Google tells me that Munoz is an NYU professor who listened to the Gun Club, Germs and other LA bands when he was younger, and he writes about that in his book Cruising utopia: the then and there of queer futurity . I still do not know what the "calling up thunder" phrase refers to.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 January 2012 13:11 (twelve years ago) link
It's a Gun Club song title. The "Punk Rock Commons" is what I don't quite get.
― the box cutter killer from the calcutta gutter (GOTT PUNCH II HAWKWINDZ), Wednesday, 25 January 2012 13:24 (twelve years ago) link
i think it just means punk-rock's tropes & shared values etc in this instancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_commons
― quick brown fox triangle (schlump), Wednesday, 25 January 2012 13:46 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks.
I guess drummer Graham has still not gotten his book published yet, although the kickstarter financing was successful.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 25 January 2012 15:11 (twelve years ago) link
The lyrics to "Jack on Fire" (posted way upthread) reminds me of Cormac McCarthy's "Blood Meridian".
― Mule, Thursday, 16 February 2012 09:44 (twelve years ago) link
I will fuck you till you die
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Thursday, 16 February 2012 09:45 (twelve years ago) link
Like the judge
― Mule, Thursday, 16 February 2012 10:10 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvTM8XtF-kAInteresting, hadn't known this existed as video until earlier today. Am assuming it's the source of the image herehttp://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Party-Gun-Club/dp/B0002DRKYY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329434582&sr=8-2and here http://www.discogs.com/Gun-Club-Love-Supreme/release/913496
Rob Ritter departed, to reappear in 45 Grave. Patricia Morrison brought in as his replacement. She stayed in the band until they split at the end of '84, but wasn't in New York when Tex & The Horseheads recording session ran short and Death Party was recorded. Jim Uliana was, so is on that but wasn't in the band.
Not sure if the video is the same gig as the recording on the 2 discs pictured above. Love the garage rock take on A Love Supreme on them. The lp of that title is 1/2 of what's on that Death Party disc. The other half was released as Sex Beat '81.The 2 lps were released when Terry Graham and Ward Dotson sold the tapes to a European record label cos they were making no money from being in the band.
The video is from around the time Miami was released but Rob Ritter was already gone by the time that came out hence his face not being on the cover and his weird sleeve billing. I think that record has one of my favourite covers ever which I find almost synaesthetic to the record inside. not sure too many would. But I find a record that was recorded in a cramped NYC studio fills my head with visions of wide open plains as well as swamp fronds. Love the psychedelic touches, the swirls of pedal steel guitar etc. One of my all-time favourite records.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 16 February 2012 23:36 (twelve years ago) link
great interview with Nick Cave about his friendship with Pierce:
http://messandnoise.com/articles/4448221
― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:02 (ten years ago) link
So sad re Pierce's medical issues
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:27 (ten years ago) link
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Still don't see via google any sign that his "Punk Like Me" book has been published
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:33 (ten years ago) link
No no sign of Tery Graham's book and he's said that he couldn't get it printed for the money raised or something to that effect, not apologised to anybody who sent him money through Kickstarter and no sign of the book.
There have been a load of bootlegs of the band in various incarnations upped to various places over the years. & Hellione's dvds of their tv appearances etc have been good watching. I think the official dvds are also still in print. THe 2 from manchester & the from Spain at least.
JLP put out a book called Go Tell The Mountain which conssisted of reminiscences and a load of lyrics, think it was through Rollins's imprint. I should have it around somewhere but need to be more organised.
& I think most of the lps are in print on cd. Plus some other unreleased at the time stuff. Oh & there have been 2 reasonably successful tribute sets covering various songs he wrote.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:58 (ten years ago) link
Forgot The Ghost On The Highway bio film too.Think I get credited on that too.
― Stevolende, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 18:00 (ten years ago) link
NC:" I think Henry Rollins might have been there as well actually. Jeffrey and I sat around and took loads of drugs and watched Henry do push-ups. "
Best drug story EVAH
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 18:02 (ten years ago) link
YES!
x-post
and this book
Interview courtesy of Gene Temesy to be used in his upcoming book documenting the history of The Gun Club. Used with permission.‘The Journey Is Long’
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 18:04 (ten years ago) link
That should be in every scared straight program in the world.
"If you do drugs eventually you will just watch people exercise"
― chr1sb3singer, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 18:05 (ten years ago) link
damn man didn't know about this. want one. demos of mother juno without all the cocteau action. really need to hear demo port of souls. can't buy records right now but will buy this when i can.
https://www.discogs.com/The-Gun-Club-Mother-Berlin/release/7722652
― scott seward, Wednesday, 2 November 2016 14:47 (seven years ago) link
hmmmm, does sound intriguing but...
