Lives of the Musicians
Good Times, Bad Times (and What the Neighbors Thought)
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Lives of the Musicians
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Narrated by:
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John C. Brown
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Melissa Hughes
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By:
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Kathleen Krull
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"Unstuffs a host of shirts and delivers wonderful musical trivia." (Newsweek)
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid, full-bodied portrait of one of the most influential artists of the 20th-century - a man widely regarded as the most important lyricist America has ever produced. Acclaimed poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein frames Dylan against the backdrop of four seminal concerts - all of which he attended. Beautifully written, The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a unique, eye-opening portrait of an artist who has transformed generations and continues to inspire and surprise today.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent book, excellent narration
- By L chandler on 12-22-11
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Liner Notes
- On Parents & Children, Exes & Excess, Death & Decay, & a Few of My Other Favorite Things
- By: Loudon Wainwright III
- Narrated by: Loudon Wainwright III
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
A memoir by the influential Grammy Award-winning singer and actor - son of journalist Loudon Wainwright, former husband of Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche, and father of Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Lucy Wainwright Roche, and Lexie Kelly Wainwright - a captivating meditation on relationships and creativity from the patriarch of one of America's great musical families. With a career spanning more than four decades, Loudon Wainwright III has established himself as one of the most enduring singer-songwriters who emerged from the late '60s.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best ever book for listening
- By Jeff Bernhardt on 10-29-17
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Django
- The Life and Music of a Gypsy Legend
- By: Michael Dregni
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 15 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
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Story5 out of 5 stars 37
Django Reinhardt was arguably the greatest guitarist who ever lived, an important influence on Les Paul, Charlie Christian, B.B. King, Jerry Garcia, Chet Atkins, and many others. Yet there is no major biography of Reinhardt. Now, in Django, Michael Dregni offers a definitive portrait of this great guitarist. Handsome, charismatic, childlike, and unpredictable, Reinhardt was a character out of a picaresque novel. Born in a gypsy caravan at a crossroads in Belgium, he was almost killed in a freak fire that burned half of his body and left his left hand twisted into a claw.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Django in context
- By George MP on 10-08-18
By: Michael Dregni
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Who Is Dolly Parton?
- By: True Kelley
- Narrated by: Dorothy Dillingham Blue
- Length: 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Born in a little cabin in Tennessee, Dolly Parton always dreamed big, and she was right to! She wrote her first song at age five and became a country music star by the time she was in her early twenties. Of course, her success didn't stop there. Dolly Parton is also an actress, author, businesswoman, and philanthropist whose "Imagination Library" reading initiative reaches children throughout the US, Canada, and the UK. There is simply no one like Dolly Parton!
By: True Kelley
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Mozart in the Jungle
- Sex, Drugs, and Classical Music
- By: Blair Tindall
- Narrated by: Amanda Ronconi
- Length: 12 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 286
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 259
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Story4 out of 5 stars 260
In a book that inspired the Amazon original series starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Malcolm McDowell, oboist Blair Tindall recounts her decades-long professional career as a classical musician, from the recitals and Broadway orchestra performances to the secret life of musicians who survive hand to mouth in the backbiting New York classical music scene, trading sexual favors for plum jobs and assignments in orchestras across the city.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Entertaining, but with long pedantic sections
- By M. S. Cohen on 01-17-16
By: Blair Tindall
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City Boy
- My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s
- By: Edmund White
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 75
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
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Story4 out of 5 stars 69
In the New York of the 1970s, in the wake of Stonewall and in the midst of economic collapse, you might find the likes of Jasper Johns and William Burroughs at the next cocktail party, and you were as likely to be caught arguing Marx at the New York City Ballet as cruising for sex in the warehouses and parked trucks along the Hudson. This is the New York that Edmund White portrays in City Boy: a place of enormous intrigue and artistic tumult.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Pretense upon pretense.
- By Shalin Desai on 06-01-15
By: Edmund White
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American Rose
- A Nation Laid Bare: The Life and Times of Gypsy Rose Lee
- By: Karen Abbott
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 131
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 102
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Story4 out of 5 stars 99
With the critically acclaimed Sin in the Second City, best-selling author Karen Abbott “pioneered sizzle history” (USA Today). Now she returns with the gripping and expansive story of America’s coming-of-age - told through the extraordinary life of Gypsy Rose Lee and the world she survived and conquered. America in the Roaring Twenties. Vaudeville was king. Talking pictures were only a distant flicker. Speakeasies beckoned beyond dimly lit doorways; money flowed fast and free.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Well done biography of a complicated Icon
- By Moire on 01-27-11
By: Karen Abbott
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Toni Tennille
- A Memoir
- By: Toni Tennille, Caroline Tennille St. Clair
- Narrated by: Toni Tennille
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 691
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 615
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Story4 out of 5 stars 611
Since bursting onto the scene in the mid '70s, the pop duo Captain and Tennille have long defined the sparkling, optimistic idea of everlasting love, both in their music and through their image as a happy and, seemingly, unbreakable couple. They were an irresistible pair to millions of fans all over the world, further underscored by the rousing "yes, we can!" gospel of their biggest hit, "Love Will Keep Us Together". But underneath the image was an entirely different story that the fans never saw.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it for several reasons
- By Jennifer on 05-28-16
By: Toni Tennille, and others
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Kicking and Dreaming
- A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll
- By: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Narrated by: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 940
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 847
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 841
Two sisters. Two voices. One Heart.
