Dear Friends,
Home sweet home, I suppose.
Birthday week.
No rest for the wicked.
It is going to be a busy week, and it seems strange to think about getting back to normal. I really didn’t want to leave Rhondi or Rangeley. But alas, here we are. The children need me and so do my students.
I’m eager to see what the week brings. On Thursday night, after work, we head out for a couple of shows on the road in Colorado. It’s going to be another long weekend. Hopefully we are ready and up for it.
As they say, “I’ll sleep when I am dead.”
*****
Something I neglected to mention yesterday was the wind on Saturday. Holy hell. It was about 30 MPH while we were trying to get Doug buried. The priest was going pretty fast and the poor guys from the funeral home were trying so hard to battle the wind.
I was wearing some Arizona appropriate dress pants and every time a gust would come up, it would drive my balls a little further into my abdomen. I felt like I was going to be speaking falsetto by the end of the day.
Doug was probably pleased as punch that we were all shivering. I’m sure he found it pretty hilarious. We were all commenting as such.
*****
Traveling with a cat is not what I would consider a good time. That’s all I want to say about that at the moment. He did the best he could, I suppose, but Logan and a cat and a long two weeks is a nasty combination.
It’s nice to have him with me, even if he’s not happy and misses his momma. Maybe he and I will find our ‘true’ bond these next five weeks. He’s about the best cat I know.
*****
The song, “Sex Beat,” is one of those songs that just worms its way into your brain and stays there. It was on my radar for years before I listened to the entire record it came from, Fire of Love. What a dolt I was back then.
As a big fan of the Cramps early on, I know I would have loved Fire of Love from the get-go, but I never got around to checking it out. “Sex Beat” is a barn burner, but “Preaching the Blues” is just as good. The guitar on it just rules. Ward Dotson’s slide guitar on it is killer.
There is something about the way the late Jeffrey Lee Pierce delivered a song that just makes the Gun Club stuff so appealing. From what I have read about him, he was quite the personality, too. I’m bummed that I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to see them live as they played Phoenix at least a few times after I started going to shows.
“Promise Me” kind of alludes to the drama Pierce and the band was capable of. It’s one of those songs that comes off with a total ‘I don’t give a fuck’ attitude. Perfect.
“She’s Like Heroin to Me” has become another song that I totally love over the last decade. Rhondi and I started listening to Gun Club a lot around 2010, I think, and they became a staple when we DJ. I think Rhondi likes them more than I do, to be honest, but it makes sense. She loves that trashy side of rockabilly/psychobilly that Gun Club helped start.
Cow punk rules when done well.
The thing about “She’s Like Heroin to Me” is that it is such a good lyric. For those of us who have had our fair share of tumultuous relationships, it completely makes sense. You know someone is bad for you, but you just keep going back. It never gets better, really, but sometimes it feels so good.
“For the Love of Ivy” is one that Kid Congo Powers helped write. He was a member of the Gun Club before joining the Cramps. Everybody loved Poison Ivy in those days. If I remember correctly, there wasn’t any real animosity between the bands even after KC jumped ship and joined the Cramps. That’s some adulting right there.
I could be totally wrong about that, too. It seems like in KC’s book, though, he wrote the Pierce encouraged him to join the Cramps and used it as positive motivation to make Gun Club better. Either way, this record would have been amazing with KC on it, but as mentioned, Dotson played it perfectly.
Rob Ritter, who was once a member of The Exterminators, among many other bands, played bass on this one. He was so solid. It’s not flashy at all, but the bass lines are there and keep things going. I love his work on “Ghost on the Highway.”
That one kicks off side two which is a terribly underrated album side, if you ask me. The ‘hits’ are on side one, sure, but side two kicks ass. “Jack on Fire” has this whole swinging thing going on. Apparently, Chris D (The Flesh Eaters) produced this one. I just learned that, and I like Chris D’s work a lot, so it is extra cool now. It’s got more great slide guitar work from Dotson, too.
“Black Train” gets the blood pumping, too. Terry Graham plays a perfect shuffle beat, as all ‘train’ songs should have. I can imagine that this one was excellent live. I can see Pierce getting all riled up singing this one.
“Cool Drink of Water” is a traditional blues song that Gun Club made their own. Again it is Dotson stealing the show on this one with Graham keeping things rambling. “Goodbye Johnny” closes the show and it’s fitting ending for a great record. Pierce is in full control on this one, but don’t slip on Ritter’s bass line. It’s there in the background just killing it.
I love Fire of Love because it makes me want to play music like Gun Club. I don’t know that I ever will play in a band like this one, but I certainly want to play this type of music. The low rumble and sexy playfulness are so cool. There is something dangerous about it, too.
Turn it up and let it take you to a place you need to go.
*****
See you tomorrow.
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