Molimo Demo 1971 ( Ace Frehley's Pre-Kiss Demos Unearthed)

A demo acetate from the band Molimo - featuring guitarist Ace Frehley, who would later join Kiss - was recently discovered in a collection of old vinyl in a barn in upstate New York.
The band had recorded a demo for RCA records in 1971, but the recordings were shelved. Two years later, of course, Frehley joined Kiss. The existence of the recordings was known, but years back, the RCA vaults were raided trying to find them to no avail. Kiss fans have long waited to hear these long, lost and unheard tracks and now, they can.
Read More: Ace Frehley's Pre-Kiss Demos Unearthed | ultimateclassic...

[@swissmiss9120]

Sounds typical from early 70's. We can hear the genius guitar seed that was already there in ACE, known nowadays as guitar GOD who has changed the face of the rock arena for ever ! A sparkling star from out of space 🤩💫🛸

[@pascaldesjardins1342]

RIGHT ON BRO ! 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@richardheadly7466]

@@pascaldesjardins1342 Jefferson Airplane

[@davidcharles8059]

LOL. Get out of here bro

[@johno2655]

Genius? 😂

[@remyguts1]

Ace just has that signature sound. I love that more of this pre rock star stuff is becoming more available for a lot of the greats.

[@duggi36]

I really like this. I like weird stuff from that time. Ace's guitar sounds really good. What a find.

[@derekbooth1769]

duggi b I agree. I m glad I found this. ACE sounds good

[@johnellizz]

It called early 70's Prog Rock and almost always sounds cool. Can hear hundreds of albums of it on KZbin.

[@johncogburn2590]

Well, it is '71. Two years before he decided to help change the world of rock forever. :)

[@derekbooth1769]

john cogburn I know right

[@TopKattDad]

Absolutely! Them boys with white faces

[@Pete.Franco]

Ironically, Ace has a star on his pants...

[@ronnieparker4311]

And Peter Criss was in a band LIPS!

[@tropicalcerralvo5923]

The guy behind Ace has what appears to be a lightning bolt. His belly is too big and the shirt rolled up or somethang! LoL

[@paulcaldwell5076]

@@ronnieparker4311 Peter Criss released an album with Chelsea. You can listen to the album on KZbin.

[@calebproductions5970]

They already had " his" character made up.

[@paulcaldwell5076]

@@calebproductions5970 Ace isn't the star child Paul is. Ace is the space man.

[@georgespottiswood4660]

Early Prog / Rock nonsense .......still interesting to hear Ace's past........thank you for posting.

[@markfoster1520]

Good to know he didn't spring from whole cloth!

[@derekbooth1769]

George Spottiswood yeah I m glad I heard this

[@johnanthony7728]

This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen on KZbin. Love this.

[@foureightyvolts]

This is great! I always equate myself with a band member... and I wouldn't be Mr. Studly to the left of Ace, I'd be the fat guy in the pajamas behind Ace.

[@fullclipaudio]

The fat guy behind Ace looks contemporary. He could be in a band today or walking around Walmart.

[@quiricomazarin476]

Circa 2:55 sounds like chord progression In love her all I can.

[@CoCotheTurtle]

Two guys from BTO, Grace Slick, Bobby Goldsboro and Mike Stivic.

[@TopKattDad]

Sorry Ace, you and the Boys we're truly Original, and always will be

[@garyhay8000]

Ahhh the days of lsd, love, and peace if loving this is wrong i don’t wanna be right!! 😂😂

[@pascaldesjardins1342]

And what is ironic, is that Ace told us in his book "No Regrets" than he had NEVER touched LSD or something else psychedelic.

[@anthonysorrento5329]

Love it! Excellent Jefferson Airplane vibe.

[@dasyaranispalyac7972]

Jethro Tull, Yes, Focus, Genesis, Queen ... outburst of creativity never seen again in the history of "pop" music

[@richardheadly7466]

I got that too, I'm surprised there aren't more people picking up on it.

