"Blues from a Gun" is a Modern Rock number-one hit from

The Jesus and Mary Chain The Jesus and Mary Chain are a Scottish alternative rock band formed in East Kilbride in 1983. The band revolves around the songwriting partnership of brothers Jim and William Reid, who are the two founders and only consistent members of the ...

's album ''

Automatic Automatic may refer to: Music Bands * Automatic (Australian band), Australian rock band * Automatic (American band), American rock band * The Automatic, a Welsh alternative rock band Albums * ''Automatic'' (Jack Bruce album), a 1983 el ...

'' from 1989. It was released in four different formats, including a 3"

Mini CD single A CD single is a music single in the form of a compact disc (CD). Originally the ''CD single'' standard (as defined in the Red Book) was an 8 cm (3-inch) "mini CD" (''CD3''); later on the term referred to any single recorded onto a CD of an ...

in a paper gatefold sleeve. It is one of the few singles by the band featuring lead vocals from

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

, as opposed to

Jim Reid James McLeish Reid (born 29 December 1961) is a Scottish singer/songwriter and the lead singer for the alternative rock band The Jesus and Mary Chain, which he formed with his elder brother and guitarist William Reid (musician), William Reid ...

Chart performance

The single reached number 32 in the UK single charts, and three weeks at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard''

Modern Rock Tracks Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-playe ...

chart which listed the most played songs on alternative radio.

Track listing

All tracks written by

and William Reid, except where noted www.discogs.com
Retrieved 24 October 2015. ;7" (NEG41) # "Blues from a Gun" - 4:43 # "Shimmer" - 2:45 ;10" (NEG41TE) Gatefold # "Blues from a Gun" - 4:43 # "Shimmer" - 2:45 # "Penetration" - 2:46 # "Break Me Down" - 2:23 ;12" (NEG41T) # "Blues from a Gun" - 4:43 # "Shimmer" - 2:45 # "Penetration" - 2:46 # "Subway" - 2:04 ;CD3 (NEG41CD) # "Blues from a Gun" - 4:43 # "Shimmer" - 2:45 # "Penetration" - 2:46 # " My Girl" (

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

, Ronald White) - 2:31

Personnel

The Jesus and Mary Chain

–

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

drum programming Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices and computer software, such as sequencers and workstations or hardware synthesizers, sampler and sequencers, to generate sounds of musical instruments. These mu ...

, producer * William Reid –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, guitar, synthesizer, drum programming, producer

Additional personnel

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music from ...

–

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

(track 1) *Andrew Catlin –

photography Photography is the visual arts, art, application, and practice of creating images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is empl ...

Charts

References

{{authority control The Jesus and Mary Chain songs 1989 singles Songs written by Jim Reid Songs written by William Reid (musician) 1989 songs Blanco y Negro Records singles