Lucky Jim (album)

Last updated
Lucky Jim
Lucky Jim (album).jpg
Studio album by
the Gun Club
Released1993
RecordedJanuary 1992 – February 1993
StudioBananas Studios, Haarlem, Netherlands; "Blue Monsoons" Studio Zeezicht, Spaarnwoude, Netherlands
Genre
Label Triple X [1]
New Rose Records [2]
Producer Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Peer Rave
The Gun Club chronology
Divinity
(1991)		Lucky Jim
(1993)		Live in Europe
(1993)

Lucky Jim is an album by the American band the Gun Club, released in 1993. [3] [4] It was the band's final studio album. [5] [6] The album was "dedicated to the cities of Saigon and London, Fall and Winter 1991".

Contents

Production

The album was recorded in Holland, with the band made up of Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Romi Mori and Nick Sanderson. [7] Bart Van Poppel played organ during the recording sessions. [8]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [2]
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [10]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 7/10 [11]

Trouser Press called the album "an eerily austere record that displays the more spectral side of Pierce's voice, particularly on the dejected title track and 'Cry to Me' ... the manner in which he replaces post-adolescent rage with full-blown adult emptiness is mighty impressive." [8] Billboard deemed it "a haunting record that reflected Pierce's experiences in Japan and Vietnam, countries to which he traveled several times in the early '90s." [12] The Morning Call noted that "the tempos are slower, the song structures are more dynamic ... and there is an increased attention to melody and texture." [13]

AllMusic wrote that Lucky Jim "didn't just signify the passage of a man, but the disappearance of the only real American rock band left in the world." [9] The Spin Alternative Record Guide concluded that, "if the Gun Club's execution on the elegiac Lucky Jim directly recalls the Delta only once ('Anger Blues'), the album is permeated with a sadness and displacement fundamental to the deep blues." [11] Record Collector deemed the songs "gutbucket blues and melancholy acoustic outings," writing that "Pierce found a new kind of intimate personal blues towards the end." [14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jeffrey Lee Pierce; except where noted.

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Lucky Jim" 3:44
2."A House Is Not a Home" 4:04
3."Cry to Me" 5:56
4."Kamata Hollywood City" 5:09
5."Ride" 3:57
6."Idiot Waltz" 6:44
7."Up Above the World" 4:50
8."Day Turn the Night" 2:56
9."Blue Monsoons"Romi Mori2:53
10."Desire" 5:10
11."Anger Blues" 7:45

Personnel

Gun Club

with:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Gun Club</span> American rock band

The Gun Club were an American post-punk band from Los Angeles that existed from 1979 to 1996. Created and led by singer-songwriter and guitarist Jeffrey Lee Pierce, they were notable as one of the first bands in the punk rock subculture to incorporate influences from blues, rockabilly, and country music. The Gun Club has been called a "tribal psychobilly blues" band, as well as initiators of the punk blues sound cowpunk – "He (Pierce) took Robert Johnson and pre-war acoustic blues and 'punkified' it. Up until then bands were drawing on Iggy & The Stooges and the New York Dolls but he took it back so much further for inspiration."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lydia Lunch</span> American singer (born 1959)

Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Blasters</span> American rock band

The Blasters are an American rock band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Their self-described "American Music" is a blend of rockabilly, early rock and roll, punk rock, mountain music, and rhythm and blues and country.

<i>Obscure Alternatives</i> 1978 studio album by Japan

Obscure Alternatives is the second studio album by English new wave band Japan, released in October 1978 by record label Hansa.

<i>Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller)</i> 1978 studio album by Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band

Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) is the tenth studio album by American band Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band, released in October 1978 by Warner Bros. Records. The album emerged from production difficulties surrounding Bat Chain Puller, an album Captain Beefheart recorded for DiscReet and Virgin Records in 1976. DiscReet co-founders Herb Cohen and Frank Zappa feuded over the production of the album, because Cohen funded the production with Zappa's royalty checks. Captain Beefheart recorded a new album titled Shiny Beast (Bat Chain Puller) after Zappa withheld the master tapes of the original Bat Chain Puller album.