Limited edition release of early recordings of the Mother Juno album, recorded in Berlin. Gatefold sleeve. Limited to 500 copies.
Vinyl issue of the Flow Records bonus CD with their 2006 reissue of the "Mother Juno" album.
― curmudgeon, Wednesday, 2 November 2016 14:56 (seven years ago) link
ah, so maybe i just need that. good looking out, curmudgeon.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 2 November 2016 15:27 (seven years ago) link
I have it. It's pretty good but I still prefer the Cocteau frills that Guthrie provided.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 2 November 2016 21:02 (seven years ago) link
one of my favorite bands of all time, and they make it work, but I would wager actual money that JLP was legitimately tone deaf -- could not carry any actual melody, and that his style develops because of that pretty harsh formal restriction. there is not one song in the discography where he's consonant with the tonic anywhere. this is especially notable in "yellow eyes."
― though she denies it to the press, (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Wednesday, 2 November 2016 21:07 (seven years ago) link
best voice. the most soulful of bobcat goldthwait impersonators. and 4000% times better than that horror show jack white. and better than frank black too. as far as pretenders to the death rock throne go.
i like the cocteau frills too! it's one of my favorite records. i just like the idea of hearing different studio versions.
― scott seward, Wednesday, 2 November 2016 23:42 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeWixeZwQmg&feature=shareHadn't seen this before Kid shared it on Facebook. Looks like it was only upped to youtube last night.Las Vegas Story line up of GC joined onstage by Bryan Gregory who Kid, at that point another Brian, had replaced in the Cramps. Though I think there were possibly a few short term guitarists between as can be seen in Urgh a Music War.
Not sure how frequently the Gun Club played this song. there is a version released on The Birth< The Death, The Ghost which was recorded before Brian Tristan left the band the first time.
I had thought the song was called Bo Diddley's A Gunslinger but it looks like that's the original lp title and the song is just Gunslinger on it.
― Stevolende, Thursday, 3 November 2016 21:40 (seven years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeWixeZwQmg&feature=share
― Stevolende, Thursday, 3 November 2016 21:41 (seven years ago) link
I've got that playing on another tab and it doesn't seem to be appearing on here.Gun Club Gunslinger is what it's down as on youtube if it stays up thereCleveland 1984-8-16
― Stevolende, Thursday, 3 November 2016 21:44 (seven years ago) link
Try that one more timehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeWixeZwQmg
― Stevolende, Thursday, 3 November 2016 21:47 (seven years ago) link
Reissue of Miami in December with some demos:
DISC 21. CARRY HOME (DEMO)2. LIKE CALLING UP THUNDER (DEMO)3. BROTHER AND SISTER (DEMO)4. RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE (DEMO)5. DEVIL IN THE WOODS (DEMO)6. TEXAS SERENADE (DEMO)7. WATERMELON MAN (DEMO)8. BAD INDIAN (DEMO)9. JOHN HARDY (DEMO)10. FIRE OF LOVE (DEMO)11. SLEEPING IN BLOOD CITY (DEMO)12. MOTHER OF EARTH (DEMO)13. WALKIN’ WITH THE BEAST (DEMO)14. PRUNE DICKS FROM MARS (DEMO)15. VAMPIRES (DEMO)16. JOURNEY TO ZATAR (DEMO)17. BLUE HAIR (DEMO)18. PIG BOYS (DEMO)
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 7 October 2020 18:25 (three years ago) link
The last 5 o9f the Demoes are versions of songs from teh Death party e.p. not sure if they are all from teh same source , the Death party version here sounds very very close to the released version so I would think it was Duckworth. I think a couple of others may have some variance. Only listened to each track once and not heard them in direct contrast to the released versions. but would think that since Terry Graham and Ward Dotson have pretty different styles to Dee pop and Jim Duckworth it would be noticeably different.Seems like these may be working pre production recordings of the released tracks. Not sure.Just thought it might be interesting to hear what the different line ups did with teh same song. I know that Walking With The Beast is very different in its b-side Dotson/Ritter/Graham version to its released Powers/Morrison/Graham version .Also the difference between the early 80s live version of I Hear YOur Heart Singing to the 1990 version on PastoraL Hide & seek is somewhat interesting. Very different line up too.
