- Paperback: 298 pages
- Publisher: 2.13.61,U.S.; illustrated edition edition (14 May 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1880985608
- ISBN-13: 978-1880985601
- Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15.2 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,114,890 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Synopsis
Jeffrey Lee Pierce was the lead singer and founder of the seminal swamp-blues post-punk band the Gun Club and used their music as a personal medium. In this volume he gives an account of the band''s history along with stories and song lyrics.'
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POWERFUL QUAKE STRIKES WESTERN JAPAN, TEN REPORTED DEAD Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
POWERFUL QUAKE STRIKES WESTERN JAPAN, TEN REPORTED DEAD Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
From the early 1980s, up until his death in 1996, Jeffrey Lee Pierce was lead singer and guiding force behind 'The Gun Club.'
This book collects most of his lyrics, an account of his life in the band, one substantial short story and a few odd pieces of fiction.
On their own, the lyrics won't win any major poetry prizes, however the words of Jeffrey Lee Pierce tapped into a sad, wounded part of the human soul. I recall my first time, hearing the line from 'Idiot Waltz' on the final 'Gun Club' album, 'Lucky Jim':
"It was foolish to be alive.
It was foolish in a foolish time."
and then the chorus:
"Turn on the headlights for the idiot waltz
Turn on the lights, watch us fall."
Elsewhere, he offers salvation and small mercys to the assorted freaks and misfits that populate his songs. In 'Port of Souls':
"Now easy street
can sure get you laid
doesn't matter what you've done
and you get paid."
The history of the 'Gun Club' reads like a series of disjointed snapshots, beginning with the early shows at a Chinese restaurant in Hollywood. Ending in 1995 in Osaka, Japan. In between - a riot in Athens, Greece. Playing 'Thunderhead' on a portuguese childrens tv show. Learning, from William Burroughs, how to fire old western guns and rescuing the old man's cats, when they slipped out of the house at night.
One piece of fiction in this book shows that, had he lived, Jeffrey Lee Pierce could have been a fine writer. His prose resonates the same haunted quality of his songs. 'Young Kyoko', tells the story of a doomed romance between a young Japanese woman and a dying middle-aged man.
Jeffrey Lee Pierce died aged 37, but as this autobiography shows, he packed an awful lot of living into the little time that he had. In his writing he found a way to express the underlying sadness of the human condition.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
How can anyone really get inside the head of an artist? By reading the words of the person. For those who followed JLP for many years and felt an increasing appreciation of the man's artistic vision, this book (written basically under threat of the grim reaper) rings utterly true. I don't think it ever would have been Jeffrey's thing to give an account of "The Gun Club Recording Sessions" or, "What each song means", so this colourful, painfully honest, but steel-balled account of his journey through the dark side of show-business is a fine companion to his many recordings. We're damn lucky to have this document.It's very moving and proves that JLP was potentially an important writer from the American underbelly.Its probably a miracle he lived as long as he did. No record-company rehabs for this guy.It'll be interesting to see how much press he gets in the future.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Finally, a look into the life and mind of a man who's work hit me on many levels. Punk music that bucked the punk traditions of hard, fast ,loud and (mostly) forgetable music. The Gun Club was a band that was noisy without being loud. Some of Jeffery's punkest, scariest songs were haunting in thier quiet. Music that gets and stays under your skin. For the gun Club fan, the lyrics are wonderful. From the freashness of the first SLASH recording to the the brillant finally lp, Jeffery's music built, solidifed and focused while apparently his life disentgrated into a mental and physical shambles. A picture of a tortutred artist in the best traditions. I used to lament that I was the only north american fan that didnt know the guy. After reading the book and the fowards, that may have been a blessing. The book offers us his life but will be little help for those expecting an insight into the crafting of his songs. The mental processes that went into creating that scary, haunting sound died with him. man, his music will kick a** forever and this book is the requsite resourse to trying to form an understanding of the man...unless you already knew him. "its (still) cloudy in the west" gary chavez
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