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Friday, June 4, 2021

Reissue news: The Gun Club's 'Fire of Love'

Jeffrey Lee Pierce and The Gun Club's seminal debut from 1981, 
Fire Of Love, is being reissued as a deluxe two-CD and two-LP set on July 23 via Blixa Sounds.

Both 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.

The CD and the vinyl will include a second disc, the previously unreleased Live At Club 88 – March 6, 1981, a concert recording capturing the band’s 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 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 also include a booklet with liner notes, photos and ephemera.

“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 features psychobilly-tinged “For The Love Of Ivy,” an ode to The Cramps guitarist and his 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.”

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.

CD TRACK LISTING:

DISC 1
1. SEX BEAT
2. PREACHING THE BLUES
3. PROMISE ME
4. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME
5. FOR THE LOVE OF IVY
6. FREE SPIRIT
7. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY
8. JACK ON FIRE
9. BLACK TRAIN
10. COOL DRINK OF WATER
11. GOODBYE JOHNNY
BONUS TRACKS
12. 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, 1981
1. DEVIL IN THE WOODS
2. BAD INDIAN
3. SHE’S LIKE HEROIN TO ME
4. PREACHING THE BLUES
5. KEYS TO THE KINGDOM
6. JACK ON FIRE
7. RAILROAD BILL
8. FIRE OF LOVE
9. SEX BEAT
10. GHOST ON THE HIGHWAY

Amazon CD Pre-Order Link: http://bit.ly/fireoflove-cd
Amazon LP Pre-Order Link: http://bit.ly/fireoflove
Fire Of Love EPK: https://youtu.be/D7kwkoRyI5w

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