Hello, nothing much to get exited about today, obviously that doesn't mean the nasties were resting they were just quietly plotting...
Time for another Aetix episode and an example of how drug abuse in combination with strong emotions can bring about art, be it accompanied by lots of pain, after some strong reactions last week, here's another chance to learn some more . ....N'Joy
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The Gun Club was formed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, former head of the Blondie fan club in Los Angeles. Joining him was Brian Tristan, who was later renamed Kid Congo Powers during his stint with The Cramps, Don Snowden and Brad Dunning. Pierce played guitar and lead vocals, while Tristan took on lead guitar, Snowden on bass, and Dunning rounding out the quartet on drums. The band was originally a rockabilly band called The Cyclones led by Pleasant Gehman on lead vocals, but Gehman departed after only one show. Adopting the name "The Creeping Ritual", Pierce moved to vocals and they spent some time gigging at local venues. Snowden and Dunning departed around this time, being replaced by two ex-members of The Bags, Rob Ritter and Terry Graham, respectively. Eventually, the group grew dissatisfied with their name and switched to "The Gun Club", suggested by Pierce's roommate, Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Pierce was already a notorious drunk, exhibitionist, poet and fanboy and The Gun Club were quickly a dangerous new spoke on the spinning wheel of dynamic LA alt-culture.
Kid Congo left before the recording of the first album to join The Cramps. He was replaced by Ward Dotson, who would play lead and slide guitar on the band's debut album. Securing a record deal on Slash Records division Ruby, the group released their debut album, Fire of Love in 1981. The album was produced by Tito Larriva of The Plugz and The Flesh Eaters frontman Chris D. Critic this debut LP was hotly anticipated throughout lowbrow Los Angeles upon its release, as the band had acquired an early reputation for cathartic, tear-'em-up live performances. Main Flesh Eater Chris D. took to releasing this fine platter on his own vanity subsidiary of Slash, Ruby Records.
1982 and the band had signed to Blondie guitarist Chris Stein's Animal Records. The band temporarily relocated to New York to record their follow-up album, 1982's Miami. This album would feature not only Stein as producer, but also Debbie Harry on backup vocals on select tracks. Upon release, the album received good reviews but was widely criticized for Stein's production, which was said to have a thin mix. Rob Ritter left shortly after the album, changing his name to Rob Graves and forming the band 45 Grave. Before leaving, Ritter taught all of his bass parts to his former Bags bandmate Patricia Morrison and trained her as his replacement. Due to increasingly common arguments, Pierce dismissed Graham and Dotson also.
Pierce returned to guitar playing during this new line-up, and both he and Powers are credited with guitar on their third album, 1984's The Las Vegas Story. This album marked a significant change for the band; it represented a shift away from the punk rock of Fire of Love and Miami and a step towards a more polished, alternative rock sound. After gigs supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees, the band decided to call it quits and played their farewell shows in the winter of 1984.
During the break-up, Powers, Morrison, and Desperate formed a band called Fur Bible, while Jeffrey Lee Pierce embarked on a solo career. Pierce assembled a band consisting of former members of The Cure and Roxy Music and released Wildweed in 1985. He organized a new band to tour in support of the album, including Nick Sanderson of Clock DVA and Pierce's then-girlfriend Romi Mori. Sanderson played drums while Mori played guitar.
After a short stint doing spoken word performances, Pierce decided to reform a new version of the band in 1986. Powers, who had also been recruited into Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at this time, resumed his place at guitar, with Mori switching to bass, and Sanderson retaining his place on drums. Under this line-up, The Gun Club would record a handful of albums, including 1987's Mother Juno. This album, produced by Robin Guthrie of The Cocteau Twins, was met with positive critical reception and was a successful comeback for the band. After the release of Nick Cave's 1990 album The Good Son, Kid Congo Powers departed The Bad Seeds to focus more on The Gun Club.
