Never Understood cover art

Never Understood

The Jesus and Mary Chain

Preview

Try for $0.00
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Never Understood

Written by: William Reid, Jim Reid
Narrated by: William Reid, Jim Reid
Try for $0.00

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $28.27

Buy Now for $28.27

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Tax where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

William and Jim Reid, brothers and founding members of The Jesus and Mary Chain—a band that bridged the gap between the punk explosion and the emergence of grunge and Britpop—chronicle the chaos, confusion, and stories behind their music.

For five years after they’d swapped sought-after apprenticeships for life on the dole, brothers William and Jim Reid sat up till the early hours in the front room of their parents’ East Kilbride council house, plotting their path to world domination over endless cups of tea, with the music turned down low so as not to wake their sleeping sister. They knew they couldn’t play in the same band because they’d argue too much, so they’d describe their dream ensembles to each other until finally they realized that these two perfect bands were actually the same band. The name of that band was The Jesus and Mary Chain.

The rest was not silence, and picking up those conversations again more than forty years later, William and Jim tell the full story of one of Britain’s greatest guitar bands for the very first time – a wildly funny and improbably moving chronicle of brotherly strife, feedback, riots, drug and alcohol addiction, eternal outsiders and extreme shyness, that also somehow manages to be a love letter to the Scottish working-class family.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2024 William Reid and Jim Reid (P)2024 Hachette Books
Entertainment & Celebrities Music Parenting & Families Funny Alcohol
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What the critics say

“A wonderful book, most enlightening. Jim and William were outsiders among outsiders and being in a band was life or death for them. Somehow against all the odds they created one of the most iconic bands of all time and easily some of the most sublime music of the ‘80s.”—Roisin Murphy
“Art ignites in the mind and, in the case of the Mary Chain, churns relentlessly on to the center stage. Perhaps the definitive outcasts-saved-by-rock 'n roll story.”—Irvine Welsh
“Forget Phil Spector's wall of sound—the Jesus and Mary Chain didn't know where to stop, and it led to the most exciting sounds to come out of the UK in a generation. Here is the story of the Reid brothers’ rollercoaster life. Scream if you want to go faster—they’ll almost certainly oblige.”—Ian Rankin
“An epic story about the Reid brothers’ war against the world and themselves. An odyssey of rock and roll, class, addiction, self-crucifixion, and resurrection. As diseased and beautiful as their music. I couldn’t put it down.”—Bobby Gillespie

What listeners say about Never Understood

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

Super enjoyable listen if you’re a fan or even just curious about the band. William and Jim were great narrators it felt like listening to a 9 hour podcast. Loved learning more about them and their story.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!