In July 2014, Australian musician Spencer P. Jones argued that the blues influence in Pierce's music was largely the result of his access to the record collection of Canned Heat frontman Bob Hite, who allowed Pierce to come to his house and choose ten albums from Hite's vast blues record collection as he was dying. Pierce was born on June 27, 1958, in Montebello, California. Country:UK: . Yet don it and suffer it and die from it he most certainly did. At night, the coyotes would howl as the moon rose over the peak to the east, and occasionally, a lone cougar would descend from the hills. He got back in touch with his initial blues roots, began dressing like a rambling cowboy, and finger-picked a resonator guitar. It was at this place called The Gala in Norwich, he says. Birthday: June 27, 1958 Date of Death: March 31, 1996 Age at Death: 37 Live Live Death Statistics Worldwide and The United States Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Biography Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the leader of Los Angeles punk band The Gun Club, is the subject of a new documentary, as Deadline reports. He was difficult to get close to because he was changing personas so much. Still, the Gun Club was always Jeffrey Lee Pierce's band. At this point, Jeffrey was a musical archaeologist; he even began to dress on stage like some squat Indiana Jones, at once furtive and feral, his search for something priceless within the buried sediments of ages almost a holy one. Fucking, murdering, leaving (I will fuck you til you die / Bury you and kiss this town goodbye). This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Sign up below to get the latest from Classic Rock, plus exclusive special offers, direct to your inbox! The Gun Club and perhaps this more than anything explains their continued marginalization were rarely if ever fun. Jeffreys idea was to be as antagonistic as possible. Essaying the pop culture that matters since 1999. Death Party is an EP by American rock band The Gun Club, released in 1983. He was the child of a multi-ethnic marriage. They dont really sound like The Gun Club, but like them theyve taken the roots and re-invented them the same way. Between these two lies a solid body of work, though. By Gregg L. Friedman MD, Nirvana were really great - never liked any other 'grunge' bands, only later liked some Mudhoney - though i did own a flannel shirt, but, SAM CUTLER: LIFE WITH THE STONES, THE DEAD & OTHER WONDERFUL REPROBATES, ALL THE RAJ: HOW NORWEGIAN WOOD UNLEASHED THE INDIAN INVASION, THE KNACK AND HOW TO GET IT: AN INTERVIEW WITH PRESCOTT NILES, PLEASE READ ME: THE BEST OF PKM FOR 2021, PART II, UTOPIA PARKWAY: THE ENDURING MYSTERY OF JOSEPH CORNELL, THE TOP TEN MOST SHOCKING, BIZARRE, AND HISTORIC DEATHS OF ROCK & ROLL DRUMMERS ONSTAGE. If he liked something, say, like a type of food, then hed eat that for months and months and then drop it and move on to something else. [13] Pierce relocated to England with Mori and concentrated on his solo career. Cover Classics: The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project (Jeffrey Lee Pierce photo: via fanpop.com). Instead of falling to the floor screaming, hed play the guitar and hide behind that. (part 1)", "OFF! Because hed stopped drinking, he found that he couldnt perform, because it was always about him being pissed, explains Mori. [32], In 2010, OFF!, a punk "supergroup" fronted by Keith Morris, formerly of Black Flag and the Circle Jerks, released a song dedicated to and named after Pierce. retrieved. Music, The Quietus, The Guardian, NME and Shindig! He went and grabbed it; it didnt come to him. Bandmate Kid Congo Powers is interviewed, among others, in the documentary below. Pierce was also known for his strong admiration for Debbie Harry of Blondie, and was president of the Blondie fan club. Jeffrey was full of digressions. [3] He started learning guitar at the age of 10. By coincidence, Robin and Liz were walking towards us, remembers Mori. [24] Pierce was a man in constant conflict with his inner demons. THIS IS WHATS COOL! The confluence of tragedy and a type of bleak, resigned comedy. Ive waited 13 years to say goodbye to Jeffrey Lee Pierce. "[9], In September 1983, as the Gun Club prepared for an Australian tour, two band members quit due to financial concerns and ongoing frustration with Pierce's behavior. Indeed it was. Ad Choices, The Gun Clubs Jeffrey Lee Pierce Gets New Documentary, A daily roundup of the most important stories in music, New Music Releases and Upcoming Albums in 2023, Lucinda Williams Announces Album, Shares New Song With Bruce Springsteen, Watch Clairo Cover Vashti Bunyans Winter Is Blue, Godflesh Announce North American Tour, Share New Song Nero, The Gun Clubs Jeffrey Lee Pierce, 1983 (Photo by Peter Noble/Redferns). Los Angeles was one of the few American cities to follow the British and New York punk scene and the young Jeffrey soon became obsessed with Blondie to such an extent that he became president of their fan club (a couple of years earlier, a teenage Morrissey developed a similar unhealthy fascination with the New York Dolls, another proof that fandom sometimes pays creative dividends). imported from Wikimedia project. Pierces behaviour on and off the stage soon began to be counterproductive: The other guys in the band were very antagonised by him. 