1990 saw the release of the band's fifth studio effort, Pastoral Hide and Seek, which Pierce produced himself. Nick Sanderson departed after the release of 1991's mini-album Divinity to focus on his other project, World of Twist. He was replaced with Simon Fish, who had previously played with Pierce on one of his solo albums. In 1992, Powers left the band to focus on his solo project Congo Norvell, without their lead guitarist, Pierce decided to handle both lead and rhythm guitar parts on what would be their final album, 1993's Lucky Jim. Pierce and Romi Mori had, at this point, been dating since the mid-eighties. However, Sanderson and Mori grew increasingly close until finally the two eloped in 1994, leaving The Gun Club without a rhythm section. Pierce, by his own account, had been off of drugs for several years but soon switched back to drug and alcohol abuse after the departure of his longtime girlfriend.
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - reggae fan, heroin addict, and former president of the Blondie fan club - upheld the confident predictions of many by dying a lonely and fairly depressing death over fourteen years ago, on March 31st, 1997. Pierce's Johnny Thunders-esque holdout in the face of self-wrought bodily deterioration was oddly admirable, yet in no way was the man mistaken for a hero for it. He expired of a brain hemorrhage at a relative's house in Utah, HIV-positive and sick with hepatitis after untold years of drug use, alcoholism and the usual other suspects.
Morrison went on to play with the Sisters of Mercy, Powers in his own lounge group, and Dotson formed the Pontiac Brothers. An album featuring the Gun Club in concert, Larger Than Live!, appeared from Last Call Records in 2008.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The profile of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his Gun Club continues to grow in stature; another case of an artist, often their own worst enemy, derided and under-appreciated when alive, then gaining iconic status with new generations after their death. Pierce died in 1996 but it’s only recently that live CDs, DVDs and the wonderful Ghost On The Highway movie have appeared to stoke a proper legend. The group were one of the most popular draws on the live circuit during their mid-1980's heyday Live Buffalo NY? was recorded two months before the release of thei sophomore album, Miami. it came as a bonus album with it's remastered rerelease in 2009.
The Gun Club - Live Buffalo NY 1982 (Miami Bns) (flac 296mb)
Live Show Continental Club Buffalo New York 1982
01 Ghost On The Highway 2:49
02 Walkin' With The Beast 4:20
03 I Hear Your Heart Singing 3:07
04 A Devil In The Woods 3:00
05 Goodbye Johnny 3:44
06 For The Love Of Ivy 7:21
07 Bad Indian 2:42
08 Strange Fruit/Fire Spirit 4:55
09 Carry Home 3:13
10 Preachin' The Blues 5:22
11 Sexbeat 2:47
12 Jack On Fire 4:31
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Gun Club collapsed within a year of the release of 1984's The Las Vegas Story, so more than a few fans were surprised in 1987 when Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo Powers returned with a new version of the band, featuring Romi Mori (Pierce's significant other) on bass and Nick Sanderson (ex-Clock DVA) on drums. Even more startling was that the group's comeback album, Mother Juno, was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, who would hardly have seemed a likely choice to channel The Gun Club's fiery blues-punk assault onto vinyl. But against the odds, Mother Juno turned out to be one of the band's best albums; the hard rock overtones of The Las Vegas Story were replaced by a more direct, streamlined sound that suggested Miami without the twangy undertow, and while "Bill Bailey" and "Thunderhead" proved this band could rock as hard as they ever had before, Pierce's songs were also venturing into new musical territory, as evidenced by the slow, slinky R&B of "Yellow Eyes," the atmospheric carnival-pop of "The Breaking Hands," and the contemplative "Port of Souls." And as a vocalist, Pierce's trademark just-off-pitch style had gained no small amount of nuance in the six years since Fire of Love, and whether he's shouting the blues or crooning sadly, Pierce shows he'd moved into a whole new class as a singer. Sadly, Mother Juno didn't earn a United States release until the 1990s, which is a shame; it not only made clear that The Gun Club were still alive and kicking, it showed they had lost none of their old power as they cleared out some new territory in the process.
