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The Beatles
- Narrated by: Edward Lewis
- Length: 16 hrs and 10 mins
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Thirty years ago, award-winning journalist Jon Ronson stumbled on the mystery of Carol Howe—a charismatic, wealthy former debutante turned white supremacist spokeswoman turned undercover informant. In 1995, Carol was spying on Oklahoma’s neo-Nazis for the government just when Timothy McVeigh blew up a federal building in Oklahoma City, killing 168 people.
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Interesting but not compelling
- By Gail Jester on 04-15-23
By: Jon Ronson
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Brutally Honest
- Mel B’s tell-all memoir
- By: Melanie Brown, Louise Gannon
- Narrated by: Melanie Brown, Phoenix Chi Gulzar Brown, Andrea Brown, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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As one-fifth of the iconic Spice Girls and judge on X Factor and America's Got Talent, Melanie Brown, aka Scary Spice, has been an international star since the age of 19. And yet there are sides of Mel that no one has ever seen, or really known. Brutally Honest is an exposé of the struggles and acute pain that lay behind the glamour and success. With deep personal insight, remarkable frankness and Melanie’s trademark Yorkshire humour, this audiobook removes the mask of fame and reveals the mother, wife and daughter behind the Spice Girl everyone thinks they know.
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I'm touched
- By Faith on 11-29-18
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Two Women Walk into a Bar
- By: Cheryl Strayed
- Narrated by: Cheryl Strayed
- Length: 51 mins
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Twenty-one years after Cheryl Strayed set off on the Pacific Crest Trail to heal from the death of her beloved mother, Cheryl’s mother-in-law, Joan, is given weeks to live. As she and her husband help see Joan through her final days, Cheryl reckons with their complicated relationship, determined to connect with a woman who both showed her love and (sometimes hilariously) held her at a distance. Cheryl reflects on their two decades together as she comes to a deeper understanding of the secrets and sorrows in Joan’s complicated past.
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Cheryl tells a great story!
- By Amazon Customer on 01-01-24
By: Cheryl Strayed
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Own It
- The Secret to Life
- By: Diane von Furstenberg
- Narrated by: Diane von Furstenberg
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Diane von Furstenberg, entrepreneur and philanthropist, presents her words to live by. In an easy-to-navigate A-Z dictionary format, designed to be browsed or listened to as a whole, Own It offers listeners Diane’s well-earned wisdom for enjoying both personal and professional growth at any age.
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Some books should just never be opened
- By Mark on 06-08-22
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The Year of Magical Thinking
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Vanessa Redgrave
- Length: 1 hr and 28 mins
- Original Recording
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When celebrated writer Joan Didion’s life was altered forever, she wrote a new chapter. In this adaptation of her iconic memoir, Didion transforms the story of the shattering loss of her husband and their daughter into a one-woman play performed by Tony Award winner Vanessa Redgrave, who originated the role on Broadway in 2007.
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Difficult story, but worth it
- By Maya on 08-07-20
By: Joan Didion
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Something Ain't Right
- By: Roger Stringer, Zachary Stringer
- Narrated by: Roger Stringer, Zachary Stringer
- Length: 1 hr and 53 mins
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Roger Stringer grew up in rural Mississippi, hunting and eating everything from deer to rabbits. When he had two sons, Zac and Justin, he gave them guns and took them to the woods as well. Then one day when the boys were home alone, he got a call from Zac that Justin had been shot. What follows is an intimate and gripping memoir about the shooting’s aftermath. The story moves between the perspectives of Roger and Zac as they take us through their journey of betrayal, redemption, and ultimately confrontation with a company that had kept its corruption a secret for decades.
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The Journey for Truth
- By samsararose on 05-19-23
By: Roger Stringer, and others
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Chase Darkness with Me
- How One True Crime Writer Started Solving Murders
- By: Billy Jensen, Karen Kilgariff - foreword
- Narrated by: Karen Kilgariff, Billy Jensen
- Length: 8 hrs and 19 mins
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In Chase Darkness with Me, you’ll ride shotgun as journalist Billy Jensen identifies the Halloween Mask Murderer, finds a missing girl in the California Redwoods, and investigates the only other murder in New York City on 9/11. You’ll hear intimate details of the hunts for two of the most terrifying serial killers in history: his friend Michelle’s pursuit of the Golden State Killer which is chronicled in I’ll Be Gone In The Dark which Billy helped finish after Michelle’s passing, and his own quest to find the murderer of the Allenstown 4 family.
