Title: Gun Club leader Pierce dies after surgery OBITUARY: One of L.A.'s unsung musical heroes seemed to be on his way back Author: Jim Sullivan (The Boston Globe) Source: Orange County Register Date: April 10, 1996 Jeffrey Lee Pierce, leader of the band the Gun Club, died Sunday after surgery to treat a blood clot in his brain. He was 38. Pierce and the Gun Club had been inactive for some time, but there were moments during the early and mid-1980s when the Los Angeles-based group could be one of the hottest bands imaginable. Especially memorable was their Boston debut late in 1981 at the long-defunct club Streets. Touring in support of their first (and best) album, they induced a wild night of slam-dancing and sweaty emotion, with Pierce's lead vocals leading the way with his bluesy wail. The Gun Club's aim was to do for the blues and R&B what the Cramps had done for rockabilly _ to seize it, warp it, modernize it. There was no parody involved, but neither was there reverence. Boston rock fans got a taste of Pierce's songwriting power when Better Than Ezra kicked up the Gun Club's "For the Love of Ivy" _ an homage to his friend, the Cramps' Poison Ivy _ when it played the free WBCN show at the Hatch Shell last year. Pierce battled weight and substance-abuse problems for years. He had a reputation for being difficult to work with, and the Gun Club went through a series of lineups. Concerts became erratic _ some explosive, others tedious. "For the last several years, Jeffrey didn't seem to be himself," said his friend Fred Patterson in a missive sent out on the Internet. Patterson said Pierce suffered the effects of drug abuse and of a virus he contracted during a visit to Southeast Asia. Patterson, who played on the Gun Club's album "Las Vegas Story," said he last talked to Pierce in February. At that point, Patterson said, Pierce _ who had moved back to Los Angeles _ was in much better shape and planned to put together another version of the Gun Club. © Freedom Communications, Inc. April 10, 1996 JUST CLICK "BACK" TO RETURN TO THE LIST OF ARTICLES