The Gun Club

This article is about the band. For gun clubs generally, see Shooting range.
The Gun Club

Jeffrey Lee Pierce, seen performing live with The Gun Club in 1985.
Background information
Also known as The Cyclones
Origin Los Angeles, California
Genres Post-punk, punk rock, psychobilly, cowpunk
Years active 1979–1985, 1986-1994
Associated acts The Cramps, 45 Grave, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Tex & the Horseheads, Blondie, Cypress Grove, Freeheat, The Damned
Past members Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Kid Congo Powers
Don Snowden
Brad Dunning
Pleasant Gehman
Terry Graham
Rob Ritter
Ward Dotson
Annie Ungar
Patricia Morrison
Jim Duckworth
Dee Pop
Desperate
Romi Mori
Nick Sanderson
Simon Fish

The Gun Club was a post-punk/cowpunk band from Los Angeles, California that existed from 1979 to 1996. Led by flamboyant singer and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, The Gun Club merged the contemporary genre of punk rock with the more traditional genres of rockabilly and country music.

Along with X, The Flesh Eaters and The Blasters, they are cited as a "tribal psychobilly blues" band.[1]

History

Fire of Love and Miami (1979-1982)

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, who was at the time a music critic for the Los Angeles Times, and Brad Dunning, now a prominent designer and writer. Pierce, Tristan and Dunning were good friends having met at various early punk gigs and frequented the Capitol Records parking lot record swapmeet. 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 which was at Gazzarri's, a club on the Sunset Strip and their opening act was The GoGos.

After adopting the name "The Creeping Ritual", Pierce moved to vocals and they spent some time gigging at local venues. They quickly changed their name to The Gun Club suggested by Pierce's roommate, Black Flag and Circle Jerks singer Keith Morris. They often opened for the band X and The Blasters among others. Snowden and Dunning departed in late 1980 being replaced by two ex-members of Bags, Rob Ritter and Terry Graham, respectively.

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 Stevo Olende has written that the "album's lyrical imagery is plundered from voodoo, '50's EC comics and the blues," while another notes that "Nobody has heard music like this before or since."[2] Fire of Love sold well and received strong reviews upon release.

By 1982, 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 around this time.

The Las Vegas Story and first break-up (1983-1985)

Terry Graham and Ward Dotson were replaced with Jim Duckworth on guitar and Dee Pop, formerly of the New York band Bush Tetras, on drums. During this time, Pierce refrained from guitar playing, instead focusing on singing. This line-up was to be very short-lived though; Dee Pop lasted only eight months before Graham returned. On the eve of an Australian tour, both Duckworth and Graham refused to get on the plane. Without a guitarist or a drummer, Pierce had the drummer (Billy Pommer Jr) and guitarist (Spencer P. Jones) from the supporting act (Jones' band The Johnnys) fill in for the remainder of the tour, while Kid Congo Powers also returned on guitar. When they returned to the States, Graham resumed his place on drums.

Pierce returned to guitar playing during this 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. The Blaster's Dave Alvin appeared to play lead guitar on a handful of tracks. The band embarked on a tour throughout Europe in support of the album, though Graham again departed during this tour and was replaced with Desperate. 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.

Reformation (1986-1992)

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. During this time, Jeffrey Lee alternated between his solo acoustic material and The Gun Club, which was his outlet for harder-edged songs. In 1992, Powers left the band to focus on his solo project Congo Norvell. Nick Sanderson soon returned to drums after the dissolution of World of Twist, later forming Earl Brutus with ex-WOT Jamie Fry & Gordon King.

Legacy

The White Stripes played "For the Love of Ivy" and "Jack on Fire", from Fire of Love, at live shows. Of The Gun Club's music in particular, the band's vocalist and guitarist Jack White has said, "'Sex Beat', 'She's Like Heroin to Me', and 'For the Love of Ivy'...why are these songs not taught in schools?"[3]

Discography

Studio albums

Singles and EPs

Compilation albums

Live albums

Live videos and DVDs

References

  1. ↑ Sullivan, Denise. "The Gun Club". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  2. ↑ Jurek, Thom. "Fire of Love - The Gun Club". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
  3. ↑ Owen Adams (July 18, 2007). "Why the White Stripes want to join the Gun Club". Guardian Music Blogs. Retrieved 2008-08-30.

External links

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