The Catman

Besides being the driving force behind the rhythm section of the band Kiss, he came up with the concept of the Catman that the band still uses. George Peter John Criscuola, better known by his stage name Peter Criss was more a flashy dresser than a flashy drummer, but what a drummer he certainly is.

Peter joined Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons in the spring on 1972. They knew that they wanted to achieve greatness. Three minds with only one goal, to be the next big act in the rock scene, and so they did.

Peter was part of the band from 1972 to 1980, coming back for a reunion tour in 1996 and leaving again in 2001, once more in 2002, and for the last time in 2004.

Eric Carr must have been the best drummer, and Eric Singer the one with most years behind the kit, but Peter was the first, he is the Catman for most of the die-hart fans.

Peter time with Kiss was full of ups and downs, he had issues with alcohol, drugs, and specially women. He was high strung and his indulgence in mind-altered substances added fuel to the raging fire. You might love him or hate him, but he was the drummer who helped Kiss reach stardom.

Why don’t we take a trip back in time and explore his early life? Let’s take a glimpse on what it was like when Kiss took the world by storm.

Peter John Criscuola was born in New York on December 20th, 1945. It is said that peter came into these world feet first, pulled out with force. He is the oldest of 5 children, being called George Peter, he was called Georgie through all his childhood.

His Father was illiterate and worked on any job he could get. From the way peter himself describe it, it seems like he was working on a new job all the time, so the family does not have much money to spare. Peter remembers going out with his Father and steal wood from his neighbors to burn in Winter.

He said he was a sick child, he got every sickness a child could get, also accident prone, not a good mix for a boy growing up. He said that he was loved, but a different kind of love, his parents were not the hug and kisses kind of parents, but loving nevertheless. As his siblings start to pop one by one, he began to spend more time with his Grandmother and by the time he was a teen, the place he called home, was his Grandmother’s house.

On his teens days, he was a prolific swimmer, he also got into boxing and won Golden Gloves for two years consecutive, a skill that made him survive on the neighborhood he was raised in. In his book he describes many violent encounters on the street while growing up. You got to be tough to survive, you got to know how the streets move, and dance at the rhythm it plays. From the 4 original member from the band Kiss, Peter was the real badass.

Peter admitted he was into playing drums just for the attention he was getting. He loved the big sound, the flashy drum kit, to feel the drum skin vibrate inside his chest with every hit.

Naturally if you think of Peter Criss as the rock drummer. Peter was actually into the big band/jazz style of drumming. He was into the style of Gene Kuppa, and even Paul Stanley in his book talks about how Peter was fixated with the idea of playing like Charlie Watts from the Rolling Stones.

Gene Simmons take on Peter’s drumming ability is somewhat different, the rhythm section of the first kiss albums is pretty solid, they found a way to fusion their influences and create something that stood the passing of time.

When he first came to jam with Gene and Paul, he was not a hard rock and roll drummer. He was not looking for that, he was more into playing Beatles covers with his cover band, but he said to Paul and Gene that he was committed to make it, no matter what.

They began to work as a three-piece rock act, they did their part, but that was not the way. Something was missing, they needed another band member, someone as committed as them.

Ace Frehley was chosen from a list of around 14 other guitar players who auditioned. There were weeks of debate among Gene and Paul, they wanted a great guitar player but also someone who had the look they were looking for.

Now, the original four began to work on what would become their first album. Peter had a hard time during those days, not playing wise. Peter was making money with his cover band but Kiss was another thing. Paul and Gene wanted to play only original material, they got regular 30 minutes’ gigs, but money was not coming in.

Paul, Gene and Ace had jobs, Peter relied only on his weekend gigs with the cover band and on his wife Lydia who had a real job. He was on a really tough situation and could not afford to waste any time playing games. Another part of the puzzle is the fact that Gene, Paul and Ace were living with their respective parents. The only one married and living his life as a grown-up was Peter.

They only had 10 original songs, the same songs that they played on every gig, the good part of that is that when they were not gigging, they were practicing the same 10 songs, the song were really tight, fully developed and perfectly played.

When they finally signed the contract to record their first album with Casablanca, they were put on a salary. I’m sure that Peter felt somewhat relieved to see the fruit of their hard work and determination to make it.

End of part I.