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. With Pierces drinking escalating to the point of blackout, relations within the band rapidly deteriorated. When Jeffrey Lee Pierce died from the accumulative damage of years of drug and alcohol abuse and a brain aneurism in 1996, he left an impressive and ever changing catalogue of work behind him, both with the Gun Club and as a solo artist. and a flock of chickens. Patricia Morrison: So many bands came from us but we never got the recognition. Morris, a friend and former housemate of Pierce, had suggested "The Gun Club" as a band name while they were living together. Which is why 13 years after his death, a loss I only discovered on an Internet forum somewhere around the turn of the millennium Jeffrey Lee Pierce deserves this long-overdue eulogy-apology for reminding me that, sometimes, for loves sake, in the face of the nights chilly indifference, the only thing left for us is to shriek and cavort and kick the campfire sparks and temporarily lose our minds in the music. I take away that I had an amazing friendship with Jeffrey. Many did. Thats why I wanted to join the band. He looks plain lost. We need you now. Produced by The Flesh Eaters Chris D and released in 1981, The Fire Of Love was the perfect distillation of Pierces vision of punk and blues coming together. 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. With Pierces persona in place and a fascination for roots music that saw radical re-workings of Tommy Johnsons Cool Drink Of Water Blues and Robert Johnsons Preachin Blues (Up Jumped The Devil), The Gun Club soon developed a reputation for being a bands band and in turn attracted the interest of The Cramps, who offered Powers the job of replacing recently departed guitarist Bryan Gregory. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, fdd 27 juni 1958 [ 1] i Montebello, Kalifornien, [ 2] dd 31 mars 1996 [ 1] i Salt Lake City, Utah, [ 3] var en amerikansk rockmusiker, frontfigur i det Los Angeles -baserade punkbandet The Gun Club . 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. [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. 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?) Punk had left its mark on both of the young friends, with Pierce and Powers running the Blondie and Ramones fan clubs respectively. Perhaps, indeed, there are no right questions. Jack on Fire: Jeffrey Lee Pierce, 1958-1996 | PopMatters I could feel that he was so lonely. Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Rock Musician, 37 - The New York Times Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wikidata Id gone down the skids again and Jeffrey was in Utah staying with his father and cleaning up again. Jeffrey's mother Margie Pierce is a stay-at-home mom; Jeffrey's father Robert Pierce is employed as a union organizer and arbitrator (Local 1710 Electrical Workers Union). But it was after witnessing Pere Ubu at LAs Whiskey A Go Go in 1978 that the idea of band was hatched. writer: "The Stranger in Our Town" TV Series; 2012; 1 episode; Personal details. It's a pity this peripheral figure found the bottle and the needle instead instead of a wider audience. But in Jeffrey's world, sometimes it was very inspiring and illuminating and other times it was painful and depressing. 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. It must have been so hard for him. Emptiness and defiance. But The Gun Club made things happen on their own terms. He has written about music for Music365, Yahoo! Gun Club | Trouser Press Whether consciously or not, echoes of The Gun Club are keenly felt by contemporary practitioners of punk-rock blues such as Daddy Long Legs, Guadalupe Plata and The Bonnevilles as well as more established musicians such as Mark Lanegan, Nick Cave and The Black Keys. Get our latest storiesin the feed of your favorite networks. The Gun Club/Jeffrey Lee Pierce - From The Archives Love in a cold climate: Romi Mori and Jeffrey Lee Pierce. Not even Elvis: I hate Elvis. Using a pick-up drummer, The Gun Club road-tested material from what was to become their third album, The Las Vegas Story. Jeffreys idea was to be as antagonistic as possible. [50] The documentary received mostly positive critical reception, but was criticized for not including any of Pierce's music or interview footage with him.[51]. In the early stages of his career, Pierce became friends with his idol Debbie Harry, having met Harry and Chris Stein through his presidency of Blondie's U.S. fan club. Elvis From Hell will tell the story of Pierce, a. Whitechapel Jack. It can be trashy, even cheap trash, but never worthless trash. I thought they were amazing with Ward Dotson playing, remembers Powers. Beneath the attitude, there was always a sweetness, a reverence. Released in 1987 to much critical acclaim, Mother Juno and its subsequent tour became the most successful period of The Gun Club. In December 1984 the Gun Club played two gigs in London, but by January 1985 had broken up, cancelling an upcoming Australian Tour. Terry and Rob joined and we pretty much had a ready-made rhythm section. His obsessions crawled all over him. May 18, 1961 Jacqui Pierce, Jeffrey's . Louder is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. [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". To this day, I still havent heard either Pastoral Hide & Seek (1990) or Divinity (1991), and only listened to 1987s Mother Juno relatively recently, which in itself is almost unforgivably neglectful since it was produced by another of my 80s musical touchstones, the Cocteau Twins Robin Guthrie. 