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The Blues
- The Authentic Narrative of My Music and Culture
- Narrated by: Adam Lazarre-White
- Length: 24 hrs and 1 min
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The Blues
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Publisher's summary
All prior histories on the blues have alleged it originated on plantations in the Mississippi Delta. Not true, says author Chris Thomas King. In The Blues, King presents facts to disprove such myths. For example, as early as 1900, the sound of the blues was ubiquitous in New Orleans. The Mississippi Delta, meanwhile, was an unpopulated sportsman’s paradise - the frontier was still in the process of being cleared and drained for cultivation. Moreover, this book is the first to argue that the blues began as a cosmopolitan art form, not a rural one.
Protestant states such as Mississippi and Alabama could not have incubated the blues. New Orleans was the only place in the Deep South where the sacred and profane could party together without fear of persecution. Expecting these findings to be controversial in some circles, King has buttressed his conclusions with primary sources and years of extensive research, including a sojourn to West Africa and interviews with surviving folklorists and blues researchers from the 1960s folk-rediscovery epoch. They say the blues is blasphemous - the devil’s music. King says they’re unenlightened, that blues music is about personal freedom.
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- Volume 1: 1920-1963
- By: Ed Ward
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 15 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 99
Ed Ward covers the first half of the history of rock & roll in this sweeping and definitive narrative - from the 1920s, when the music of rambling medicine shows mingled with the songs of vaudeville and minstrel acts to create the very early sounds of country and rhythm and blues, to the rise of the first independent record labels post-World War II, and concluding in December 1963, just as an immense change in the airwaves took hold and the Beatles prepared for their first American tour.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Author's blindspots mar this book
- By Mark Clark on 03-28-17
By: Ed Ward
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On the Shoulders of Giants
- My Journey Through the Harlem Renaissance
- By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Raymond Obstfeld
- Narrated by: Richard Allen
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
In On the Shoulders of Giants, indomitable basketball star and best-selling author and historian Kareem Abdul-Jabbar invites listeners on an extraordinarily personal journey back to his birthplace. He leads us through one of the greatest political, cultural, literary, and artistic movements in our history, revealing the tremendous impact the Harlem Renaissance had on both American culture and his own life.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The best of both worlds
- By Marianne on 10-06-08
By: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and others
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1965
- The Most Revolutionary Year in Music
- By: Andrew Grant Jackson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 11 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
During 12 unforgettable months in the middle of the turbulent '60s, America saw the rise of innovative new sounds that would change popular music as we knew it. In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, music historian Andrew Grant Jackson (Still the Greatest: The Essential Songs of The Beatles' Solo Careers) chronicles a groundbreaking year of creativity fueled by rivalries between musicians and continents, sweeping social changes, and technological breakthroughs.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Seems like a good overview
- By wylie smith on 01-12-23
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King of the Blues
- The Rise and Reign of B.B. King
- By: Daniel De Visé
- Narrated by: Cary Hite
- Length: 17 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story5 out of 5 stars 58
Riley “Blues Boy” King (1925-2015) was born into deep poverty in Jim Crow Mississippi. Wrenched away from his sharecropper father, B.B. lost his mother at age 10, leaving him more or less alone. Music became his emancipation from exhausting toil in the fields. Inspired by a local minister’s guitar and by the records of Blind Lemon Jefferson and T-Bone Walker and encouraged by his cousin, the established blues man Bukka White, B.B. taught his guitar to sing in the unique solo style that, along with his relentless work ethic and humanity, became his trademark.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Sonny Garcia on 01-02-24
By: Daniel De Visé
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Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
- By: Robin DG Kelley
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 160
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
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Story5 out of 5 stars 137
Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The definitive bio of Monk
- By ricardo on 12-27-17
By: Robin DG Kelley
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Your Song Changed My Life
- From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It
- By: Bob Boilen
- Narrated by: Bob Boilen
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Story4 out of 5 stars 52
From the beloved host and creator of NPR's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others - published in association with NPR Music.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Cool if you know all interviewed artists
- By Farfield on 12-05-16
By: Bob Boilen
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Outlaw
- Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville
- By: Michael Streissguth
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 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 68
Waylon Jennings. Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson. Three renegade musicians. Three unexpected stars. Three men who changed Nashville and country music forever. Streissguth's new book brings to life an incredible chapter in musical history and reveals for the first time a surprising outlaw zeitgeist in Nashville. Based on extensive research and probing interviews with key players, what emerges is a fascinating glimpse into three of the most legendary artists of our times and the definitive story of how they changed music in Nashville and everywhere.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Revealing little-known Details does Captivate!
- By Cody Meyer on 11-20-17
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Shining Star
- Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Philip Bailey, Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman
- Narrated by: Philip Bailey
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109
With more than 90 million records sold and eight Grammy Awards throughout its 40-year history, Earth, Wind & Fire has staked its claim as one of the most successful, influential, and beloved acts in music history. Now, for the first time, its dynamic lead singer, Philip Bailey, chronicles the group's meteoric rise to stardom and his own professional and spiritual journey. Never before had a musical act crossed multiple styles and genres with a quixotic blend of astrology, universalism, and Egyptology as Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) did when it exploded into the public's conscience during the 1970s.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Great book, but needed pro narrator
- By Wayne on 03-23-16
By: Philip Bailey, and others
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Elton John
- The Biography
- By: David Buckley
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4 out of 5 stars 50
Elton John is as much loved for his outrageous personality and witty outspokenness as for his music. Such shamelessness and sheer silliness rivals anything uttered by punk rockers, yet it is so typically Elton: honest and intemperate. Tragedy and heartbreak have played a large part in his life. Behind the parties, the hedonism, the lavish stage costumes, and silly glasses lies a more somber story. Between disputes with managers, legal wranglings, public breakups, and divorce, John has been faced with serious health problems and drug addictions.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Trite!
