Jeffrey Lee Pierce (June 27, 1958 – March 31, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He was one of the founding members of the 1980s punk band The Gun Club. He was a founding member of The Red Lights, before forming The Gun Club, and also released several solo albums.
British musician Cypress Grove was doing some housecleaning in 2006 when he ran across a battered old cassette with a label that read "JLP Songs." Grove soon discovered that the tape was the long-forgotten document of a songwriting session between himself and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the firebrand leader of the blues-punk band the Gun Club who died in 1996 at the age of 38. While the fidelity of the tape was too poor for commercial release and some of the songs were mere fragments, Grove was struck by the strength of "Constant Waiting," "Ramblin' Mind," and "Free to Walk," and was determined people should have the chance to hear Pierce's lost songs. Working with a handful of Pierce's friends, peers, and admirers, Grove helped to oversee new recordings of these and several other lesser-known Pierce compositions, and the results have appeared as We Are Only Riders, credited to the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project. Grove's stellar cast for these recordings includes Nick Cave, Deborah Harry, Mark Lanegan, the Raveonettes, Dave Alvin, Kid Congo Powers, the Sadies, Lydia Lunch, and Isobel Campbell, and while the approach of including three performances each of "Constant Waiting," "Ramblin' Mind," and "Free to Walk" (to represent different phases in the development of the tunes) backfires somewhat as they tend to trip over one another, the emotional force and musical strength of these recordings makes this album something special. Cave's version of "Ramblin' Mind" is as dark and ominous as it should be, while David Eugene Edwards makes the song sound like the theme from a particularly inspired spaghetti western; Harry's interpretation of "Lucky Jim" is a lovely, haunting paean to loss and absence; the Sadies transform "Constant Waiting" into a striking bit of overcast country-pop, while Johnny Dowd's take is full of sharp, angular electronics and sound like the stuff of a bitter nightmare; Lanegan and Campbell's rough, sweet harmonies and the bluegrass-influenced acoustic backing on "Free to Walk" find a glimmer of sunlight in the song's dour textures; and the closing rave-up on "Walkin' Down the Street (Doin' My Thing)" sounds like a profane barroom singalong in some village of the damned. We Are Only Riders is powerful reminder of how influential Jeffrey Lee Pierce's music was despite his lack of mainstream success, and how many creative directions his songs could take, making this a remarkable gift from one musician to another.
British musician Cypress Grove was doing some housecleaning in 2006 when he ran across a battered old cassette with a label that read "JLP Songs." Grove soon discovered that the tape was the long-forgotten document of a songwriting session between himself and Jeffrey Lee Pierce, the firebrand leader of the blues-punk band the Gun Club who died in 1996 at the age of 38. While the fidelity of the tape was too poor for commercial release and some of the songs were mere fragments, Grove was struck by the strength of "Constant Waiting," "Ramblin' Mind," and "Free to Walk," and was determined people should have the chance to hear Pierce's lost songs. Working with a handful of Pierce's friends, peers, and admirers, Grove helped to oversee new recordings of these and several other lesser-known Pierce compositions, and the results have appeared as We Are Only Riders, credited to the Jeffrey Lee Pierce Sessions Project. Grove's stellar cast for these recordings includes Nick Cave, Deborah Harry, Mark Lanegan, the Raveonettes, Dave Alvin, Kid Congo Powers, the Sadies, Lydia Lunch, and Isobel Campbell, and while the approach of including three performances each of "Constant Waiting," "Ramblin' Mind," and "Free to Walk" (to represent different phases in the development of the tunes) backfires somewhat as they tend to trip over one another, the emotional force and musical strength of these recordings makes this album something special. Cave's version of "Ramblin' Mind" is as dark and ominous as it should be, while David Eugene Edwards makes the song sound like the theme from a particularly inspired spaghetti western; Harry's interpretation of "Lucky Jim" is a lovely, haunting paean to loss and absence; the Sadies transform "Constant Waiting" into a striking bit of overcast country-pop, while Johnny Dowd's take is full of sharp, angular electronics and sound like the stuff of a bitter nightmare; Lanegan and Campbell's rough, sweet harmonies and the bluegrass-influenced acoustic backing on "Free to Walk" find a glimmer of sunlight in the song's dour textures; and the closing rave-up on "Walkin' Down the Street (Doin' My Thing)" sounds like a profane barroom singalong in some village of the damned. We Are Only Riders is powerful reminder of how influential Jeffrey Lee Pierce's music was despite his lack of mainstream success, and how many creative directions his songs could take, making this a remarkable gift from one musician to another.