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Start your Independent Premium subscription today. They embarked on a highly successful tour of Europe that saw The Gun Club play with a renewed vigour and sense of musical dexterity. Come back, Johnny Thunders. Listen to The Birthday Party before and after Jeffrey. [7], The follow-up album, Miami, was produced by Stein,[8] and features renditions of "Devil in the Woods," "Sleeping in Blood City" and Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Run Through the Jungle." As fierce as he was in his own way, and I dont mean this in a disparaging sense, Lux Interior was pure premeditated camp, a character, a cartoon; whereas Jeffrey Lee Pierce was a regular-Joe name attached to a genuine anguished soul, rock and roll clich made flesh. I want his head cut off and his brain taken out. Long-term alcohol abuse had left Pierce with cirrhosis of the liver and his enforced sobriety was having a detrimental personal and musical effect. [33] He described Pierce in 2010 as "not only one of my heroes, he's totally inspirational to me. Born in Texas in 1958, Jeffrey Lee Pierce later moved to the West Coast. The future was acknowledged, however grimly envisioned. When you were on stage and it was going well, it was fantastic; it was what music should be, enthuses Morrison. Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American punk, and a bluesman lead singer and guitarist for that most contradictory of bands, The Gun Club, whose erratic embers smoldered and sputtered fitfully during the 80s and the first half of the 90s, rarely if ever catching fully in fames spotlight, yet illuminating the margins with a deep fire that, since their passing long ago now, feels richer and more blood-red the older we all get. "It was Jeff's musical misery tour.". Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the leader of the Gun Club, a trailblazing Los Angeles band that began mixing punk rock with American roots music in 1979, died on Sunday at Utah University Hospital in. 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.). Find a Grave memorial ID. Though the audiences were small at first, Pierce tried to create a scene by adopting different personas. He was very hard work. The film will cover the singer/guitarists life and career through his death in 1996 at age 37 from causes related to heroin addiction, alcoholism, and HIV. That was my audition! she laughs. The Gun Club Documentary 'Elvis From Hell' Coming In 2020 - Stereogum Powell. Sometimes I say The Las Vegas Story album as a work. Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wildweed (album review ) | Sputnikmusic 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. He had the idea that he wanted a Cocteau Twins kind of sound for it. [41][42][43], Grove contacted other artists via Myspace to contribute to the project, including Lanegan, and as the project grew, artists such as Isobel Campbell and Jim Sclavunos also agreed to contribute. Hes also in the select group of music journalists to have actually got on with Lou Reed. In fact, as ragged a fit as it is, the closest they came to a scene in the UK was probably goth (which, again, couldnt have exactly helped), especially as they werent really a goth band either, outward appearances notwithstanding. "[25], Pierce contacted Powers in early 1996 to work together on a new iteration of the Gun Club, and they began making plans, with Powers looking to recruit musicians in New York. An incredible musician who loved Blondie as much as he did Delta blues, when he died in 1996, the world was left without one of its most unique artists, and his loss left a void that has never been healed. [22][23] Pierce flew back to London in February to collect his belongings then returned to the United States, having been requested to leave England following his arrest and lack of visa. It stopped him doing what he wanted to do. LIVE "Jeffrey Lee Pierce" (10/13/2010)", "OFF! Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, In 1993, the last Gun Club album, ironically entitled Lucky Jim, featured his Japanese wife, Romi Mori, on bass. A scheduled recording session for Tex & the Horseheads, the band Jeffrey Lee Pierce had put together around his girlfriend Linda/Texacala Jones was going to go unused. With The Cramps on indefinite hiatus due to ongoing legal wrangles with their label, Powers re-joined The Gun Club. The propulsive downstruck open-E chords: F, A, E, G. The echo-twang of the rockabilly substratum, the trebly punk veneer, cockroach legs skittering on pockmarked concrete. Dave Alvin also played lead guitar on two tracks. The film will cover Jeffrey Lee Pierce's life and career through his death in 1996 at the age of 37, using original interviews and archive footage. Their problem was that they bamboozled everyone, including themselves in all likelihood. Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. We already had Sex Beat and For The Love Of Ivy, but having guys that could really play was a really big step up, says Powers. We were talking about doing something in New York and calling it The Gun Club and getting some local players. It still pains me that I completely missed the next three albums. Something born mewling reluctant from the bayou mud. 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. He just needed somebody so badly, so I stayed with him.. Elvis From Hell is due out in 2020. His Latina mother was a homemaker, taking care of Pierce and his sister, Jacqui. Springheel Jack. Preaching The Blues: Remembering The Gun Club's Jeffrey Lee Pierce - ABC I have great memories of being on stage and looking at the audience who all had massive smiles on their faces. The album is dedicated to Debbie Harry, "for her love, help, and encouragement".