The Gun Club - Mother Juno ( flac 313mb)
01 Bill Bailey 3:40
02 Thunderhead 3:28
03 Lupita Screams 3:14
04 Yellow Eyes 6:29
05 The Breaking Hands 4:12
06 Araby 3:01
07 Hearts 3:59
08 My Cousin Kim 2:45
09 Port Of Souls 4:53
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
On 1990's Pastoral Hide & Seek, Jeffrey Lee Pierce had promoted himself to lead guitar (Kid Congo Powers was still on hand to provide slide licks), and his concise, stripped-down guitar lines lead the band away from the blues structures of their earlier work and into a leaner, more contemporary R&B-styled direction (especially on "St. John's Divine" and "The Straits of Love and Hate"), though the passion and attack of the band is still pure rock & roll throughout. While Pierce's vocals aren't quite as strong as on the preceding album, Mother Juno, his songwriting chops were in fine form. Pastoral Hide & Seek is low-key Gun Club, but beneath its subtle surface it's as committed and heartfelt as anything in the band's catalog. Here with the studiopart of the 91 mini album Divinity.
The Gun Club - Pastoral Hide and Seek (flac 386mb )
01 Humanesque 3:20
02 The Straights Of Love & Hate 4:17
03 Emily's Changed 3:11
04 I Hear Your Heart Singing 3:56
05 St John's Divine 4:25
06 The Great Divide 3:10
07 Another Country's Young 5:02
08 Flowing 4:52
09 Temptation & I 4:25
10 Eskimo Blue Day 5:17
Xtra Divinity
11 Sorrow Knows 7:01
12 Richard Speck 2:07
13 Keys To The Kingdom 3:15
14 Black Hole 2:14
15 St. John's Divine (Remix) 4:41
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wildweed 451mb
01 Love And Desperation 5:12
02 Sex Killer 3:09
03 Cleopatra Dreams On 3:29
04 From Temptation To You 4:57
05 Sensitivity 3:29
06 Hey Juana 3:11
07 Love Circus 5:25
08 Wildweed 2:41
09 The Midnight Promise 6:35
10 Open The Door Osiris 0:40
11 The Fertility Goddess 3:50
12 Portrait Of The Artist In Hell (Chris & Maggie Meet Blind Willie McTell At A James Brown Concert) 1:53
Bonus
13 Get Away 4:09
14 Love & Desperation (Midnight Mix) 6:50
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Time for another Aetix episode and an example of how drug abuse in combination with strong emotions can bring about art, be it accompanied by lots of pain, after some strong reactions last week, here's another chance to learn some more . ....N'Joy
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Gun Club was formed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce, former head of the Blondie fan club in Los Angeles. Joining him was Brian Tristan, who was later renamed Kid Congo Powers during his stint with The Cramps, Don Snowden and Brad Dunning. Pierce played guitar and lead vocals, while Tristan took on lead guitar, Snowden on bass, and Dunning rounding out the quartet on drums. The band was originally a rockabilly band called The Cyclones led by Pleasant Gehman on lead vocals, but Gehman departed after only one show. Adopting the name "The Creeping Ritual", Pierce moved to vocals and they spent some time gigging at local venues. Snowden and Dunning departed around this time, being replaced by two ex-members of The Bags, Rob Ritter and Terry Graham, respectively. Eventually, the group grew dissatisfied with their name and switched to "The Gun Club", suggested by Pierce's roommate, Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. Pierce was already a notorious drunk, exhibitionist, poet and fanboy and The Gun Club were quickly a dangerous new spoke on the spinning wheel of dynamic LA alt-culture.
Kid Congo left before the recording of the first album to join The Cramps. He was replaced by Ward Dotson, who would play lead and slide guitar on the band's debut album. Securing a record deal on Slash Records division Ruby, the group released their debut album, Fire of Love in 1981. The album was produced by Tito Larriva of The Plugz and The Flesh Eaters frontman Chris D. Critic this debut LP was hotly anticipated throughout lowbrow Los Angeles upon its release, as the band had acquired an early reputation for cathartic, tear-'em-up live performances. Main Flesh Eater Chris D. took to releasing this fine platter on his own vanity subsidiary of Slash, Ruby Records.
1982 and the band had signed to Blondie guitarist Chris Stein's Animal Records. The band temporarily relocated to New York to record their follow-up album, 1982's Miami. This album would feature not only Stein as producer, but also Debbie Harry on backup vocals on select tracks. Upon release, the album received good reviews but was widely criticized for Stein's production, which was said to have a thin mix. Rob Ritter left shortly after the album, changing his name to Rob Graves and forming the band 45 Grave. Before leaving, Ritter taught all of his bass parts to his former Bags bandmate Patricia Morrison and trained her as his replacement. Due to increasingly common arguments, Pierce dismissed Graham and Dotson also.