― Stevolende, Sunday, 19 September 2021 12:28 (two years ago) link
Oh yeah, I still need to check this---from Rolling Reissues:
THE GUN CLUB’S 1981 PUNK-BLUES CLASSIC DEBUT FIRE OF LOVE RETURNS WITH DELUXE DOUBLE-VINYL AND DOUBLE-CD REISSUES VIA BLIXA SOUNDSBoth the LP and CD Editions Come with 10 bonus tracks and the Previously Unreleased Live At Club 88 – March 6, 1981
Street date July 23, 2021
LOS ANGELES, CA. (Tuesday June 1, 2021) — With a howling and unholy mix of punk rock and the blues, Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club exploded upon the L.A. club scene in the early ’80s. They recorded their classic debut, 1981’s Fire Of Love, for the local Slash/Ruby Records label. And now that legendary album has been unearthed and brought back to life as a deluxe two-CD and two-LP set.
Both the double-CD and double-vinyl editions contain a digitally remastered version of the original 11-track album, produced by fellow L.A. scenesters Chris D. of The Flesh Eaters and The Plugz’s Tito Larriva. The CD version will include 10 previously unreleased four-track demos and alternate versions, while the LP will include a download card for the digital version of the 10 bonus tracks.Both the CD and the vinyl versions will include a second disc, the previously unreleased Live At Club 88 – March 6, 1981, a concert recording capturing the band’s incendiary live set at the legendary West L.A. dive bar.
The double-vinyl version will be released as a two-LP set packaged in a gatefold cover with extensive liner notes by drummer Terry Graham and remembrances from producer Tito Larriva and co-producer Chris D., as well as rare photos and ephemera. The CD version will include a booklet with liner notes, photos and ephemera.Born on June 27, 1958, Jeffrey Lee Pierce grew up in the East Los Angeles suburb of El Monte, California, before moving with his family to the San Fernando Valley, where he attended Granada Hills High School. Back then his main passion was acting. Eventually, his interest veered to music, but he held on to his love of drama and would later inject it into his music and performances. He’d been toying with guitar since the age of 10, and by his late teens and early 20s, he’d formed a few bands and wrote about reggae for Slash magazine under the pen name Ranking Señor Lea.It was in Creeping Ritual, a band Pierce formed with guitarist Brian Tristan, in which Pierce found his footing. He’d discovered the Delta blues from the record collections of Canned Heat singer Bob Hite and L.A. scenester Phast Phreddie Patterson, and decided to make them his own. Although his first bassist and drummer bailed, the band — rechristened The Gun Club by Circle Jerks’ singer and Pierce’s one-time roommate Keith Morris — became a reality with the addition of the fully formed rhythm section of bassist Rob Ritter and drummer Terry Graham. They had already played together in punk band The Bags and could hold down a solid foundation for Pierce and Tristan — now known as Kid Congo Powers — to improvise over. “He was injecting blues into the heart of punk rock, struggling to give life into something new and brilliant even if it was old and obvious at the same time,” Graham says of Pierce, in the book More Fun in the New World: The Unmaking and Legacy of L.A. Punk.
Fire of Love captures the Gun Club at their rawest on such originals as the unforgettable album-opener “Sex Beat,” the addictive “She’s Live Heroin to Me” and the psychobilly stomp of “For The Love Of Ivy,” an ode to Cramps guitarist and future Kid Congo bandmate Poison Ivy Rorschach. The band also delved into their influences on the set, digging up Tommy Johnson’s “Cool Drink Of Water” and Robert Johnson’s “Preaching The Blues” and jolting them back with jumper cables via Pierce’s new arrangements and “Elvis from Hell” howl.As Graham writes in the liner notes, “I couldn’t be more thrilled to know Fire Of Love has given so many a nice kick in the ass…I not only loved fighting off the Devil while a member of Gun Club, but I’m proud of what we did on Fire Of Love with Chris and Tito as our guides. And if this music continues to irk the purists, I couldn’t be more proud. Jeff, you were one hell of a great musician, but you knew that.”The Gun Club went on to record several other albums — including 1982’s Miami (reissued by Blixa Sounds in 2020) — before Pierce’s death in 1996, yet Fire Of Love is their finest hour.
