Marshall Of Rock

Ace Frehley new autobiography "No Regrets: A Rock N' Roll Memoir" will be released November 1st from Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Shuster, and it's sure to be a very intersting read. Ace enlisted the help of New York Times reporter Joe Layden to help him write the 288-page book,although having spent much of those years in an alcoholic haze, Ace said: “It’s hard for me to remember a lot of stuff, so what I’ve been doing is getting together with people I used to work with and usually they have better memories of situations than I do. You know, old bodyguards.” Ace spoke with Jaan Uhelszki, one of the founding members of Creem Magazine, about the book, his releationship with Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley while in KISS, and more. Check out the full interview below:

Ace Frehley performed with KISS from its inception in 1973 until his first departure in 1982. He was persuaded to rejoin KISS in 1996 for their reunion tour. His second stint lasted until 2002.

Did you feel your talent was undervalued when you were in KISS?

Well, it seemed like it. Paul and Gene never wanted to give me the credit that was due. It was like in a lot of instances they tried to bury the fact that I did A, B, C, and D. I can’t remember Paul or Gene ever saying, "Wow, that was a great solo." On some of my classic guitar solos that were on their songs. But what goes around comes around. They have a new album coming out and I have a new album coming out, and you know what’s going to happen. People are going to compare the two. That’s all I’m going to say about that.

In 1977 the Gallup poll named KISS the most popular band in America. How did being on top affect your creativity?

I think it gave me false confidence. For a while I believed that we were better than we were. I think we got complacent with our music and the show. It’s like when you’re on top, where do you go? I told Paul and Gene from the outset that the The Elder album was a huge mistake, and they didn’t listen to me. I knew at that point in time we needed to do something heavy and powerful and strong. I was really frustrated doing that project.

Who do you think it’s worse for? Do you think it’s worse for Tommy Thayer to have to be you, or for you to see Tommy be you? He didn’t even get his own persona, you know?

Well, he didn’t get his own makeup because of all the whole merchandising machine Gene has in place with Sony Signatures. To create a new face just would be a big problem. So it all comes down to dollars and cents, and not what’s really the right thing to do.

Read the rest of this interesting interview on TheMortonReport.com here.

Original KISS guitarist Ace Frehley will release his autobiography "No Regrets: A Rock 'N' Roll Memoir", a look back at his "life of sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll" on November 1, 2011 via Gallery Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster. Gallery plans to publish the 288-page title under the VH1 Books imprint.

"No Regrets" was co-written by New York Times journalist Joe Layden who also authored "The Last Great Fight" about what is considered by many to be the biggest upset in the history of boxing: James "Buster" Douglas' tenth-round knockout win over Mike Tyson in 1990. Layden recently worked on Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine's autobiography, "Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir".

Frehley performed with KISS from its inception in 1973 until his first departure in 1982 before rejoining KISS in 1996 for a very successful reunion tour. Frehley's second stint lasted until 2002 as Ace went back to being a solo artist again, but the stories and memories still remain from touring in one of rock and roll's most successful acts of all time.

Gallery Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing a wide variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics. The imprint was designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones — in both fiction and nonfiction, and across a variety of genres.