JESUS AND MARY CHAIN

*TIMELINE OF THE JESUS AND MARY*

1984

Band is formed in East Kilbride, near Glasgow in Scotland by brothers Jim and William Reid. They are influenced by bands like The Velvet Underground, The Stooges, T. Rex, Sex Pistols and most of all, everything that they hate (ie top 40 - they want to make some better records). Jim takes over the lead vocals while William plays the guitar. They come up with a name for the band, The Death Of Joey, after the demise of their pet hamster. Jim asks Douglas Hart, whom he knew from school, to join the band as bassist. William comes up with a much better name for the group, The Jesus And Mary Chain. Other names considered were The Daisy Chain, Jesus On A Stick and Jesus In A Supermarket. William maintained for years that the monicker "The Jesus And Mary Chain" came from a film dialogue by Bing Crosby but was forced to admit this was not true when a Bing Crosby specialist challenged him after not having found the dialogue in any of Crosby's films!

The group recruit 16-year old Murray Dalglish to play the drums. The Velvet Underground influence is evident in the way the drums are handled: a two piece kit (snare & floor tom) played while standing up. Also, the head to toe black clothes, Jim Reid's emotionless deadpan vocals and the band's feedback drenched sound are obviously influenced by The VU.

The band find it hard to secure gigs due to their rather "unprofessional" live shows which consist of only a few songs and tons of noise. The JAMC's first gig was in Glasgow at a club called Night Moves in June, and the band crash other people's gigs claming they're the support act. The sets last from 10 to 20 minutes and the band perform with their backs turned to the audience. A friend of the band's, Bobby Gillespie (lead vocalist in Primal Scream, who gigged with The Jesus And Mary Chain at this time) shows The JAMC's demo to his friend Alan McGee who had started a small indie label called Creation. "They were either the best band in the world or the worst. I decided to put out a record by them just incase they were the best." (Alan McGee '85) McGee organizes shows for the band, inviting them over to London to play in his club, The Living Room. "It was brilliant. Every song was so fuckin' deep with noise. You felt it was coming from somewhere else. We were flying." (William Reid '92) Ultimately McGee releases their first single in October, the classic "Upside Down", which was backed with a cover version of Syd Barrett's "Vegetable Man". The single cost £ 172 to make and sold 35, 000 copies. Shortly thereafter, the band are invited to record their first John Peel session for BBC. The band perform "In A Hole", "Taste The Floor" and "You Trip Me Up".

Murray Dalglish is fired due to his demanding too much money for playing live with the band. The drummerless Jesus And Mary Chain ask their old friend Bobby Gillespie to fill in. Gillespie's announcement "I cannae drum" gets greeted with the trio's reply "You're qualified". McGee becomes The Jesus And Mary Chain's manager and urges the band to move to London, which they do. Jim and William stay at Alan McGee's apartment for a period!

1985

"We couldn't even get played [in Glasgow], they didn't want anything to do with us. We would take our tapes around and people would laugh at us. That's why we had to come [to London]." (Jim Reid '85)
The music papers start to write things like "the best thing since the Sex Pistols" about the band and McGee manages to land the band a record deal with Blanco Y Negro, a subsidary of Warners. First the deal is a one-off deal which results in to the second single, "Never Understand" in February. The band recorded a song called "Jesus Fuck" for the B-side but the record pressing plants refuse to touch the track due to its controverial lyrics (which in essence were "Fuck fuck fuck Jesus fuck"). "There's a lot of stupid people that get upset by words like that. I don't understand that but I realise there's all those people. So I kind of half expected it. It was funny to watch." (Jim Reid ´85) At around the same time as the single was released The Jesus And Mary Chain record their 2nd Peel Session, on February 3, featuring "Inside Me", "The Living End" and "Just Like Honey" (this session is released in 1991 as side one of the album "The Peel Sessions").

