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| Molimo - Ace Frehley is bottom right with star on his jeans |
A New York record collector has uncovered the earliest-known pre-KISS recordings featuring guitarist Ace Frehley, and has put them up for auction on eBay.
The Village Voice reports 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, he unearthed KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's earliest known major label recordings as part of shelved psychedelic/prog-rock outfit Molimo.
Recorded for RCA in 1971, the record's existence has been the source of much speculation for KISS fans 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. Reisman has had the item on eBay since Wednesday, and the KISS Army are flocking to get a digital glimpse of it.
Molimo was formed in Kansas, where keyboardist Roy Singer and singer/guitarist Tom Ellis attended school together. The two moved to New York City in 1969 and formed a band based on the Jefferson Airplane standard of mixed male/female vocals. The group went through numerous line-up changes, before RCA producer Stephen Schwartz hooked them up with vocalist Christine Murphy. With the addition of Frehley, the band practiced and wrote for a year as they found a common ground between the members diverse musical backgrounds.
Ace joined the band as "Paul," but became "Ace" during his tenure. According to Ellis, Molimo was named after a "secret musical instrument used by the African pygmies for their initiation ceremonies."
Listen to the three songs by Molimo – with Frehley – below.
Reisman is currently running an eBay auction for the rare material, thought to possibly be the only copy in existence.
The auction closes on Wednesday, April 23 – for full details, visit eBay here.
Frehley and the original lineup of KISS were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame last week during an event at New York’s Barclays Center.
On June 24, Frehley will release a new solo album, “Space Invader”, which will include a cover of Steve Miller Band's "The Joker."
See also:
KISS: Ace Frehley criticizes Paul Stanley’s Rock Hall induction speech
Former KISS guitarist raves about band’s Rock Hall induction
KISS slam Rock Hall cofounder and Rolling Stone editor Jann Wenner
Ace Frehley left KISS because of The Elder concept album
Search KISS at hennemusic