CD TRACK LISTINGDISC 11. SEX BEAT2. PREACHING THE BLUES3. PROMISE ME4. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME5. FOR THE LOVE OF IVY6. FREE SPIRIT7. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY8. JACK ON FIRE9. BLACK TRAIN10. COOL DRINK OF WATER11. GOODBYE JOHNNYBONUS TRACKS12. BAD INDIAN (ALTERNATIVE VERSION)13. COOL DRINK OF WATER (ALTERNATIVE VERSION)14. FIRE OF LOVE (ALTERNATIVE VERSION)15. FOR THE LOVE OF IVY (ALTERNATIVE VERSION)16. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY (ALTERNATIVE VERSION)17. FIRE OF LOVE (4 TRACK DEMO)18. DEVIL IN THE WOODS (4 TRACK DEMO)19. GOODBYE JOHNNY (4 TRACK DEMO)20. PREACHING THE BLUES (4 TRACK DEMO)21. WATERMELON MAN (4 TRACK DEMO)DISC 2 / LIVE AT CLUB 88 – MARCH 6, 19811. DEVIL IN THE WOODS2. BAD INDIAN3. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME4. PREACHING THE BLUES5. KEYS TO THE KINGDOM6. JACK ON FIRE7. RAILROAD BILL8. FIRE OF LOVE9. SEX BEAT10. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY
LP TRACK LISTINGLP1SIDE A1. SEX BEAT2. PREACHING THE BLUES3. PROMISE ME4. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME5. FOR THE LOVE OF IVY6. FREE SPIRITSIDE B1. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY2. JACK ON FIRE3. BLACK TRAIN4. COOL DRINK OF WATER5. GOODBYE JOHNNYLP2 / LIVE AT CLUB 88 – MARCH 6, 1981SIDE C1. DEVIL IN THE WOODS2. BAD INDIAN3. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME4. PREACHING THE BLUES5. KEYS TO THE KINGDOMSIDE D1. JACK ON FIRE2. RAILROAD BILL3. FIRE OF LOVE4. SEX BEAT5. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAYFire of Love EPKhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7kwkoRyI5w
― dow, Sunday, 19 September 2021 17:02 (two years ago) link
3 part interview with Terry Graham . First part here. I think you should be able to find teh link to next 2 from there.https://open.spotify.com/episode/1MOkNP6zwWzK5SPvMFkcOs?si=50d44bff29604e07 Probably on other platforms if you don't like this one.Think I found the podcast from something else then found they had this as episodes
― Stevolende, Saturday, 11 June 2022 17:29 (one year ago) link
You know all these recent Gun Club reissues are pretty nice -- the Las Vegas Story one came out today and as I said on Twitter just now...
So it should be said that the Blixa Records reissue series of the early Gun Club albums has been pretty great, and this liner note anecdote from Patricia Morrison in the just-released _Las Vegas Story_ about their sessions at Ocean Way Studios rules. pic.twitter.com/xlXygJXGe9— Ned Raggett (@NedRaggett) June 18, 2022
― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 18 June 2022 04:22 (one year ago) link
ha!
kid congo's book seems to be finally on the way.
― stirmonster, Saturday, 18 June 2022 16:20 (one year ago) link
It has a release date in October
― Stevolende, Saturday, 18 June 2022 17:35 (one year ago) link
signed copies here (not to UK though) - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/some-new-kind-of-kick-kid-congo-powers/1140976960?ean=9780306831447
― stirmonster, Saturday, 18 June 2022 22:15 (one year ago) link
The 80s cable TV music series Night Flight has come back as a streaming service, and here's this:
A Night Flight Streaming Exclusive - The Gun Club on the Road1984 Home Move: The Gun Club on the Road includes never-before-seen footage of the band backstage and onstage during their legendary 1984 tour.This classic line-up only stayed together for this one album, featuring original drummer Terry Graham, as well as guitar from Kid Congo Powers (The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and bassist Patricia Morrison (Sisters Of Mercy).
This classic line-up only stayed together for this one album, featuring original drummer Terry Graham, as well as guitar from Kid Congo Powers (The Cramps, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds) and bassist Patricia Morrison (Sisters Of Mercy).
― dow, Saturday, 18 June 2022 22:29 (one year ago) link
That home movie is a bonus DVD with the Las Vegas Story reissue.
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 19 June 2022 00:22 (one year ago) link
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Pdb6DrUkhuoLBGGPC8G6Q?si=ca9b68bee95f421fKId interview from The Vinyl Guide interview.
Hope he writes some more. Would be good if he did a book on his personal tastes etc. Anyway, enjoyed the memoir so would read more from him.
― Stevo, Monday, 1 May 2023 11:17 (one year ago) link
i just finished the memoir last night. so good. i can't really see there being a second volume but do hope he writes more too.
― stirmonster, Monday, 1 May 2023 20:49 (one year ago) link