The Gun Club

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The Gun Club
Jeffrey Lee Pierce performing for The Gun Club in 1985
Jeffrey Lee Pierce performing for The Gun Club in 1985
General information
origin Los Angeles , United States
Genre (s) Post-punk , punk - blues , psychobilly , roots rock , alternative rock
founding 1980
resolution 1996
Founding members
Jeffrey Lee Pierce † (1980-1996)
Brian Tristan (1980, 1983-92, 1995/96)
Don Snowden (1980)
Brad Dunning (1980)

The Gun Club was an American rock band founded in 1980 by blondie fan Jeffrey Lee Pierce (vocals and guitar) and Brian Tristan alias Kid Congo Powers (guitar) under the name Creeping Ritual in Los Angeles . Pierce originally started the group just to give his friend Powers the opportunity to play in a band. The band was eventually expanded to include Don Snowden (bass) and Terry Graham (drums). However, Snowden was replaced early by Rob Ritter. The cast changed frequently over the years, with Pierce remaining the only constant member. His death in 1996 marked the end of the band.

history

Even before the first recordings, Powers left the formation and switched to The Cramps . Ward Dotson (guitar) joined the band as a replacement. In 1981 the debut album Fire of Love was released . The band turned out to be a classic American rock band, which was clearly influenced by blues & rock 'n' roll , but also by the bayou sound and voodoo . Fire of Love looked like a mixture of Delta Blues and Creedence Clearwater Revival with a good dash of punk . The lyrics were also typically American ( Ghost on the Highway , Black Train or Preachin 'the Blues ).

A subsequent eight-month tour, however, took its toll. Marked by the consumption of alcohol and other drugs , the successor Miami emerged, partly in the hospital . Rob Ritter, for whom everything was too much by now, was only represented as a guest musician. On the following tour his successor Patricia Morrison played . Miami gave the group the breakthrough as a cult formation, especially in Europe. The album was based even more on the Creedence Clearwater Revival sound than its predecessor and also offered slightly psychedelic influences.

Due to the success, several semi-official live and demo recordings of the band soon appeared. Examples are The Birth, The Death & The Ghost and Sex Beat '81 .

Ward Dotson left the formation and was replaced by the returned Kid Congo Powers. With him came The Las Vegas Story , with which the group held its status. During the following European tour (1984) Terry Graham left the band. After the tour, the formation broke up completely. For the time being, the first official live record, Dance Kalinda Boom, was released .

Patricia Morrison switched to The Sisters of Mercy (later she played with The Damned ), Kid Congo Powers to Nick Caves Bad Seeds, and Pierce recorded the solo albums Wildweed and the experimental Flamingo .

In 1987 he reformed the group with the line-up Pierce, Powers, Romi Mori (bass - the Japanese was Pierce's friend) and Nick Sanderson (drums, ex-Clock DVA). The comeback album Mother Juno proved that the group had not run out of steam for a long time and offered some of the best Gun Club songs with titles such as Hearts , Breaking Hands or Port of Soul .

However, the successor Pastoral Hide & Seek showed the first signs of fatigue. The double maxi Divinity recorded with interim drummer Desi turned out much better , on which the group also offered some live tracks. Another live album was released with Ahmed's Wild Dream . It was Powers' farewell album, which left again shortly afterwards.

Bad health from the excesses with alcohol and other drugs, the work on the next album was not a good star. In addition, Romi Mori turned away from Pierce and went with Sanderson, but both remained loyal to the band. Accordingly, Lucky Jim was more blues-oriented again, although the title spread optimism. Pierce was also working on his autobiography at this time, the manuscripts appeared together with his song texts under the title Go Tell the Mountain in 1998 by Henry Rollins Verlag (2.13.61).

On March 31, 1996, Pierce died of a stroke at the age of 37.

The new wave formation Blondie , with whom Pierce was friends, dedicated the song Under the Gun to him in 1999 . The Hamburg school band Tocotronic dedicated the song Other Shores to him in 2007 .

Discography

Albums

  • 1981: Fire of Love (Ruby Records)
  • 1982: Miami (Animal Records / Festival Records)
  • 1984: The Las Vegas Story (Animal Records / Passport Records)
  • 1987: Mother Juno (Red Rhino Records)
  • 1990: Pastoral Hide & Seek ( New Rose Records )
  • 1993: Lucky Jim (What's So Funny About)

EPs

  • 1983: Death Party (Animal Records)
  • 1991: Divinity (New Rose Records)

Singles

  • 1981: Ghosts on the Highway / Sex Beat ( Beggars Banquet )
  • 1982: Fire of Love (Animal Records)
  • 1988: Breaking Hands (Red Rhino Records)
  • 1989: Sex Beat (New Rose Records)
  • 1990: The Great Divide (New Rose Records)
  • 1991: Pastoral, Hide & Seek (What's So Funny About)
  • 1993: Cry to Me (Sympathy for the Record Industry)

Live albums

  • 1983: The Birth, the Death, the Ghost (ABC Records / Head Music)
  • 1985: Danse Kalinda Boom: Live in Pandora's Box (Megadisc Records)
  • 1992: Ahmed's Wild Dream (Solid Records)
  • 1992: Live in Europe ( Triple X Records )
  • 2008: Larger Than Live! (Last call)
  • 2014: Destroy the Country (Cleopatra Records)
  • 2014: Moonlight Motel (Cleopatra Records)

Compilations

  • 1985: Two Sides of the Beast (Dojo Records)
  • 1992: In Exile (Triple X Records)
  • 1997: Early Warning (Sympathy For The Record Industry)
  • 2007: Da Blood Done Signed My Name (Castle Records)
  • 2015: Mother Berlin (Bang! Records)
  • 2017: Elvis From Hell (Bang! Records)
  • 2017: In My Room (Bang! Records)

VHS / DVD

  • 1994: Live at the Hacienda 1983 (Visionary Communications)
  • 1995: Preaching the Blues (Visionary Communications)
  • 2006: Ghost on the Highway (French Fan Club)
  • 2006: Live at the Haçienda 1983/84 (Cherry Red Films)
  • 2007: Fire of Love (Cherry Red Films)

Web links