After the single, the band sign a five album deal with the label. The band starts getting more and more media attention through rumours of their outrageous stunts, such as: 1) the band had stolen 80 quid out of the pocket of top Warners executive Rob Dickins because he was notorious for the care he takes of money, 2) terrorizing the WEA offices by drawing moustaches on pictures of Rod Stewart and writing obscenities on in-house gold records, 3) controversial slogans everywhere ("Art terrorism", "Jesus Fuck", "FUCK FUCK FUCK" etc), 4) controversial live shows (they still played for only about 20 minutes and their performances were still rather "unprofessional"), 5) riots taking place at JAMC gigs, notably at the North London Poly, where the audience thrashed £ 7,000 worth of equipment, enraged by the band who came on two and a half hours late, drunken out of their minds, playing only for the infamous 20 minutes. "At the time we were stunned by it all, we would not believe what was going on. We were drinking an awful lot and we'd never been in a band before, we knew nothing about this shitty old business and you really have got to follow the rules to a certain extent. You really can't get shit-faced drunk, go onstage two and a half hours late, play for two minutes then fall over and expect anything other than a lot of fucking trouble. Really it's amazing there wasn't more. Sometimes we did wanna play for longer but the bouncers would just drag us offstage and beat us up. Either that or we'd be forced to make a speedy exit." (Jim Reid '92)

The band tour Scandinavia, which was "...a really boring place, couldn't believe it! Christ! Horrible!" (Jim Reid '85).

The band tour the UK and release two more triumphant singles, "You Trip Me Up" (May) and "Just Like Honey" (September) before they start working on their debut album.

"Psychocandy" was released in November to mixed reviews. Some reviewers hailed The Jesus And Mary Chain as the future of rock'n'roll while others dismissed them as crap. The album's sound is controversial but captivating with simple pop melodies coated with tons of white noise and feeback. By the end of the year the album and the band were the hottest thing in pop and they triumphed in all kinds of end-of-the-year polls with "Psychocandy" and the 1985 singles.

1986

The band records their 3rd Peel Session, featuring all-acoustic renditions of "Cut Dead", "Psycho Candy" (with Jim on vocals!), "You Trip Me Up" and "Some Candy Talking" (with William on vocals!), hinting at their having grown bored with all the fuss the press had made about the noise. The Peel session is released as a bonus on a double 7" version of the next single, "Some Candy Talking".
The media makes such a big deal about how impossible it is to make a follow-up to "Psychocandy" and how The Jesus And Mary Chain should split up, that the only piece of work the band manages to release in 1986 is the single, "Some Candy Talking", released in July. Prior to this, Bobby Gillespie had left the band to fully concentrate on Primal Scream's activities. John Loder, who filled in as drummer in the live shows whenever Bobby wasn't available plays the drums on the single. "Some Candy Talking" continues in the vein of the previous single "Just Like Honey", in being a beautiful pop song with no noise on it.

The band tour the UK and the US and record yet another Peel Session, their 4th one, on 25.11.86, featuring "Fall", "Happy Place" and "In The Rain" (which would later be retitled "About You"). This session is released as side two of the "Peel Sessions" album.

1987

The Jesus And Mary Chain recruit John Moore as the new drummer and release another single, "April Skies" (April) which is a dramatic departure from the sound they had become known for. The noise is gone as are the simple (two piece...) drum arrangements. The band emerge with an "acceptable" pop sound with only the lyrics remaining as controversial as anything that came before. "We realised there was no way we could get better in that particular style, so instead of doing "Psychocandy II" we made a complete change." (William Reid '92)
Another single, "Happy When It Rains" (August) is released and it is evident that the white noise is gone for good. Both of the singles enjoyed chart success.

Hot on the heels of "Happy When It Rains", the second album, "Darklands" is released in August. It has no noise what so ever on it and the over all tone of the record is much more gloomy than its predecessor. It greets shocked initial reviews and most of the critics think The Jesus And Mary Chain have blown it. The band tour all over Europe.

The group dismiss the negative reviews and release another single, "Darklands", in November right after which they go on an American tour with Opal. John Moore is replaced by James Pinker on drums and the band adds a rhythm guitarist, Dave Evans. In Canada Jim Reid is arrested for assaulting two members of the audience with his mic stand and he was jailed overnight. He had to appear in court there in early '88 and he got one year of probation.

