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Or can, I forget which). [17] With Mori now on bass, the band recorded 1987's Mother Juno, produced by the Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie, and featuring songs such as "Thunderhead", "Araby" and "The Breaking Hands". What can you say about a record that you cut for 2500 bucks in 48 hours, on speed? But I think it was very difficult for him Jeffrey very often didnt make sense. In the end, he took me to Amsterdam and when we got there he asked me to wait in McDonalds. Pierce was also known for his strong admiration for Debbie Harry of Blondie, and was president of the Blondie fan club. Elvis From Hell will tell the story of Pierce, a. With The Cramps on indefinite hiatus due to ongoing legal wrangles with their label, Powers re-joined The Gun Club. Pierce continued working despite failing health, and reformed a Gun Club lineup for two shows in Los Angeles in August and September 1995, including guitarists Powers and Mike Martt, formerly of Tex & the Horseheads, and the Wayne Kramer rhythm section of bassist Randy Bradbury and drummer Brock Avery. Probably even The Cramps were better known. With the first line-up imploding, Pierce and Powers were joined by Rob Ritter (bass) and Terry Graham (drums) from LA band The Bags, whose contribution was instantly felt. Death Party is an EP by American rock band The Gun Club, released in 1983. TimesMachine is an exclusive benefit for home delivery and digital subscribers. Come back, Lux Interior. This is a crucial moment and one that links the opening overs of the 21st century to the early 1980s, when roots music collidedwith the fury of punk. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Born in Texas in 1958, Jeffrey Lee Pierce later moved to the West Coast. Still, the most critically lauded of their albums, it roared out of ramshackle blocks we hadnt yet built even in our imaginations, an inconceivably twisted fusion of blues, punk, and country, a mixture of Robert Johnson, Skip James, Son House, Howlin Wolf, Huddie Ledbetter, the Blasters, X, Black Flag, Blondie, The Sex Pistols, Burning Spear, Smokey Robinson, Canned Heat, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Marty Robbins, and Hank Williams. Its August bank holiday 2002, and The White Stripes, hot on the back of their third album, White Blood Cells, are introducing a whole new generation to the blues at the annual Reading Festival. Arun Starkey. His attempts at doing a guide guitar were just a disaster. The cause was a stroke, said Kim White, his manager. So enamoured was Pierce of the new name that he wrote Group Sex for them in return. Beneath the attitude, there was always a sweetness, a reverence. 5", "THE GUN CLUB The Las Vegas Story Punk Blues Vinyl Album Gallery #vinylrecords", "From The Archives -The Gun Club- Concert Chronology / Gigography", "iTunes Music Wildweed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce", "The Quietus | Features | A Quietus Interview | Kid Congo Powers Interview: From Gun Play To Monkey Business", "Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds Setlist at Muziekcentrum Vredenburg, Utrecht", "Nick Cave on Jeffrey Lee Pierce: 'His Obsessions Crawled All Over Him', "Gun Club Oral History, Part Four (Pastoral Hide and Seek to 1996)", "an interview w/ Keith Morris & Dimitri Coats of OFF! 'Elvis From Hell' Rock Doc Profiles The Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce Were having a band. And that was that!. And then it happens. Line-up: Jeffrey Lee Pierce (vocals)/ Ward Dotson (guitar)/ Rob Ritter (bass) and Terry Graham (drums). He just needed somebody so badly, so I stayed with him.. Bath Jeffrey Lee Pierce is best remembered as the hard-living guitarist/singer who fronted the Gun Club, a band that fused the fury of punk with the melodic structures and lyrical obsessions of the blues.Born on June 27, 1958, and raised in El Monte, California, Pierce discovered punk rock during his teenage years while working at Bomp Records, writing for such L.A.-based punk magazines as Slash . Fucking, murdering, leaving (I will fuck you til you die / Bury you and kiss this town goodbye). And I could navigate Jeffrey when he was saner. Not even Elvis: I hate Elvis. Not that I was free from my own special demons. If he hadnt have been so tenacious then nothing wouldve happened for the band. Every generation since the boomers onwards has had a gateway band into the blues, and for those taken by punks brief but seismic blast, that group was The Gun Club. He was very ill. Hed been living on his own in my flat in Shepherds Bush and when I went back there I found that hed drawn all these happy, smiling faces on the wall because hed been so lonely. The sessions were recorded with acoustic guitars in Grove's bedroom using a "boombox" device. [citation needed] The final Gun Club album, 1993's Lucky Jim, includes the song "Idiot Waltz". Sometimes I say The Las Vegas Story album as a work. [33] He described Pierce in 2010 as "not only one of my heroes, he's totally inspirational to me. writer: "The Stranger in Our Town" TV Series; 2012; 1 episode; Personal details. The gulf between the two