Pierce returned to guitar playing during this new line-up, and both he and Powers are credited with guitar on their third album, 1984's The Las Vegas Story. This album marked a significant change for the band; it represented a shift away from the punk rock of Fire of Love and Miami and a step towards a more polished, alternative rock sound. After gigs supporting Siouxsie and the Banshees, the band decided to call it quits and played their farewell shows in the winter of 1984.
During the break-up, Powers, Morrison, and Desperate formed a band called Fur Bible, while Jeffrey Lee Pierce embarked on a solo career. Pierce assembled a band consisting of former members of The Cure and Roxy Music and released Wildweed in 1985. He organized a new band to tour in support of the album, including Nick Sanderson of Clock DVA and Pierce's then-girlfriend Romi Mori. Sanderson played drums while Mori played guitar.
After a short stint doing spoken word performances, Pierce decided to reform a new version of the band in 1986. Powers, who had also been recruited into Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds at this time, resumed his place at guitar, with Mori switching to bass, and Sanderson retaining his place on drums. Under this line-up, The Gun Club would record a handful of albums, including 1987's Mother Juno. This album, produced by Robin Guthrie of The Cocteau Twins, was met with positive critical reception and was a successful comeback for the band. After the release of Nick Cave's 1990 album The Good Son, Kid Congo Powers departed The Bad Seeds to focus more on The Gun Club.
1990 saw the release of the band's fifth studio effort, Pastoral Hide and Seek, which Pierce produced himself. Nick Sanderson departed after the release of 1991's mini-album Divinity to focus on his other project, World of Twist. He was replaced with Simon Fish, who had previously played with Pierce on one of his solo albums. In 1992, Powers left the band to focus on his solo project Congo Norvell, without their lead guitarist, Pierce decided to handle both lead and rhythm guitar parts on what would be their final album, 1993's Lucky Jim. Pierce and Romi Mori had, at this point, been dating since the mid-eighties. However, Sanderson and Mori grew increasingly close until finally the two eloped in 1994, leaving The Gun Club without a rhythm section. Pierce, by his own account, had been off of drugs for several years but soon switched back to drug and alcohol abuse after the departure of his longtime girlfriend.
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - reggae fan, heroin addict, and former president of the Blondie fan club - upheld the confident predictions of many by dying a lonely and fairly depressing death over fourteen years ago, on March 31st, 1997. Pierce's Johnny Thunders-esque holdout in the face of self-wrought bodily deterioration was oddly admirable, yet in no way was the man mistaken for a hero for it. He expired of a brain hemorrhage at a relative's house in Utah, HIV-positive and sick with hepatitis after untold years of drug use, alcoholism and the usual other suspects.
Morrison went on to play with the Sisters of Mercy, Powers in his own lounge group, and Dotson formed the Pontiac Brothers. An album featuring the Gun Club in concert, Larger Than Live!, appeared from Last Call Records in 2008.
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The profile of Jeffrey Lee Pierce and his Gun Club continues to grow in stature; another case of an artist, often their own worst enemy, derided and under-appreciated when alive, then gaining iconic status with new generations after their death. Pierce died in 1996 but it’s only recently that live CDs, DVDs and the wonderful Ghost On The Highway movie have appeared to stoke a proper legend. The group were one of the most popular draws on the live circuit during their mid-1980's heyday Live Buffalo NY? was recorded two months before the release of thei sophomore album, Miami. it came as a bonus album with it's remastered rerelease in 2009.