<i>Dawn of the Dickies</i> 1979 studio album by The Dickies

Dawn of the Dickies is the second studio album by the California punk band Dickies. It includes the UK hits "Nights in White Satin", which reached No. 39 in the UK chart in September 1979, and "Fan Mail," which made No. 57 in February 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Punk blues</span> Music genre

Punk blues is a music genre that mixes elements of punk rock and blues. Punk blues musicians and bands usually incorporate elements of related styles, such as protopunk and blues rock. Its origins lie strongly within the garage rock sound of the 1960s and 1970s.

Freeheat are a British indie rock band formed by Jim Reid and Ben Lurie of The Jesus and Mary Chain and Romi Mori and Nick Sanderson of The Gun Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Lee Pierce</span> American rock musician

Jeffrey Lee Pierce was an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, and author. He was one of the founding members of the band The Gun Club, and released material as a solo artist.

<i>Fire of Love</i> (album) 1981 studio album by the Gun Club

Fire of Love is the debut album of the American rock band the Gun Club, released in 1981 on Ruby Records.

<i>Miami</i> (The Gun Club album) 1982 studio album by The Gun Club

Miami is the second studio album by American rock band the Gun Club, released in 1982. It was released on Animal Records, founded by guitarist Chris Stein of Blondie, who also produced the album.

<i>The Las Vegas Story</i> (album) 1984 studio album by The Gun Club

The Las Vegas Story is the third studio album by American rock band the Gun Club, released in 1984. This album saw the return of founding member and lead guitarist Kid Congo Powers, after a three-year stint with the Cramps. The album was dedicated to Debbie Harry "for her love, help and encouragement."

<i>The Deviants 3</i> 1969 studio album by The Deviants

The Deviants 3 is the third and final album by the UK underground group the Deviants, released in 1969.

Nick Sanderson was an English musician, most famous for being the front man in Earl Brutus, and a short-term member of the Scottish alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain.

<i>11:11</i> (Come album) 1992 studio album by Come

11:11 is the debut album by Boston indie rock band Come.

<i>Mother Juno</i> 1987 studio album by The Gun Club

Mother Juno is an album by the Gun Club, released in 1987. It was produced by Robin Guthrie of the Cocteau Twins.

<i>Death Party</i> 1983 EP by The Gun Club

Death Party is an EP by American rock band The Gun Club, released in 1983. It is the only official release of the Jim Duckworth and Dee Pop line up of the band which existed for about eight months.

Cypress Grove is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer and producer.

Suzie Stapleton is an Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist who lives in Brighton, UK. She has released two EPs and an album, We Are the Plague, that combine alternative rock with gothic blues and dark folk.

Charlie Pickett is an American singer and guitarist, known as frontman for rock bands from Florida, most notably in the 1980s. In Rolling Stone, David Fricke described Pickett's music as "a brawling-roots mix of Johnny Thunders, Sun Records and trailer park Lou Reed in Florida bars."

References

  1. ↑ Thompson, Dave (October 25, 2000). Alternative Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation.
  2. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 39.
  3. ↑ Smith, Mat (Aug 7, 1993). "Lucky Jim by the Gun Club". Melody Maker. Vol. 69, no. 32. p. 33.
  4. ↑ Guzmán, Romeo; Fragoza, Carribean; Cummings, Alex Sayf; Reft, Ryan (February 14, 2020). East of East: The Making of Greater El Monte. Rutgers University Press.
  5. ↑ "The Gun Club story". Perfect Sound Forever.
  6. ↑ Buckley, Peter (October 25, 2003). The Rough Guide to Rock. Rough Guides.
  7. ↑ "The Gun Club Biography, Songs, & Albums". AllMusic.
  8. 1 2 "Gun Club". Trouser Press. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  9. 1 2 "Lucky Jim". AllMusic.
  10. ↑ MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1999. p. 514.
  11. 1 2 Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. 1995. pp. 172–173.
  12. ↑ Morris, Chris (Apr 20, 1996). "Recalling the overlooked life of Jeffrey Lee Pierce". Billboard. Vol. 108, no. 16. p. 73.
  13. ↑ Harry, Rich (Oct 23, 1993). "The Gun Club: Lucky Jim". The Morning Call. p. A68.
  14. ↑ "The Life & Times of Jeffrey Lee Pierce & the Gun Club". Record Collector. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.