records is grimly fascinating. After the Fur Bible offshoot and the bassist Patricia Morrison's departure for the richer and more bombastic pastures of Sisters of Mercy, Pierce went solo and released Wildweed, a pretty focused collection which included the strangely prophetic "Portrait of the Artist in Hell". Jeffrey Lee Pierce Born in 1958, Jeffrey Lee Pierce was raised in the east LA suburb of El Monte. [3] He started learning guitar at the age of 10. When I told Jeffrey that Id been asked to join The Cramps, he said, Do it, but get us gigs! With Powers joining The Cramps to record their second album, Psychedelic Jungle, The Gun Club recruited slide guitarist Ward Dotson and set about making their debut album, Fire Of Love. Inscription. "[14] Pierce toured Europe as The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Quartet, and from August 1985 he toured the United States and Canada. (part 1)", "OFF! The Gun Club Documentary 'Elvis From Hell' Coming In 2020 - Stereogum When he formed The Gun Club, he wanted to destroy everything. Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Perhaps not their fever-dream best, but neither do I wish to damn it with faint praise any other band and wed probably be talking minor classic. Pierce stated that he preferred Miami, and dismissed Fire of Love: "I can't even remember making it. Matthew Lawrence Says He Was Fired From Agency After Refusing To Strip For Director Offering Him A Marvel Role, The Daily Show Moves Into Post-Trevor Noah Era While Paying Tribute Contenders TV: Docs + Unscripted, The Traitors Team Shaking Things Up For Season 2 As Cirie Fields Doubles Down On Winning Strategy Contenders TV: Docs + Unscripted, Layoffs Underway At Amazon Studios & Prime Video, Handful Of Creative Executives Impacted Update, The Issues, The Stakes, Movies & TV Shows Affected, How Long It Might Last, Netflix Lands Adam McKays New Comedy Average Height, Average Build, Plumbs Another Domestic Win At $38M; Karting Past $1 Billion Global, Serious Moments For Media Give Way To Satire & Mirth; Biden & Wood Remarks. Interestingly, Pierce himself preferred Miami, saying about Fire of Love: I cant even remember making it. Gun Club looked like serious contenders but, by 1984's "Las Vegas Story" (which would have formed an apt soundtrack for the Mike Figgis Oscar- nominated Leaving Las Vegas movie) Pierce's boozy and druggy life-style had started to overshadow the music. Pierce returned to Los Angeles before relocating to Utah to stay with his father and write. cause of death. He played a London gig on January 17, 1985, as 'Astro-Unicorn Experimental Jazz Ensemble', before recruiting Murray Mitchell, John McKenzie and Andy Anderson to record tracks which became the album Wildweed, the first on which Pierce played the majority of guitar parts,[14][15] and material released later in the year as the "Flamingo" E.P. She would soon discover that life in The Gun Club around Pierces personality would be far from easy. Ive waited 13 years to say goodbye to Jeffrey Lee Pierce. and a flock of chickens. He has written about music for Music365, Yahoo! . But in Jeffrey's world, sometimes it was very inspiring and illuminating and other times it was painful and depressing. I thought they were amazing with Ward Dotson playing, remembers Powers. Reviews of Fire of Love usually cite Son House and Robert Johnson as touchpoints, which is understandable given their choice of covers/thefts, but I believe Jeffreys true musical soul mate (blues mate?) There was very little funny about The Gun Club, certainly not intentionally (Although Pierces bitter comment about Cave attending a better class of rehab than himself could be seen as humorous if you squint hard enough.). Still, the momentum nevertheless enabled Pierce to sign his band to Animal Records, a label set up by the Blondie guitarist Chris Stein. Pierce taught Powers how to play the guitar using an open-E tuning and one finger. Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wikidata Elvis From Hell is set to be released in 2020 and the producers are in talks with additional production partners, as well as sales and distribution companies. England and Wales company registration number 2008885. It must have been so hard for him. [7], Although the project's third and final album, The Task Has Overwhelmed Us, was due for release in late 2012,[47] the schedule was changed after the release of the second installment. Learn how your comment data is processed. By the late 1970s, Pierce was also performing as a musician. Pierce was born on June 27, 1958, in Montebello, California. By coincidence, Robin and Liz were walking towards us, remembers Mori. His interest in reggae overlapped with the emergence of punk rock and he became involved in the Hollywood scene as a contributor to Slash, writing on contemporary punk, 1930s blues, 1950s rockabilly, and on reggae under the name "Ranking Jeffrey Lea", including an interview with Bob Marley. Love in a cold climate: Romi Mori and Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Come back, Frankie Venom. Nick Cave based his whole universe on Jeffrey. It was double-edged in not listening to anyone artistically