[@ErikDeMann]

Considering the complexity of these musical concepts, starting out with KISS must have been like going for an extended holiday for Ace, no matter if you like these songs or not.

[@johnnyringo9759]

This is way better than "10,000 Volts of AI!!!"

[@chetum11]

So psychedelic, I friggin love it!

[@DoubleACbg]

Aside from Ace’s distinctive playing, the first song features the RMI electric piano heavily

[@bobowrathsovine.]

sounds to me that they are trying to sound like the Turtles meets Jefferson Airplane

[@sixsixxsixxxx]

definitely says late 60's early 70's...has that "everybody sing along" vibe of that era and would have fit in at Woodstock, etc...not bad

[@eatablelove]

Yeah, and the result is worth hearing!

[@7777Scion]

sounds like a bunch of 9th graders on weed trying to be cool - not

[@jimilove7773]

Johhy Barbatta!

[@TheIkaika777]

Hang on, let me find my lava lamp.

[@fifis677]

Though mixed horribly, this album sounds pretty damn good.

[@Olaverda]

Mixed bad. Just like the first three Kiss albums. I hate Kerner and Wise for what could have been.

[@THECLARENCES]

LOVE! Ace rules! xoxo The Clarences

[@dylanakent]

Everybody inevitably winds up playing with a band like this at least once.😅

[@toneyisaiah3556]

The once and future Ace Freheley.

[@MarcelGomesPan]

This is really great music! 🎶🎸

[@kennymik1509]

I've just been unfrozen after an amount of time that has (obviously) passed. Oh!!! Hello!!!!

[@StarfieldRailway]

This is excellent.

[@thevozz]

Wow..this is bizarre! Never knew Ace did this..so unAce like. Def had a Mamas and Papas vibe to it..weird.

[@derekbooth1769]

thevozz2031 I agree. ACE sounds good

[@charlesrobinson7469]

I was thinking Curved Air with Jefferson Airplane at times.👍🏾

[@taradead]

I like it. Sounds like a 60s version of October Project...and ace was playing more technical than ever.

[@ВнукИванаРусаков]

Очень интересно! Похоже на репетицию какой-то рок-оперы. Вообще, такие Demos, часто, гораздо интереснее конечного коммерческого продукта.

[@allen1402]

The woman is trying to sound like Grace Slick

[@acelarson1872]

Really good quality for its time not a bad song.

[@thebluesrockers]

Not my cup of tea, Glad Ace found his way to kiss.

[@jeffmosier3145]

And to think Ace got a ride from his mom when he went to audition for KISS.

[@DronePsyche]

Interesting but ILL to the max!!

[@TW-vl4wj]

I like wicked Lester better , but this is interesting

[@musicbill]

Boy if that isnt the sound of the 60s i dont know what is

[@grassyknollblues]

Sounds like his old breadwinner through a fender blender

[@MateusLeadGuitar]

So good 🇧🇷

[@crushingalldeceivers]

2:44 love her all I can

[@rudolfschenker]

Love Her All I Can was a Wicked Lester song written by Paul Stanley and later used for KISS. It had nothing to do with Ace or this band.

[@PerpetualArt]

Doesn't sound like Love her all I can at all.

[@brianreed1859]

Nope not even close

[@Dr.Jekyll]

There are only 12 notes in music. If you think the two sound similar, you must think everything sounds similar to something else. If those notes were played on a trumpet, you probably wouldn’t have thought there was a similarity.

[@crushingalldeceivers]

@@Dr.Jekyll You said, "you must think everything sounds similar to something else". Gosh darn it you are right, I just noticed how every song by Napalm Death sounds extremely similar to Celine Dion!

[@whiteywilloughby8689]

That looks like Carmine Appice in the background.

[@paulwalrond8836]

Aww man this is so f ed up. Poor Ace. He sure didn't eat off that album

[@4stringz.]

super cool !!!

