

References
  1. Lecaro, Lina (November 19, 2016). "Soft Rock Sundays: A Non-Ironic Celebration of Rock's Softer Side". L.A. Weekly. Archived from the original on May 2, 2018.
  2. "VH1 list of 25 greatest power ballads". Rateyourmusic.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved March 6, 2011.
  3. Stanley 2014, p. 28.
  4. Prato, Greg. "Kiss – Kiss". Allmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  5. Criss 2012, p. 99.
  6. Criss 2012, p. 129.
  7. Prato, Greg. "Beth – Kiss". Allmusic. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  8. Simmons 2010, p. 8.
  9. Prato, Greg (February 15, 2016). "Lydia Criss Tells the 'Beth' Story". Songfacts. Retrieved November 2, 2016.
  10. Simmons 2010.
  11. Hiatt, Brian (March 26, 2014). "Kiss Forever: The Rolling Stone Cover Story". Rolling Stone. Retrieved October 11, 2016.
  12. Childers, Chad (April 4, 2014). "KISS' Paul Stanley + Peter Criss Debate History of 'Beth'". Loudwire. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
  13. Campion 2015, p. 11.
  14. Criss 2012, p. 130.
  15. David Leaf, Ken Sharp. KISS: Behind the Mask – Official Authorized Biography, Warner Books, 2005 ISBN 978-0-446-69524-4 Page268
  16. Radio Revolution: Rise and Fall of the Big 8 Dir. Michael McNamara. Markham Street Films, 2004. Film
  17. "RIAA Gold & Platinum database". Riaa.com. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved February 7, 2009.
  18. "CRIA certification". Cria.ca. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved February 8, 2009.
  19. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-11-22. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  20. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  21. "Adult Contemporary Music Chart". Billboard. 1976-11-06. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  22. "Top 100 1976-11-20". Cashbox Magazine. Retrieved 2015-06-23.
  23. "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 2015-11-21. Retrieved 2016-10-11.
  24. "Top 100 Year End Charts: 1976". Cashbox Magazine. Archived from the original on 2012-08-25. Retrieved 2016-06-05.
  25. "American single certifications – Kiss – Beth". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH. 
  26. "Glee Cast Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  27. Lifton, Dave (18 December 2016). "Kiss' "Beth" Given New Twist in Volkswagen Commercial". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 18 January 2016.
  28. Cormier, Roger (2015-03-24). "21 Things You Might Not Know About NewsRadio". mentalfloss.com. Mental Floss. Retrieved 2019-07-11.

Bibliography
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