1988

In March the band's 9th single sees the light of day. "Sidewalking" represents yet another kind of sound for The Jesus And Mary Chain with its heavy drum machine rhythm and 70's style groove rock guitar riffs (reviewers can't get over how much the song supposedly sounds like T. Rex). It is now evident that the band never planned on making "Psychocandy" their only sound and that the idea is to keep the sound changing while maintaining the "attitude".
The band release a compilation album of various B-sides, demos and out-takes from 1984 to 1988 called "Barbed Wire Kisses (B-Sides And More)" in April. This album stands as the definitive "early" Jesus And Mary Chain record in that it compiles all of the band's different sounds and styles of the first four years in one disc.

Jim and William provide the backing for a remix of The Sugarcubes' single "Birthday", leaving the definitive Jesus And Mary Chain stamp on it (Will recorded feedback over the track and Jim sang "hey hey hey"!).

The Jesus And Mary Chain embark on an Australian tour in September for which James Pinker is replaced by Richard Thomas on drums.

In November a home video containing all the promo videos the band has shot is released.

1989

The first single of 1989 is "Blues From A Gun", released in August. The song becomes a classic among fans.
"Automatic", the band's third studio album is released in October to rave reviews. Jim and William had recorded this album completely by just the two of the except for one track, "Gimme Hell", where they used Richard Thomas, who was the drummer in The JAMC's live line-up.

The band grace end-of-the-year polls again but the album's sound was quickly aging with stiff drum machine sounds and by the beginning of the nineties the album was badly out-dated.

One more single, "Head On" is released in November and it becomes a hit in America.

1990

The only recorded output from The Jesus And Mary Chain in 1990 is the four song EP "Rollercoaster" (August). The band's time is taken up by the massive touring of both North and South America. Ben Lurie, the band's future third official member joins the band as rhythm guitarist for this tour, replacing Dave Evans.
In 1990 Douglas Hart, the band's original bass player, quit after six years with the Reids. From here on, the band is basically Jim and William Reid with other musicians as needed.

Matthew Perkin joined as bass player for live shows, although his stint with The Mary Chain was very brief and after his departure Ben Lurie became the bass player. Richard Thomas was also replaced by Barry Blackler on drums, but, his tenure with the band as short as Perkin's; Blackler was out right after he came in and he was replaced by Steve Monti who would contribute on lots of occasions with the band in the future.

1991

1991 sees the band taking some time off. They do not tour and the only release is a six track mini album of John Peel radio sessions, half of which was recorded in February '85 and the other half in November '86. The record, titled simply "The Peel Sessions" was released by Strange Fruit records in August. The band sign with American Recordings for US distribution.

1992

By early 1992 the Reids have built their own homestudio in London, called "The Drugstore".
February 1992 sees The Jesus And Mary Chain returning with a vengeance. They release one of their greatest singles ever (and the first one recorded at their own studio), "Reverence", which gets banned from radio and Top Of The Pops due to its controversial lyrics. Reebok re-record an instrumental version of this song for a sneaker commercial without permission and the Reids sue.

In April they release a new album, "Honey's Dead" which is a drastic improvement on "Automatic". The howling feedback is back, but William Reid now masters its usage with a new, more controlled style. The album gets great reviews and the band's public image is high again after a long silence (and their latest album being quite out dated compared to the standards of rock in the early 90's). Steve Monti plays drums on the album.

In March they also embark on the UK tour that they organized, dubbed "Rollercoaster" with My Bloody Valentine, Dinosaur Jr. (with whom they were label mates) and Blur. "Far Gone And Out" is released as a single.

After touring around Europe, in August they join the Lollapalooza tour of the US, which turns out to be a complete disaster for them. They felt they were performing to thousands of Beavises and Butt-Heads.

After the bad experience of Lollapalooza they hit the road in the US in October on their own, as the "Rollercoaster" tour again, this time bringing along Curve and Spiritualized. "Almost Gold" is released as a single.

