KISS producer Bob Ezrin brought individual musicians for the strings, horns and other instruments, and he himself played the piano. Rather than bring the entire New York Philharmonic to the recording studio, he brought in individual members such as violins, violas, cellos, trumpets, tubas and French horns. This iconic sound of the string instruments helped make “Beth” a huge hit, and when an orchestra wasn’t available on tour, Peter Criss would sing the song with a recorded backing track.
Although KISS was known for their hard rock style, “Beth” was the biggest single of their career, and although the individual names of the musicians that played on the original recording of “Beth” are lost to history, their artistry and talent lives on nearly 50 years later and we listen to the song and feel something deeply.
The Cadillac Area Public Schools Strings program brings classical music to our community. It strengthens their skills and knowledge of music and where it can take you in life. This year marks the 25th anniversary of our string program here in Cadillac Michigan and we are so proud of the students. We also have an amazing community Orchestra as well and it is such a rarity to have both in our small community. Supporting through school and local music programs such as Jam and Bread and Mi Music Cadillac.
Classical Orchestra music evokes feelings inside us. So does Rock & Roll. Music does that. “Beth” did that for KISS. It humanized the men playing in the band epitomized by the lyrics “Beth, I know you’re lonely, and I hope you’ll be alright, ‘cause me and the boys will be playing all night”.
The Adventures of the Cello
You may notice the signatures on the Cello (A gift from Alex Bowers the CAPS orchestra director). While they are not associated with Kiss, they are a proud memento of a fun adventure that some of our Jam and Bread students had back in August. The popular bluegrass band, The Dead South was kind enough to do a meet and greet with the kids and also invited us to sit in on their sound check. They were so generous with their time and they even took the time to not only sign the cello, but leave these little nods on social media for the kids. Similar to that day back in 1975, this hot august night of 2025 had a similar impact on us, leaving us in awe.
