Former BLACKJACK Bassist Jimmy Haslip Discusses "Secret" KISS Collaboration

March 17, 2008, 16 years ago

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Greek webzine Rockpages.gr has issued an interview with Jimmy Haslip (ex-Blackjack), conducted before his concert in Athens. The followingis an excerpt from the interview where he talks about KISS and his “secret” participation in Creatures Of The Night and why GENE SIMMONS didn’t want to play bass on that recording day:

Q: You were one of the “ghost musicians” that played on KISS’ Creatures Of The Night. Would you like to tell us a few things about it?

A: "Sure… actually, the whole story is funny! I had just returned home after a long day in the studio rehearsing, recording etc… don’t ask me what I was recording because after all these years it’s all a blur to me (laughs). It was summer of 1982 and I was preparing something to eat in my kitchen. It was 11 o’clock in the night when the phone rang and although I was surprised to receive a phone call at such a late time of the day, I picked it up and it was Michael James Jackson (ed. note: Producer of Creatures of the Night). He sounded really desperate and he said to me that he had a deadline to have the album ready in about three days and Gene Simmons refused to play his bass parts because he had just broke up with DIANA ROSS and he wasn’t in a mood for that stuff! He asked me if I would be interested in coming by the studio and lay down some bass tracks for the album. I said yes… and remember that I had just returned from another studio… picked up my bass and some other stuff and off I went to my car for a 15-minute drive to Record Plant Studios. When I entered the studio… at about 12 midnight… they were all there… Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley, Vinnie Vincent…in another room was Eric Carr with Steve Ferris and I think there was also Bob Kulick in there. I think that every single person who was in the studio that night was used by KISS for a recording session (laughs)!"

Read the full interview at Rockpages.gr.


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