Biography
Jeffrey Lee Pierce endures in memory as the intense, hard-living vocalist and guitarist at the helm of the Gun Club, whose sound blended punk's raw force with blues-derived melodies and obsessive lyrical themes. Pierce came into the world on June 27, 1958, and grew up in El Monte, California, where he first encountered punk rock as a teenager through employment at Bomp Records, contributions to Los Angeles punk periodicals such as Slash, and his position leading Blondie's fan club. By 1979 he felt prepared to lead his own group. Initially known as Creeping Ritual, the ensemble soon adopted the Gun Club name, reportedly following a suggestion from Circle Jerks frontman Keith Morris. The Gun Club fused hardcore punk drive with the essence of country blues while weaving in strands of rockabilly and country, thereby exerting an early shaping force on the emergence of psychobilly, although later practitioners often disregarded the blues foundations and the fatalistic verse that marked Pierce's lyrics. The band endured repeated membership turnovers, with Pierce remaining the only consistent participant, and delivered several notable early-1980s recordings across different labels, among them the landmark 1981 debut Fire of Love, Miami in 1982, and 1984's The Las Vegas Story. The Gun Club kept producing albums intermittently through the remainder of the decade, even as Pierce's well-being fluctuated because of repeated excesses involving alcohol and narcotics. He also found time for two solo projects outside his primary band duties, releasing Wildweed in 1985 and Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee in 1992, the latter also issued under the Ramblin' Jeffrey Lee credit, before returning to the Gun Club full time.
Pierce appeared to regain momentum through potent early-1990s Gun Club efforts such as 1992's In Exile and 1994's Lucky Jim, at the same time he contemplated developing a hybrid style called Rapanese that would merge rap with the Japanese language. On March 31, 1996, however, a brain hemorrhage ended his life at age 37. Pierce's recordings retained a devoted following in the years after his death, and more than a decade later numerous skilled admirers and associates convened to record fresh versions of his songs, many of which the Gun Club had never committed to tape. The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project issued its first collection, We Are Only Riders, in 2009, featuring contributions from Nick Cave, Deborah Harry, Mark Lanegan, Isobel Campbell, and Dave Alvin. A second installment, The Journey Is Long, followed in 2012 and again drew many of the same participants along with Steve Wynn, Mick Harvey, and Tav Falco. The project's third release, Axels & Sockets, appeared in 2014 and enlisted Iggy Pop, Thurston Moore, Primal Scream, and Lydia Lunch.
Pierce appeared to regain momentum through potent early-1990s Gun Club efforts such as 1992's In Exile and 1994's Lucky Jim, at the same time he contemplated developing a hybrid style called Rapanese that would merge rap with the Japanese language. On March 31, 1996, however, a brain hemorrhage ended his life at age 37. Pierce's recordings retained a devoted following in the years after his death, and more than a decade later numerous skilled admirers and associates convened to record fresh versions of his songs, many of which the Gun Club had never committed to tape. The Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project issued its first collection, We Are Only Riders, in 2009, featuring contributions from Nick Cave, Deborah Harry, Mark Lanegan, Isobel Campbell, and Dave Alvin. A second installment, The Journey Is Long, followed in 2012 and again drew many of the same participants along with Steve Wynn, Mick Harvey, and Tav Falco. The project's third release, Axels & Sockets, appeared in 2014 and enlisted Iggy Pop, Thurston Moore, Primal Scream, and Lydia Lunch.
Albums