- By michael mckone on 08-04-22
By: David Buckley
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Skydog
- The Duane Allman Story
- By: Randy Poe, Billy F. Gibbons - foreword
- Narrated by: Arthur Flavell
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 22
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Story5 out of 5 stars 22
Revised and expanded, with a new afterword by the author, this is the definitive biography of Duane Allman, one of the most revered guitarists of his generation. Skydog reveals the complete story of the legendary guitarist: his childhood and musical awakening; his struggling first bands; his hard-won mastery of the slide guitar; his emergence as a successful session musician; his creation of the Allman Brothers Band; his tragic death at age 24; and his thriving musical legacy.
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5 out of 5 stars
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duane was the best great story
- By OBIE on 08-08-23
By: Randy Poe, 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 102
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
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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Johnny Cash
- The Redemption of an American Icon
- By: Greg Laurie, Marshall Terrill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 253
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 232
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Story5 out of 5 stars 232
Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon dives deep into the singer’s inner demons, triumphs, and gradual return to faith. Laurie interviews Cash’s family, friends, and business associates to reveal how the singer’s true success came through finding the only Person whose star was bigger than his own.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Best Cash biography by far
- By C. W. Walker on 08-27-19
By: Greg Laurie, and others
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The One
- The Life and Music of James Brown
- By: R. J. Smith
- Narrated by: Kevin R. Free
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Senior editor at L.A. Magazine RJ Smith saw his first book, The Great Black Way, win the coveted California Book Award. With The One, Smith profiles one of the 20th century’s most innovative musical icons, the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown. Drawing on extensive research and captivating interviews, Smith chronicles Brown’s rise from abject poverty to the pinnacle of fame, while also detailing Brown’s work as a civil rights activist and entrepreneur.
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5 out of 5 stars
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pitiable, lovable, despicable,understandable
- By Anonymous User on 01-06-13
By: R. J. Smith
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Respect Yourself
- Stax Records and the Soul Explosion
- By: Robert Gordon
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 17 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 123
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 104
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
The story of Stax Records unfolds like a Greek tragedy. A white brother and sister build a record company that becomes a monument to racial harmony in 1960’s segregated south Memphis. Their success is startling, and Stax soon defines an international sound. Then, after losses both business and personal, the siblings part, and the brother allies with a visionary African-American partner. Under integrated leadership, Stax explodes as a national player until, Icarus-like, they fall from great heights to a tragic demise.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great narration
- By A. K. Moore on 10-29-14
By: Robert Gordon
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Here Comes the Night
- The Dark Soul of Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues
- By: Joel Selvin
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Here Comes the Night: Bert Berns and the Dirty Business of Rhythm and Blues is both a definitive account of the New York rhythm and blues world of the early '60s, and the harrowing, ultimately tragic story of songwriter and record producer Bert Berns, whose meteoric career was fueled by his pending doom. His heart damaged by rheumatic fever as a youth, doctors told Berns he would not live to see 21. Although his name is little remembered today, Berns worked alongside all the greats of the era.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great book.
- By The Blimmer on 10-14-23
By: Joel Selvin
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All Shook Up
- How Rock ‘n’ Roll Changed America
- By: Glenn C. Altschuler
- Narrated by: Jack Garrett
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 74
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4 out of 5 stars 52
As Glenn Altschuler reveals in All Shook Up, the rise of rock 'n roll--and the outraged reception to it--in fact can tell us a lot about the values of the United States in the 1950s, a decade that saw a great struggle for the control of popular culture. Altschuler shows, in particular, how rock's "switchblade beat" opened up wide fissures in American society along the fault-lines of family, sexuality, and race.
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4 out of 5 stars
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50's Rock&Roll was more of a force than I thought
- By James on 10-19-11
What listeners say about The Blues
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
- John Yutzy
- 08-27-21
Required Reading for Blues Lovers!
This book skewers the popular held myth that Blues is descended from primitive musicians in the Mississippi Delta. Mr. King sets the record straight with compelling evidence that the Blues originated from Creole roots of New Orleans. I highly encourage anyone who loves the Blues to listen to this book. It’s time to stop repeating the big Blues lie!
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-11-22
OK but I have some issues with some of the content
Good book...I'm a musicologist myself with 37 years on the guitar I know the blues came out of New Orleans. My only beef is to call white people appropriators? As a real musician with a brain, once music is out there anyone can take from. Everybody steals. My other beef is that Dylan wouldn't be Dylan without his producer...anyone who understands Dylan knows Bob calls the shots and a producer's job is to get out of his way. That part was retarded...the part about PJ Harvey and the blues was equally dumb...PJ is an original artist who can't be defined. The last part they mentioned England and Scotland...but no mention of Ireland? Celtic folk song were the blueprint of all American music. Anyway it was a good rrad.
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