Yet another track ("Sugar Ray") from "Honey's Dead" was used in a commercial, this time by Budweiser, and with permission. "It's kind of appropriate that The Mary Chain be on a Budweiser commercial because I can´t tell you how much of that stuff has gone through my system over the years." (Jim Reid '94)

1993

The band release "The Sound Of Speed" EP containing four new tracks, among them the now classic "Snakedriver". Drummer on this EP was Nick Sanderson, though the band would still work with Steve Monti in the future. Soon after, a "Barbed Wire Kisses" -style compilation album also titled "The Sound Of Speed" is released in Europe and Japan in slightly different versions. The album packs together B-sides and various tracks picking up where "Barbed Wire Kisses" left in the Jesus And Mary Chain discography.

1994

The first single of 1994 is "Sometimes Always", a duet with Jim Reid and Hope Sandoval who is Mazzy Star's lead singer and William Reid´s girlfriend. The single becomes a massive hit in the US.
The Jesus And Mary Chain make announcements in public on how their forth coming album is going to be all acoustic. "Stoned & Dethroned" is released and sure enough, the sound is more acoustic than ever before, although the album is not "all" acoustic. However, the feedback and noise is gone once again. The album was recorded with Jim, William and Ben all playing various instruments and Steve Monti handling the drums and other percussion instruments. This album also marked the emergence of William Reid as an equal lead vocalist, and for the first time as well, the sleeve stated individual song writing credits instead of the usual "Reid/Reid" credit.

A lot of people were hugely disappointed by the album's acoustic based sound. A lot of the reviews in Europe and especially the UK were pretty negative, but US response was at last rather positive and the Mary Chain gained more following there. "It's really disappointing that what people want is really easy to deliver. But when you try something else, all people can think to say is there´s no feedback." (Jim Reid '94)

After the album, another single, "Come On" is released and the band do a massive tour of America with Mazzy Star. The line-up of The Jesus And Mary Chain at this point was Jim Reid (vocals), William Reid (lead guitar), Ben Lurie (rhythm guitar), Steve Monti (drums) and new recruit Lincoln Fong on bass.

1995

A four song EP, "I Hate Rock'n'Roll" is released in June. The title track is the band's statement about the music business and how they feel about it after being part of it for ten years.
In September, a US-only B-side compilation titled "The Jesus And Mary Chain Hate Rock'n'Roll" is released a containing the new EP as well as B-sides from "Come On", "Sometimes Always" and songs off "The Sound Of Speed" EP.

The band tour Australia and Japan and play some dates in Europe and America.

1996

In 1996 The Jesus And Mary Chain played the odd occasional gig but released no records. Another quiet year like 1991.

1997

The band starts working on their next album with Nick Sanderson on the drums this time. Phil King, ex-Lush bassist joins The JAMC.
In late 1997 The Mary Chain's record label WEA informs the band that the album they've been working on is unreleasable. The band is asked to rework on the material, which they refuse to do. Both labels drop The Jesus And Mary Chain.

In December rumours start circulating among fans that the band are negotioating with Alan McGee about returning to Creation records, a rumour, which is confirmed in January '98. Later on in the month it is also announced that the band's US label is now Sub Pop.

1998
The band (Jim, Will and Ben) do a short promotional tour in the USA before the album's release, doing semi-acoustic sets for invite-only audiences.
William Reid releases his debut solo single titled "Tired of Fucking" on March 9 and it is distinctively different in style to The Mary Chain. In late 1998 there are news of William recording a whole solo album for Creation for release in early 1999. William doesn't give any interviews in '98.

In March the band begin their first British tour in more than three years. After only a few shows Nick Sanderson quits the tour to concentrate on his own band. Drum tech Geoff Donkin fills in for the rest of the tour. The band's new single "Cracking Up" is released on April 6.

Yet another single, "I Love Rock'n'Roll" is released on May 18 before the new album, "Munki", is released in June. The album is one of the band's best ever and gets mostly very good reviews.

The band tour European summer festivals (including Ruisrock in Finland which was my first chance to see them!). On the American leg of the tour Jim and William got into a fight which led to William leaving the band who continued the tour in Japan and Greece without him. In late 1998 fans were worried that the band have split up for good but Creation records confirm they have not split up but are planning solo albums for 1999.

1999

The band announced that the split that occurred in 1998 was permanent and The Jesus and Mary Chain are no more. William has sinced released a couple of CDs under the name Lazycame and Jim and Ben continue to work on their new band. See the main page for links to the new William section of the site.