[@theSword-]

I was at a small bar years ago, and I personally heard Ace say that his favorite song that he ever did with kiss was "deuce" from 1970. Maybe he was working on "deuce" by himself before he ever met Gene or Paul. He didn't elaborate about it.

[@johno2655]

Seriously?!? People give Ace wayyy too much credit 😂

[@theSword-]

@@johno2655 ...Yes, I heard him say that myself.

[@simonscott1121]

I spoke to a guy once who claimed that he saw KISS in 72, makeup and all. He was adamant, as it was at his 21st or some such. I'm not convinced the canon history is entirely accurate.

[@theSword-]

@@simonscott1121 ...Right. I think everyone bases their existance off of the 1973 kiss album, as if they just met, made an album, and got everything together in a week or 2.

[@KillswitchEngage2010]

~That's Messed Up; ..That PAUL Speaks ..About paul ACE, Like KISS Was His First Band, Talking About His Footware Yet He's Worn Purple Furs (rude

[@jimilove7773]

Ace!

[@billtice5057]

It’s crazy to think he’d be playing on “Creatures of the Night” just some ten years later. So cool!

[@kevinhorton4400]

Although his face did appear on the cover, Ace did not play on any songs on COTN. Most lead guitar was handled by Vinnie Vincent, while other guitarists like Steve Farris, Robben Ford and Jimmy Haslip contributed on some tracks too.

[@billtice5057]

Wow… I didn’t know this. I know a lot of that was going on with both Peter and Ace towards the end, not surprised

[@beauzer36]

@@billtice5057 But Ace quit and they begged him not to. When they saw he was serious they begged him to do the promotion for the record at least till they could find someone including videos being on the album cover and a bunch of cheesy lipsynched appearances in Europe. Like a trooper he held up his business agreement and did all of it.

[@davidcharles8059]

@@billtice5057really? Common knowledge….you must not follow them very close. Besides the guitar work on that album sounds nothing like him.

[@javtimestwo]

@@davidcharles8059 I have to agree with you. Ace has been incredibly honest about his lack of participation on the record and that since he was paid well he decided to help promote the album with tv show appearances and videos.

[@raythackston1960]

So who are the other people in the group ?? Did any of them make it to another group with any success ?

[@haywoodyoudome]

Seems like only Ace was successful. The rest probably quit, got real jobs, and lived a life of complete misery. Barry Dempsey (bass) Dave Polinski (drums) Roy Singer (Keyboards) Tom Ellis (vocals, guitar) Christine Murphy (vocals)

[@adventure_pippin3801]

I can confirm that Tom Ellis is still a badass living his best life as a wealthy artist (painter)

[@eskimoargento101]

7:16 smell like "100.000 years"

[@alodewinter8952]

wicked Lester should have opened for them! lol ..but really these guys sound like insence n peppermints meet acid n pcp

[@derekbooth1769]

mike riley ACE sounds good

[@andrewaskew9207]

I guess he made enough money to buy a pair of runners off this demo..maybe the multi colored ones that impressed Paul & gene back in the day!😎

[@littlebritain64]

Here in Italy very little of Kiss was known in 1978, when I was a teenager, and very very few books about them were printed ( I bet could have been barely the number of one hand....). On one was written that Ace impressed the rest of the band also for wearing two shoes different in colours each other. Maybe a wrong translation from an american source?😄

[@pascaldesjardins1342]

Câliss ! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@leacocca]

carmine appice?

[@paulcaldwell5076]

Rock out Ace!

[@Dr.Jekyll]

You think this is an example of Ace rocking out?

[@paulcaldwell5076]

@@Dr.Jekyll A very young Ace, sure. Of course back in the hippie days he was not officially "Ace" yet. He was still Paul Frehley.

[@yournamehere7182]

Ace the Jazz Guitarist. Who knew 🤷‍♀

[@williamsherman1089]

Hey we all take our baby steps 😆🤣😂😅

[@Terminus_El_Camino]

Exceedingly trippy. I can't say that I recognize Ace's classic style at any point in the recording though.

[@sfmf2012]

Very 1971. It's sounds better than Wicked Lester.