Track listing
01. Nick Cave - Ramblin' Mind - 3:10
02. Mark Lanegan - Constant Waiting - 3:40
03. The Raveonettes - Free To Walk - 3:02
04. Debbie Harry - Lucky Jim - 4:06
05. Lydia Lunch - My Cadillac - 4:42
06. David Eugene Edwards - Ramblin' Mind - 3:43
07. The Sadies - Constant Waiting - 3:20
08. Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan - Free To Walk - 2:54
09. Lydia Lunch - St. Marks Place - 2:52
10. Crippled Black Phoenix - Bells On The River - 7:53
11. Cypress Grove - Ramblin' Mind - 4:09
12. Johnny Dowd - Constant Waiting - 2:18
13. Nick Cave & Debbie Harry - Free To Walk - 3:09
14. Mick Harvey - The Snow Country - 3:54
15. David Eugene Edwards & Crippled Black Phoenix - Like A Mexican Love - 6:08
16. Lydia Lunch, Dave Alvin & The JLP Sessions Project - Walkin' Down The Street (Doin' My Thing) - 6:32
Credits
Vocals – Mark Lanegan, Isobel Campbell, Sharin Foo, Deborah Harry, Lydia Lunch, David Eugene Edwards, Travis Good, Joe Volk
Vocals, Piano - Nick Cave
Backing Vocals, Translated By [Reverse Translation Vocals] – Gene Temesy, Christine Dunleavy, Gene Temesy, Can Khan Oral, Texacala Jones, Willie Love
Bass – Barry Adamson, Sean Dean
Guitar – Jeffrey Lee Pierce, Dallas Good
Lead Guitar, Acoustic Guitar, Piano – Mick Harvey
Percussion, Drums – Willie Love
Slide Guitar, Guitar [Ambient], Backing Vocals, Percussion – Kid Congo Powers
Banjo, Mandolin – Jeff Zentner
Steel Guitar [Lap] – Rene van Barneveld
Acoustic Guitar, Bass, Backing Vocals – Cypress Grove
Guitar, Other [Treatments], Percussion – Sune Rose Wagner
Guitar [Moog] – Chris Stein
Drums - Mike Belitsky, Merijn Royaards
Drums, Electric Guitar, Bass Guitar, Mixed By - Justin Greaves
Electric Guitar, Resonator Guitar [Dobro] – – Karl Demata
Organ – Kostas Panagiotou
Synthesizer [Modular], Sampler, Effects – Mark Ophidian
Guitar – Can Khan Oral, Kid Congo Powers
Drums, Bass – Brian Wilson
Guitar, Keyboards, Producer, Engineer – Billy Coté
Guitar, Vocals, Producer, Engineer – Johnny Dowd
Organ [Hammond] – Danny Ashberry
Piano – Kostas Panagiotou
Harmonica – Walter Daniels
Lead Guitar – Dave Alvin
Piano – Mike Stark
Production
Engineer – Don Pyle, Paul Emons, Peer Rave, Tristan Learmonth, Dave Rosser, Brian McNeill, Craig Parker Adams
Directed By [Musical Director], Co-producer, Mixed By [Kenway Studios] – Cypress Grove
Mixed By, Producer – Stuart Matthews
Co-producer – Gene Temesy
Executive Producer – Gene Temesy
Producer [Assistant] – Willie Love
Written-By – Jeffrey Lee Pierce
Producer – Justin Greaves
Notes
Mastered at: Custom Recording Studios, Eindhoven, Holland and Pauler Acoustics, Northeim, Germany.
Genre: Alternative Rock, Blues Rock
Length: 65:35
Label: Glitterhouse Records
© 2009
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