[12]. . About any of it. He tragically died of a brain hemorrhage on March 31, 1996. He was a record nerd but we were also dreamers and into a lot of rocknroll fantasy. 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. I couldnt do it any more; we had too many arguments and disagreements.. Metallica mix it up on second night of World Tour in Amsterdam, Kids doing well, Slipknot slaying, new record label: Life is pretty great for Corey Taylor right now, Buses for upcoming Avenged Sevenfold tour will cost $2million more than pre-Covid. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Or Kansas. To this day, however, that voice still causes the hairs to raise, the hackles to rise in fight or flight. The latter acted as producer on Miami, the second Gun Club album, which also featured Debbie Harry on backing vocals. This stuff goes beyond appraisals of coolness or even value its like attempting to evaluate the worth of a tornado and suddenly, were asking the wrong questions. Patricia Morrison agrees with Mori on this point. Come back, Lux Interior. Returning to London, hanging out with Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and guesting with the band on Bob Dylans Wanted Man at the Shepherds Bush Empire, and living alone in Moris apartment, Pierce was eventually deported to the United States in 1995 following a violent altercation in a west London pub that saw him waving a samurai sword. The sessions were recorded with acoustic guitars in Grove's bedroom using a "boombox" device. At the time of his death, he was 38 years old. Deadline is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Hes never name-checked Jeffrey and I think thats a little rude., Rupert Orton is quick to acknowledge where he hears The Gun Club now: Guadalupe Plata are, I think, the people closest to re-inventing it in a way thats interesting. Jeffrey was so into it and even asked if we wanted to split the writing credits, but we stupidly declined and just accepted a recording fee!, Powers concurs: It was like a completely new band and it was the strongest version that I was in.. I play a lot of his music because I miss him and I want people to never forget the Gun Club. He had the voice of sadness and when we played really large venues, his voice would go so wide, especially when we were playing sad, bluesy songs.. It kind of sounds like a Christmas song but Jeffrey always described it as a love song.. As a teenager, he moved from El Monte, a working-class industrial suburb east of Los Angeles, to Granada Hills, at the time a white working- and middle-class suburb in the San Fernando Valley. The lasting legacy of The Gun Club singer Jeffrey Lee Pierce I realize Im straying toward an authenticity-rockism I dont even believe in here, but I ought to note that however much I admire and even love Jeffrey Lee Pierce as a musician/artist, that by no means extends to any equivalent esteem for the train wreck of his personal life. They were musical geniuses. Outwardly, I might have been a character in a Gun Club song, thankfully absent all the mayhem, betrayal, and sex killing. Jeffrey Lee Pierce Live at 2011 Pitchfork Music Festival", "Gallows stream new album 'Gallows' ahead of release listen", "Gallows Everybody Loves You (When You're Dead)", "Cave, Perkins Pay Tribute To Gun Club's Pierce", "Album: Various Artists, We Are Only Riders The JLP Sessions Project (Glitterhouse)", "Nick Cave and Blondie's Debbie Harry duet on The Gun Club tribute album", "Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project to release second album,", "Iggy Pop, Nick Cave, Thurston Moore and Jim Sclavunos play Nobody's City new music", "Nick Cave and Blondie's Debbie Harry duet on the Gun Club tribute album", "The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project", "Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and the Gun Club", "The Gun Club Ghost on the Highway: A Portrait Of Jeffrey Lee Pierce & The Gun Club (Ballad of Jeffrey Lee Pierce told by former bandmates)", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jeffrey_Lee_Pierce&oldid=1148319776, Articles with dead external links from July 2021, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles lacking reliable references from January 2022, Pages using infobox musical artist with associated acts, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2010, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from December 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 5 April 2023, at 12:57. 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. It was while he was there that he suffered a fatal brain haemorrhage on March 31, 1996. The band upped sticks to New Yorks Blank Tape studios to record the follow-up album, Miami. Sex Beat, their introduction to the world, weve already discussed, but contrast it with the bands final song Anger Blues, and we can see the parabola of their musical journey, an ass-backwards shedding of raw punk attitude for well, the actual blues. You didnt show up to do a gig to nameless and faceless people. Jeffrey Lee Pierce: Age 37 | Cause Of Death: CEREBRAL HEMORRHAGE The Gun Club frontman Jeffrey Lee Pierce is the subject of a forthcoming documentary called Elvis From Hell, as Deadline reports.
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