The mystery of "Magic Man." The wicked riff of "Barracuda." The sadness and beauty of "Alone." The raw energy of "Crazy On You." These songs, and so many more, are part of the fabric of American music. Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart - certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Good Behind-The-Scenes Look At "Heart"
- By Kathy on 11-13-12
By: Ann Wilson, and others
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Made in Scotland
- My Grand Adventures in a Wee Country
- By: Billy Connolly
- Narrated by: Gordon Kennedy
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 198
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 197
Billy Connolly may be a citizen of the world, but in his heart he's never been far from his homeland. Made in Scotland is Billy's unique and intimate portrait of his native Scotland, a love letter to the places and people that made him. It's an adventure inspired by a single incident: the moment Billy received his Knighthood and was asked, 'How does it feel to have achieved all this when you came from nothing?' His response was, 'But I did come from something!'
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1 out of 5 stars
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I can't believe I wasted a credit on this blather.
- By J. M. Popa on 01-23-20
By: Billy Connolly
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A Century of Wisdom
- Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, the World's Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor
- By: Caroline Stoessinger, Vaclav Havel - foreword
- Narrated by: Linda Korn
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
Before her death at 110, the pianist Alice Herz-Sommer was an eyewitness to the entire last century and the first decade of this one. She had seen it all, surviving the Theresienstadt concentration camp, attending the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem, and along the way coming into contact with some of the most fascinating historical figures of our time. As a child in Prague, she spent weekends and holidays in the company of Franz Kafka (whom she knew as “Uncle Franz”), and Gustav Mahler, Sigmund Freud, and Rainer Maria Rilke were friendly with her mother.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Inspiring
- By Janet on 01-17-20
By: Caroline Stoessinger, and others
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Make 'Em Laugh
- Short-Term Memories of Longtime Friends
- By: Debbie Reynolds, Dorian Hannaway
- Narrated by: Judith Ivey
- Length: 5 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 88
Debbie shares memories of late-night pals and some of the greatest comedians of all time, stories from the big screen and small, and tales of marriage, motherhood, and children. Combining her wicked sense of humor and appealing charm, she reveals the personal side of show business and fame in funny, poignant, and delightful reminiscences. Nothing is off limits: Debbie talks about her sex life, her family drama - and even shares a few secret recipes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Love the book just wish it had been Debbie.
- By Kristopher's Korner on 08-13-16
By: Debbie Reynolds, and others
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Shine Bright
- A Very Personal History of Black Women in Pop
- By: Danyel Smith
- Narrated by: Danyel Smith
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 96
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 96
A weave of biography, criticism, and memoir, Shine Bright is Danyel Smith’s intimate history of Black women’s music as the foundational story of American pop. Smith has been writing this history for more than five years. But as a music fan, and then as an essayist, editor (Vibe, Billboard), and podcast host (Black Girl Songbook), she has been living this history since she was a latchkey kid listening to “Midnight Train to Georgia” on the family stereo.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Ok might have been better reading the hard copy
- By cde on 06-18-22
By: Danyel Smith
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Something Wonderful
- Rodgers and Hammerstein's Broadway Revolution
- By: Todd S. Purdum
- Narrated by: Todd S. Purdum
- Length: 10 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 452
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 382
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 379
They stand at the apex of the great age of songwriting, the creators of the classic Broadway musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music, whose songs have never lost their popularity or emotional power. Even before they joined forces, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had written dozens of Broadway shows, but together they pioneered a new art form: the serious musical play.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fabulous book about Rodgers & Hammerstein!!!
- By BigWally on 06-27-18
By: Todd S. Purdum
What listeners say about Lives of the Musicians
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- James E. Barr
- 04-30-12
Great listening, fun facts
Would you listen to Lives of the Musicians again? Why?
This is a cursory overview of a number of famous composers, from Chopin & Bach to Stephen Foster. Really fun, interesting and benevolently gossipy! Great for trips and great as an introduction to musical giants' personal lives, so one my choose who to investigate further.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I am a composer/biography junkie, so they are all fascinating to me!
What about John C. Brown and Melissa Hughes ’s performance did you like?
Both readers were wonderful; clear, appropriate emphasis, animated when needed.
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
It was fun to learn that Brahms was a, for lack of a more accurate term, slob!
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- reggie p
- 11-21-04
good introduction
Good overview of many prominent musicians lives, 19 or 20 in all. The biographies were pretty superficial and geared more for children but they were interesting nonetheless. I was hoping for more discussion on each musicians' style and contribution to music.
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4 people found this helpful