[@leswadley6792]

not my kinda thing but its got ace on it so i dig it.

[@derekbooth1769]

Les Wadley I know right

[@Dr.Jekyll]

So if Ace played on Friday by Rebecca Black, you’d like it? If you wrote that you’ll listen to it because Ace is on it, that’s understandable, and I’m doing the same. But Ace being in it doesn’t make this music good. Just like Kiss was also good without Ace.

[@leswadley6792]

John Wayne dig your name! I drink the blue kool aid🤪🤘🏼!

[@big106razor]

@@Dr.Jekyll Yes, if he played with Rebecca Black I'd like it. Because he's Ace Fuckin' Frehley!

[@rayrose4961]

@@Dr.Jekyll 3

[@jetcitysinatra7300]

This is typical late 60's hippy music.

[@pghharry]

Sounds horrible, but thank you for sharing this!

[@williamsherman1089]

I think you had to be on the right combo of drugs and it probably sounded real groovy man

[@tropicalcerralvo5923]

I noticed Ace has a star on his pant leg. The guy behind Ace has on his t~shirt what appears to be a lightning bolt like the one Ace uses?

[@Dr.Jekyll]

Are you asking a question or making a statement?

[@richardbogartburke4978]

the logo has elements of the Kiss emblem, wonder who drew that?

[@billtrepkowski527]

That's not a logo, that's a watermark. Ace himself posted that photo online. I know it was on his MySpace page, and probably his website, too. Maxcake Productions is his production company. This way, no one else can use the photo without giving credit to the source.

[@derekbooth1769]

Richard Bogart Burke I see that. pretty wild. that's the doings of ACE I'm sure

[@jeffmosier3145]

He said in a YT vid that he came up with the KISS name for the band and it reflects with the MAX CAKE logo that he came up with the design with the two SS's and even the K is reflected with the sway back line ending that lightning bolt. You know that one of a kind K.

[@jeffmosier3145]

​@@billtrepkowski527Very smart man back then. Just like he copyrighted his makeup face design. He was one smart party hound rocker roller.

[@albitcapinigro1107]

Good thing he got into KISS.

[@philipholmes5884]

Sounds like real early Alice Cooper group stuff... from the Zappa days ...but with a girl singing...

[@01artist]

Listen to the 2:45 minute mark and tell me that small part doesn't sound like "Love Her All I Can" by KISS

[@quiricomazarin476]

I thought the same thing.

[@michaelanthony1342]

Ugh !!! The Indigo girls meet Joan Baez and Ace ....👎👎👎

[@michaelsnider5293]

Sounds like the Peanut Butter Conspiracy

[@ATCguy1973]

They sound a lot like Fairport convention

[@johnspokus]

Yes, that was my first thought. Folky progressive rock.

[@thomasdudley6514]

So many of the pre kiss bands were psych or r b based

[@Olivier-es3vh]

Funny ! 👍

[@peterpresutti4064]

Can't take it had to turn off the video

[@gregroland9503]

FREHLEYIZHERE27

[@2112res]

WHO wanted to hear this? I lasted 5 seconds.

[@generationomega2633]

Wow. This really sucks, but more power to 'em.

[@elliotwheeler4164]

Anyone know the personnel, plus the final song, the riff songs like 'School's Out' by Alice Cooper.

[@StoneGrooveRecords]