The Gun Club - Live Buffalo NY 1982 (Miami Bns) (flac 296mb)
Live Show Continental Club Buffalo New York 1982
01 Ghost On The Highway 2:49
02 Walkin' With The Beast 4:20
03 I Hear Your Heart Singing 3:07
04 A Devil In The Woods 3:00
05 Goodbye Johnny 3:44
06 For The Love Of Ivy 7:21
07 Bad Indian 2:42
08 Strange Fruit/Fire Spirit 4:55
09 Carry Home 3:13
10 Preachin' The Blues 5:22
11 Sexbeat 2:47
12 Jack On Fire 4:31
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
The Gun Club collapsed within a year of the release of 1984's The Las Vegas Story, so more than a few fans were surprised in 1987 when Jeffrey Lee Pierce and Kid Congo Powers returned with a new version of the band, featuring Romi Mori (Pierce's significant other) on bass and Nick Sanderson (ex-Clock DVA) on drums. Even more startling was that the group's comeback album, Mother Juno, was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins, who would hardly have seemed a likely choice to channel The Gun Club's fiery blues-punk assault onto vinyl. But against the odds, Mother Juno turned out to be one of the band's best albums; the hard rock overtones of The Las Vegas Story were replaced by a more direct, streamlined sound that suggested Miami without the twangy undertow, and while "Bill Bailey" and "Thunderhead" proved this band could rock as hard as they ever had before, Pierce's songs were also venturing into new musical territory, as evidenced by the slow, slinky R&B of "Yellow Eyes," the atmospheric carnival-pop of "The Breaking Hands," and the contemplative "Port of Souls." And as a vocalist, Pierce's trademark just-off-pitch style had gained no small amount of nuance in the six years since Fire of Love, and whether he's shouting the blues or crooning sadly, Pierce shows he'd moved into a whole new class as a singer. Sadly, Mother Juno didn't earn a United States release until the 1990s, which is a shame; it not only made clear that The Gun Club were still alive and kicking, it showed they had lost none of their old power as they cleared out some new territory in the process.
The Gun Club - Mother Juno ( flac 313mb)
01 Bill Bailey 3:40
02 Thunderhead 3:28
03 Lupita Screams 3:14
04 Yellow Eyes 6:29
05 The Breaking Hands 4:12
06 Araby 3:01
07 Hearts 3:59
08 My Cousin Kim 2:45
09 Port Of Souls 4:53
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
On 1990's Pastoral Hide & Seek, Jeffrey Lee Pierce had promoted himself to lead guitar (Kid Congo Powers was still on hand to provide slide licks), and his concise, stripped-down guitar lines lead the band away from the blues structures of their earlier work and into a leaner, more contemporary R&B-styled direction (especially on "St. John's Divine" and "The Straits of Love and Hate"), though the passion and attack of the band is still pure rock & roll throughout. While Pierce's vocals aren't quite as strong as on the preceding album, Mother Juno, his songwriting chops were in fine form. Pastoral Hide & Seek is low-key Gun Club, but beneath its subtle surface it's as committed and heartfelt as anything in the band's catalog. Here with the studiopart of the 91 mini album Divinity.
The Gun Club - Pastoral Hide and Seek (flac 386mb )
01 Humanesque 3:20
02 The Straights Of Love & Hate 4:17
03 Emily's Changed 3:11
04 I Hear Your Heart Singing 3:56
05 St John's Divine 4:25
06 The Great Divide 3:10
07 Another Country's Young 5:02
08 Flowing 4:52
09 Temptation & I 4:25
10 Eskimo Blue Day 5:17
Xtra Divinity
11 Sorrow Knows 7:01
12 Richard Speck 2:07
13 Keys To The Kingdom 3:15
14 Black Hole 2:14
15 St. John's Divine (Remix) 4:41
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Jeffrey Lee Pierce - Wildweed 451mb
01 Love And Desperation 5:12
02 Sex Killer 3:09
03 Cleopatra Dreams On 3:29
04 From Temptation To You 4:57
05 Sensitivity 3:29
06 Hey Juana 3:11
07 Love Circus 5:25
08 Wildweed 2:41
09 The Midnight Promise 6:35
10 Open The Door Osiris 0:40
11 The Fertility Goddess 3:50
12 Portrait Of The Artist In Hell (Chris & Maggie Meet Blind Willie McTell At A James Brown Concert) 1:53
Bonus
13 Get Away 4:09
14 Love & Desperation (Midnight Mix) 6:50
xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx xxxxx
Hi Rho, don't worry, I'm not asking for a re-up. Do you have Wildweed, JLP's solo album and Flamingo the follow up EP? I only have them in MP3 and would love to have them in FLAC.
ReplyDeleteAJ
Hi Rho, any possibility to re-up all the Gun Club
ReplyDeleteregards, locobebop