“They just kept on coming in and borrowing my equipment”: Kiss’ controversial live album, Alive!, didn’t just borrow its title from Peter Frampton – it also features some of his gear

Kiss have never been a band to follow trends. When they looked to capture the extravagance of their live shows after their first three studio releases failed to capture the band at their best, the chaos of their performances meant a little in-studio doctoring was needed to get the tracks sparkling.

Its title is a not-so-subtle nod to Peter Frampton’s mega-selling live record, Frampton Comes Alive!, and the man behind the album has revealed it wasn’t just its name the band lifted. Frampton’s gear was on the menu, too.

“Kiss was a new band and the effort they put out in those shows was monumental, so we did a bunch of guitar and vocal overdubs at [Jimi Hendrix’s] Electric Lady Studios,” Kramer tells Guitar Player in a new interview.

Both live records were being worked on simultaneously within Electric Lady’s walls, and Kiss looked at Frampton’s collection of electric guitars, amps, and beyond to sweeten their fumbles and foils.

“They kept on coming to us and asking if we had guitars, amps, or basses, as they were doing some fixing on their live record,” Frampton told GP in 2005.

“They just kept on coming in and borrowing all sorts of different stuff. So my equipment is on that album – but not me!”

The Kiss gang mainly had eyes for Frampton’s mid-1950s Les Paul Custom “Black Beauty.” It features on the cover of his iconic live album, and before that was used on Humble Pie’s 1971 live record, Performance: Rockin' the Fillmore.

Five years later, it was renamed “Phenix” after it survived a plane crash. He’s lost and recovered 44 guitars across his storied career, but the Les Paul’s survival is widely considered the most remarkable.

Kramer, meanwhile, says, “I remember Peter’s amps in Studio A other than the Marshall stacks that Ace and Paul had,” with more of Frampton’s rig borrowed.

The fact Alive! was treated to quite extensive post-production magic – owing to audio being marred by “bombs going off, Gene spitting fire, rockets from Ace’s guitar”, as Kramer has explained – was controversial upon its release. However, fans didn't seem to mind as it became the band's biggest success to date, and has since gone multi-platinum. Half a century on, Paul Stanley believes the band made the right call.

“We never claimed to be virtuosos, we were virtu-no-sos, he told Guitar World. Call them overdubs or call them replacing things that weren’t up to snuff. I make no apologies.”

He adds that the band had felt “unstoppable” during the tour, as well as revealing that Frampton’s work in Humble Pie was a big reason he played Gibson guitars during that era.

Kiss - Alive! [Full Album] (HQ) - YouTube

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Meanwhile, Frampton continues to defy his health issues by playing guitar. He recently joined Pearl Jam for a guest spot in Nashville after taking on a Beatles classic with Grace Bowers and Trey Anastasio, making the most of his numbered playing days.

Inspired by Frampton's ability to overcome adversity, Andy Timmons wrote a song in tribute to the guitarist – and his hero ended up playing on it in a poetic twist of fate.