+Elliot Wheeler These are the song titles: 1. East of Yesterday 2. City of Tears 3. Pleasure Palaces www.kissmonster.com/song_stories/song_stories_molimo_01.php Molimo Ace Frehley Pre-Kiss Demo Demo 1971 Runtime - 7 minutes 35 Seconds Christine Murphy - Vocals Tom Ellis - Vocals, Guitar Roy Singer - Piano, Keyboards Paul (Ace) Frehley - Guitar Barry Dempsey - Bass Dave Polinski - Drums Notes - (From Village Voice April 18th, 2014) This Molimo demo acetate is 'discovered' January 2014 when Record collector Chris Reisman was working his way through an extensive vinyl collection in a barn in upstate New York when, in the last bit of excavating, he found a box full of decades-old acetates and demos. Among them, Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley's earliest known major label recordings as part of shelved psychadelic/prog-rock outfit Molimo. Recorded for RCA in 1971, the record's existence has been the source of much speculation for Kiss over the years, but when a quest to find it in RCA's vaults proved unfruitful, hope seemed lost. Reisman's find is the single biggest "lost" music discovery since the Velvet Underground 1966 acetate was found by collector Warren Hill at a Portland garage sale in 2004. The RCA Vaults were searched for this years ago, and it was documented they didn't turn anything up. After Ace Frehley left Molimo and went to Casablanca Records to record with Kiss, he brought his old band members (from Molimo) with him to record an album. The band's called Tomorrow Morning. That's another acetate that was found inside that same batch. They recorded an album that never came out. www.ioffer.com/i/ace-frehley-cd-pre-kiss-demo-molimo-587958779

[@platthepollutypus]

Dat vibrato tho......

[@rigovillarreal3178]

Dave Polinski on drums

[@TW-vl4wj]

Ack!!!😂

[@Boethius411]

Wonder who the drummer is? He’s really tight and the bass player too. Take away the organ doodling and the mama’s and papa’s melody and harmonies. Throw some killer lyrics vocals on it and I think it would be pretty badass for real.

[@therealfronzilla]

Basically write another song 😂. There might be something there...I think all that is actually ace'a guitar work

[@rayrose4961]

LOL if you change everything about it it's really good

[@Boethius411]

@@rayrose4961 lol. I didn’t say all of that now. The song structure, chord progression and changes are good. The mix is just dated and not in the good way. It wouldn’t take that much to turn it into something.

[@muddhammer7834]

Looks like Carmine Appice. I don’t think it is though

[@quarterjukebox208]

Spinal tap

[@tonyjungweber7908]

carmine appice on drums ?

[@user-vp3nt4cy5q]

Hippy music

[@lastcall170]

Aside from the horrible vocals it has an early YES sound.

[@davidlanham99]

It’s just all over the place.

[@databasedan6833]

Sounds a lot like the Amboy Dukes don’t it?

[@kensheeler7914]

This band is very Jefferson Airplaneish sounding

[@misstery5942]

Well.... this sounds familiar 😂

[@scottmasson3039]

Sounds like Fiery Furnaces

[@christopherbasham1551]

Could not stand to listen to much of this.

[@stephenslagle4069]

This is seriously awful. Cool for a lifelong KISS fan, just to listen to, like the first time I heard Wicked Lester. But, I mean, seriously, this is a parody of a parody. D-level Jefferson Airplane. I need several Modelo's when listening to Molimo...........

[@brianreed1859]

I'm sorry to say this is pretty bad

[@medievaltimes6473]

Sounds exactly like Vinnie Vincent...

[@zachary_attackery]

This seems like hippie crap that Gene would have hated

[@stucazzo2181]

Dear gawd, is a live animal being butchered? Such plaintive wailing.

[@invisibleman1028]

Terrible band name

[@jesuscampos8136]

Terrible

[@socalfun64]

Worst thing Ive ever had to listen to, lol. Poor Ace.

[@7777Scion]

Gawdawful. I bet Frehley wishes he could have found these tapes and destroyed them. This sounds like a bunch of 1967 hippies lost in 1971 - the songs are crap, the playing is crap, there is nothing worthy of circa 1973/74 Ace here by a long shot. The guitar is pretty bad.

[@thomascunningham2919]

why are you so angry? crap...

[@williamsherman1089]

Knowing Ace when he thinks about this music he probably cracks up, I know I would be

[@lancehurley9743]

I bet he made just enough money to buy one orange shoe and one red shoe...

[@user-mx1fn5fi9i]

Horrible band name

[@user-mx1fn5fi9i]

God bloody awful 😂😂😂😂