Black Diamond Cold Gin Kiss

Black Diamond Album: Kiss (1973)
Cold Gin Album: Kiss (1973)
by Kiss

Kiss closed their eponymous first album with this track. The band would often play "Black Diamond" as the closing number of their early concerts.

Paul Stanley told Classic Rock magazine: "'Black Diamond' was a song that I wrote about New York. New York was very dear to us, and life there was all we could write about. Seeing hookers on the street, whether we lived it, we saw it and it kind of gave us something to fantasize about."

Written by rhythm guitarist Paul Stanley. "'Black Diamond' was written almost exactly as it is," he said, "except that the riff wasn't there; Gene [Simmons] brought that part in … It's all about arrangement and embellishment. That's what you're supposed to do in a band: come in and add something. But that doesn't mean you wrote the song."

"Black Diamond" has appeared on the following Kiss albums:

Kiss - studio version
Alive! - live version
The Originals - studio version
Double Platinum - remixed & edited studio version
The Box Set - studio version
Kiss Symphony: Alive IV - live version
Gold - studio version
Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 - Alive! version + new live version
Sonic Boom - new studio version

The Replacements did a version of Black Diamond on their 1984 album Let It Be. A live recording from 1986 was featured on the 2017 album For Sale: Live at Maxwell's 1986.

Yoshiki from the Japanese rock band X Japan created an arrangement of "Black Diamond" for a 72-piece orchestra on 1994's Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved tribute album.

Black Diamond Brigade, a Norwegian American super group featuring Billy Gould of Faith No More and members of Satyricon, Euroboys, Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band, and Amulet formed as a one-off project just to cover this song in 2003.

Kiss guitarist Ace Frehley wrote Cold Gin, which is about a guy who has only his gin to keep him warm. Frehley explained: "I wrote 'Cold Gin' in a New York subway, in my head, both lyrics and music. I had a spiral notebook with me. I never took a guitar lesson, nobody believes that. I didn't realize it was gonna become a Kiss classic."

Gene Simmons: "Ace [Frehley] brought in 'Cold Gin.' When we first heard it I remember being struck by that great opening guitar riff, which was the basis of the song. The problem we had with it was that after the verse and chorus, it didn't seem to go anywhere. It was an unfinished idea. I suggested a section in the middle of the song that became the riff part of the song. It changed the song from an 'A' voicing to a riff section in the key of 'G' and kept ascending up the scale until it finally wound up in an 'E.' Paul suggested a couple of arrangement modifications in the song, and presto, 'Cold Gin,' the complete song. I insisted that Ace should sing the song, but he refused and said that he preferred I sing it. The original version of the song as recorded on the first Kiss demo, changed very slightly through the years and was to remain a staple of our live concerts to this day."

The irony of Cold Gin is that Gene Simmons, who sings it, doesn't drink and has never done drugs. Simmons claims that his only addiction is to sex, and that he's slept with over 4000 women.

Cold Gin was played at the funeral of the late guitarist (Dimebag) Darrell Abbott, as Kiss and Ace Frehley were his favorite band and guitarist.

Guitar World listed "Cold Gin" as #7 on their list of greatest drinking songs. It is #14 on Liquordotcom's list of top 15 drinking songs and it is ranked #32 of the 50 best drinking songs on TimeOutdotcom.

"Cold Gin" appeared on the following Kiss releases:

Kiss - original studio version
Alive! - live version of the song
The Originals - studio version
Double Platinum - studio version
Killers - studio version
Greatest Kiss - studio version
The Box Set - Alive! version
Gold - Alive! version
Kiss Chronicles: 3 Classic Albums - studio version
Kiss Alive! 1975–2000 - Alive! version - song was mistakenly credited to Stanley instead of Frehley
Kiss Alive 35 - live version
Ikons - studio version
Kiss Sonic Boom Over Europe - live version

Cover's of Cold Gin include:

Chyme-Dyne's version appeared on the band's 1985 album Bad Luck With Fast Food
Death Angel covered the song on their 1988 album Frolic Through the Park.
Pantera and Skid Row performed the song together live while the bands were on tour in 1992. The performance was taped and later included on Pantera's 2000 home video 3 Vulgar Videos from Hell. At one concert, Frehley appeared as a special guest.
A version by L.A. Guns appeared on 1997 compilation album Return of the Comet (A Tribute to Ace Frehley) and on their 1998 EP Wasted.
Necro Tonz covered "Cold Gin" on their 1997 album Are You Dead Yet?
Swedish musician Håkan Hemlin covered the song for the 1997 compilation album KISS Covered in Scandinavia.
Bernard Edwards Project Homicide covered the song on their 2000 album Bernard Edwards Project Homicide.
"Cold Gin" was covered by alternative metal group Disturbed at a one-time tribute show to Pantera guitarist "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott on February 23, 2005. It was known to be the guitarist's favorite song. The live performance included members of Drowning Pool and Anthrax, and featured David Draiman on vocals and Abbott's brother Vinnie Paul on drums.
Shotgun Sacred's version appeared on the band's 2005 EP A Dark New Order.
Swiss thrash metal band Gurd covered the song on their 2009 album Your Drug of Choice.
Finnish melodic death metal band Kalmah covered the song as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of their 2013 album Seventh Swamphony.
White Light Cemetery covered the song on their 2013 self-titled debut album, with Kirk Windstein of Crowbar providing vocals.
Ace Frehley plays a cover version of the song on his solo album Origins, Vol. 1, with Mike McCready of Pearl Jam on guitar.
Silverchair played the song between 1994 and 1995.
Warrior Soul recorded a version on their covers album Cocaine And Other Good Stuff, in 2020.

Weezer guitarist Rivers Cuomo stated that "Cold Gin" is the first song he learned to play on guitar.
Los Angeles-based Kiss tribute band Cold Gin featuring Tommy Thayer, Spiro Papadatos, Jaime St. James and Anthony White was named after the song.

Peter Criss – lead vocals, drums
Paul Stanley – rhythm guitar, backing vocals, intro lead vocals
Ace Frehley – lead guitar, backing vocals
Gene Simmons – bass, backing vocals