Fire of Love

Fire of Love is the debut album of the American punk band The Gun Club, released in 1981 on Ruby Records. The album is considered groundbreaking in being the first of its kind to combine the hard, stripped-down sound of punk rock with American roots musics. In turn, this innovation helped to create the punk blues and psychobilly styles as well as inspiring countless garage rock musicians. Several musicians have cited Fire of Love as an influence, most notably Jack White of The White Stripes, who has said of this album: "Why are these songs not taught in schools?"^[1] In 2003 Enon covered the song "Sex Beat". Juliana Hatfield's band Some Girls also covered "Sex Beat" for their 2003 album Feel It. In 2006, "Sex Beat" appeared on the soundtrack to the video game Scarface: The World Is Yours.

The Flesh Eaters' singer Chris D. produced five tracks on the album ("Sex Beat", "Preaching the Blues", "Fire Spirit", "Ghost on the Highway" and "Jack on Fire"). Tito Larriva produced the album's other six tracks. Chris D. was also credited with the cover design for the original release.

Track listing

All songs composed by Jeffrey Lee Pierce; except where indicated

Side A:

1. "Sex Beat"
2. "Preaching the Blues" (Robert Johnson, arranged Pierce)
3. "Promise Me"
4. "She's Like Heroin to Me"
5. "For the Love of Ivy" (Pierce, Kid Congo Powers)
6. "Fire Spirit"

Side B:

1. "Ghost on the Highway"
2. "Jack on Fire"
3. "Black Train"
4. "Cool Drink of Water" (Tommy Johnson, traditional, arranged Pierce)
5. "Goodbye Johnny"

Personnel

• Jeffrey Lee Pierce - vocals, slide guitar, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Ward Dotson - guitar, slide guitar, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Rob Ritter - bass
• Terry Graham - drums
• Tito Larriva - producer, violin on "Promise Me"
• Chris D. - producer, backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Lois Graham - backing vocals on "Jack on Fire"
• Pat Burnette - engineer
• Noah Shark - engineer

References