Let’s start with this fact: this 1973 record is one of the most sought-after collector’s items of its era. Why? Well, first of all, Lyn Christopher’s self-titled release on the Paramount label is a really fine album, a beguiling blend of pop and R&B sounds featuring the artist’s winsome vocals backed by some of New York’s finest studio cats, like guitarist Hugh McCracken, Blood Sweat & Tears multi-instrumentalist Lou Marini Jr., and future Back Street Crawler keyboardist Mike Montgomery. And “Take Me with You,” the penultimate song on the album, has been sampled by Mobb Deep’s Havoc, LL Cool J, 50 Cent, The Game, and, memorably, by the Smut Peddlers on their 2001 underground classic “One by One.” But there is another very big reason why original copies of Lyn Christopher command a king’s ransom (and no, it’s not because it’s never been reissued in any format). If you know who Chaim Witz and Stanley Eisen are, then you probably already know the answer. That’s right…this album marks the first appearance on record of Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS! They sing background vocals on two tracks, “Celebrate II” and “Weddin’”; and supposedly that’s Peter Criss doing handclaps. What’s more, this album introduced legendary engineer Eddie Kramer—who, though unbilled, was engineering the sessions—to Simmons and Stanley, who were still calling their band Wicked Lester. Kramer then produced the four-song demo that got KISS signed to Casablanca, and the rest, as they say, is history! We at Real Gone are thrilled to FINALLY be reissuing this fabled album on CD and light blue vinyl, remastered by Mike Milchner at Sonic Vision and complete with liner notes by Bill Kopp that set the stage. A real slice of pop music history that you gotta hear!