or making horrible career moves but then again, in the end, it was not about career. With Meg White pumping her bass drum, Jack stomps on those overdrive pedals again and hollers, You look just like an Elvis from hell! For those older heads it all clicks into place and at the same time The White Stripes acknowledge forebears every bit as important to their oeuvre as Robert Johnson, Lead Belly or Son House: the song is For The Love Of Ivy and The White Stripes are paying dues to The Gun Club. Pierces behaviour on and off the stage soon began to be counterproductive: The other guys in the band were very antagonised by him. Imagine hearing the opener for the first time Sex Beat, that post-traumatic explosion of damaged purity if indeed purity can emerge from such mongrel ferocity (which of course we all know now it cannot. June 27, 1958; Died. It was about making good music and that became our means of survival. We need you now. He was always at our gigs selling his autograph. In 2014, Sergio Rotman of the Argentinian band Los Fabulosos Cadillacs edited a special edition of 500CDs with versions of 14 Gun Club and Pierce songs. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Rock Musician, 37 - The New York Times Formed in 1979 and based around the core of frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club drew deeply from the well of American vernacular music and infused it with the stripped down energy and elemental values of punk rock. From reinventing the blues for a punk crowd to the demise of frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club were magnets for chaos, but they influenced the generation that followed. Driven by an obsessive personality from an early age, Pierces love of alcohol, drugs and the romanticism of playing in a band would be both his making and undoing. It was juvenile but very dramatic and the seeds of what would follow, says Powers. Jeffrey Lee Pierce Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Relationship, Net Hed go for a run every lunchtime, says Mori. He said, Leave them! And finally, if you dig up the latters How Long, the version with Sonny Terry on harmonica, you will be struck not only by the unloved outcast yowl toward the end, but by its chilling kinship with Jeffreys own airless planetary howl as well. With the band ready to board a connecting flight bound for Australia, Duckworth and Graham quit thanks to Pierces unreasonable demands. Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Julian Marszalek is the former Reviews Editor of The Blues Magazine. https://www.nytimes.com/1996/04/02/arts/jeffrey-lee-pierce-rock-musician-37.html. This was a more ambitious offering, from the reworking of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through the Jungle" to the voodoo feel of "Like Calling Up Thunder" and "Devil in the Woods". WERE WE ALL BRAINWASHED BY THE CIA WITH SEX, DRUGS AND ROCK & ROLL? With his tousled blond-dyed hair, Jeffrey Lee Pierce was in many ways the archetypal American cult musician, at the crossroads of many musical styles (the goth scene, the swamp blues now revived by G-Love & Special Sauce) which later came to prominence. EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Lee Pierce, frontman singer of seminal LA punk rock band The Gun Club, is the subject of a new feature documentary. And it was there that the next stage of The Gun Club began to take gestate. Come back, Darby Crash. Jeffrey Lee Pierce Death: and Cause of Death On March 31, 1996, Jeffrey Lee Pierce died of non-communicable disease. Pierce fronted the Gun Club from 1979 through to his death in 1996 . retrieved. I think that was very much part of his character. Hed have a few drinks at lunchtime first and then do a few rounds at the Holland Park running track. His health had been poor for some time. It is the only official release of the Jim Duckworth and Dee Pop line up of the band which existed for about eight months. EXCLUSIVE: Jeffrey Lee Pierce, frontman singer of seminal LA punk rock band The Gun Club, is the subject of a new feature documentary. The latter acted as producer on Miami, the second Gun Club album, which also featured Debbie Harry on backing vocals. THE SHOCKING LIVE TELEVISION SUICIDE OF A NEWS ANCHOR! He was being deported and he needed somebody to take him to the airport. Find a Grave memorial ID. The Gun Club went on to release 11 other live and studio albums, and Mr. Pierce recorded two relatively straightforward solo albums. Jeffrey Lee Pierce Biography, Songs, & Albums | AllMusic When you were on stage and it was going well, it was fantastic; it was what music should be, enthuses Morrison. His obsessions crawled all over him. If nothing else, the presence on Miami of the mutant-country Carry Home, a succinct storm-threat with swing, alone justifies its existence. The Parisian rock elite, always in love with tragic figures like Morrison, Thunders and Iggy Pop, had found a new hero. Pierces self-interest, combined with the theft of Terry Grahams personal effects after a gig in Manchester, led to the departure of the drummer. Pierce encouraged his friend Brian Tristan, aka Kid Congo Powers, to play the guitar and develop his style, eventually recruiting him to form the band Creeping Ritual, which evolved into The Gun Club with the addition of drummer Terry Graham and guitarist Rob Ritter. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in, Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. In the early 80s, emerging from the sombre aftershocks of a Manchester recently bereft of another driven, misunderstood boy Joy Divisions Ian Curtis and beginning to discern, through the Mancunian perma-drizzle, welcome hints of light via that bands enigmatic progeny New Order, I inexplicably uprooted and moved south to the nondescript town of Northampton. Dissonance on the former (Black Train) becomes plain ugliness on the latter (Day Turn To Night), while Fires haunted and unhealthy lyricism (Ghost On The Highway) is tempered by Lucky Jims sonorous melancholy (Idiot Waltz). The lasting legacy of The Gun Club singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce is trying to be like The Byrds, but just arent as good. He went on: "with Jeffrey, you pretty much entered his world when you saw him. Jeffrey Lee Pierce And The Gun Club - Discogs Right up until Jeffrey died we were talking about doing something again, sighs Congo Powers. Hed already spent time travelling around the United States and Jamaica on a musical odyssey, and returning to LA hed regularly contribute reggae reviews to the Slash fanzine under the name Ranking Jeffrey Lee. Long-term alcohol abuse had left Pierce with cirrhosis of the liver and his enforced sobriety was having a detrimental personal and musical effect. Country:UK: . Springheel Jack. 1999-2021 PopMatters Media, Inc. All rights reserved. I have great memories of being on stage and looking at the audience who all had massive smiles on their faces. Turns out its arguably their most intriguing album, too. I learned 30 songs and I had one 10-minute rehearsal where Jeffrey was completely pissed, and then I played the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in front of 5,000 people. [6] Becoming disillusioned by the evolution of punk rock into what he saw as strict formality, and feeling that reggae was an import, Pierce developed a keen interest in and extensive knowledge of the Delta blues, taking influence and inspiration from his own culture's history. Amy is currently creative director of an East Village rock & roll club, DJ, and contributor for PKM. It was never a choreographed act., While Powers returned to America to clean himself up, Pierce slid into heroin addiction. After contacting Mark Lanegan to get involved with collaborating on a new recording of these work-in-progress tapes, he realised that many other artists were willing to get involved too. (LA WEEKLY), GARY LACHMAN (NEE VALENTINE): A NEW YORK ROCKER SAILS INTO THE MYSTIC, FACE IT: DEBBIE HARRY HAS HAD A HAPPY AND LUCKY LIFE, Please Kill Me Remembers Jeffrey Lee Pierce | Death Or Glory. He couldnt perform any more and he felt such an idiot having to do it sober. It was this enormous sound of huge discordance, and Jeffrey Lee was mumbling something into his mic and when it hit critical mass and couldnt get any bigger, Jim Duckworth pointed his guitar at the baying mob that was the crowd and hit the first notes of The Fire Of Love, and the whole place just exploded. He went and grabbed it; it didnt come to him. At the center of everything was Jeffrey Texas-born, Los Angeles raised a music fanzine writer, an obsessive Blondie stan (as a teenager, he was president of their fan club and was fairly regularly ousted from hotel rooms by members of the Blondie contingent for overstaying his welcome) with an unscratchable reggae itch and a compulsion for Delta blues as well as country murder ballads. Signup for Breaking News Alerts & Newsletters. Elvis From Hell is due out in 2020. Dave Alvin also played lead guitar on two tracks. Obituary: Jeffrey Lee Pierce | The Independent | The Independent Soundtrack: Too Young to Die. Pierce returned to Europe to play more shows, culminating in the Quartet's final gig on December 27 in London. [41][45][44], The third album from the project is Axels & Sockets, released by Glitterhouse Records on May 2, 2014, with contributors including Iggy Pop, Cave, Harry, Lanegan, Race, Thurston Moore and Primal Scream. Wildweed's monochrome cover shot, of Pierce stood in a windswept barren landscape with a shotgun over his shoulder, was photographed on the south coast of England, as Pierce told a Swedish interviewer, but intended to "look like Texas. Jeffrey was full of digressions. We want to hear from you! She left him and began a relationship with her future husband, Nick Sanderson. Now head of the Punk Rock Blues booking and promotion agency, former Jim Jones Revue guitarist Rupert Orton recalls the impact the band had on him as teenager. So bookends of sorts: one darkly prosodic, the other starkly prosaic: one running frenzied from the swamp-demons of the past, the other recoiling in vain from the keening horror of an unspeakable future. "[7], Primal Scream's 2013 album More Light referenced Pierce and the Gun Club with a reworking of Pierce's "Goodbye Johnny" and use of the title "Walking with the Beast".[40].