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COULD NOT STOP
- By KK on 04-14-19
By: Billy Jensen, and others
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Nothing that isn't on YouTube
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brilliant
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All You Need Is Love: The Beatles in Their Own Words
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All You Need Is Love is a groundbreaking oral history of the one of the most enduring musical acts of all time. The material is comprised of intimate interviews with Paul McCartney, Yoko Ono, George Harrison, Ringo Starr, their families, friends and business associates that were conducted by Beatles intimate Peter Brown and author Steven Gaines in 1980-1981 during the preparation of their international bestseller, The Love You Make, which spent four months on the New York Times bestseller list in 1983 and remains the biggest selling biography worldwide about the Beatles
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Malcolm Evans, the Beatles’ long-time roadie, personal assistant, and devoted friend, was an invaluable member of the band’s inner circle. A towering figure in horn-rimmed glasses, Evans loomed large in the Beatles’ story, contributing at times as a performer and sometime lyricist, while struggling mightily to protect his beloved “boys.” He was there for the whole of the group’s remarkable, unparalleled story: from the Shea Stadium triumph through the creation of the timeless cover art for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and the famous Let It Be rooftop concert.
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A Must For Every Beatles Fan
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Insanely great
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brilliant
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In John, Cynthia recalls those times with the loving honesty of an insider, offering new and fascinating insights into the life of John Lennon and the early days of the Beatles. And with the perspective only years can provide, she also tells the compelling story of her marriage to a man who was to become a music legend, a cultural hero, and a defining figure of the 20th century.
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Great book, even if Paul was your favorite.
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From the author of the definitive New York Times best-selling history of the Beatles comes the authoritative account of the group many call the greatest rock band of all time, arguably the most successful, and certainly one of the most notorious.
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Sex & Drugs & Rock-n-Roll.... in that order.
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Dreaming the Beatles is not another biography of the Beatles or a song-by-song analysis of the best of John and Paul. It isn't another exposé about how they broke up. It isn't a history of their gigs or their gear. It is a collection of essays telling the story of what this ubiquitous band means to a generation who grew up with the Beatles' music on their parents' stereos and their faces on T-shirts. What do the Beatles mean today? Why are they more famous and beloved now than ever? Find out.
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Wonderful ramble
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Philip Norman turns his formidable talent to the Beatle for whom belonging to the world's most beloved pop group was never enough. Drawing on previously untapped sources, and with unprecedented access to all the major characters, here is the definitive portrait of John Lennon. This biography takes a fresh and penetrating look at Lennon's much-chronicled life, including the songs that have turned him, posthumously, into almost a secular saint.
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Really Bad Abridgement Job (slash job)
- By Let's Be Reasonable on 12-04-08
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And in the End
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Ken McNab's in-depth look at the Beatles' acrimonious final year is a detailed account of the breakup featuring the perspectives of all four band members and their roles. A must to add to the collection of Beatles fans, And in the End is full of fascinating information available for the first time. McNab reconstructs for the first time the seismic events of 1969, when the Beatles reached new highs of creativity and new lows of the internal strife that would destroy them.
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Familiar ground but a good listen
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Acclaimed journalist Peter Doggett recounts the previously untold story of the dramatic final chapter in the lives, loves, and legal battles of John, Paul, George, and Ringo - a.k.a. The Beatles - from their breakup in 1969 to the present day. Called "refreshingly straightforward and highly readable" by the Daily Telegraph (London), You Never Give Me Your Money is the dramatic and intimate story of the breakup and aftermath of The Fab Four as it's never been told before.
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Four human beings
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Since the age of 21, Paul McCartney has lived one of the ultimate rock 'n' roll lives, played out on the most public of stages. Now Paul's story is told by rock music's foremost biographer, with McCartney's consent and access to family members and close friends who have never spoken on the record before.
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Better than average McCartney bio
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By: Philip Norman
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Can't Buy Me Love
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Nearly 20 years in the making, Can't Buy Me Love is a masterful work of group biography, cultural history, and musical criticism. That the Beatles were an unprecedented phenomenon is a given. Here Jonathan Gould seeks to explain why, placing the Fab Four in the broad and tumultuous panorama of their time and place, rooting their story in the social context that girded both their rise and their demise.
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Light on gossip, rich on context
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Solid State
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In February 1969, the Beatles began working on what became their final album together. Abbey Road introduced a number of new techniques and technologies to the Beatles' sound and included "Come Together", "Something", and "Here Comes the Sun", which all emerged as classics. Womack's colorful retelling of how this landmark album was written and recorded is a treat for fans of the Beatles. Solid State takes listeners back to 1969 and into EMI's Abbey Road Studios, which boasted an advanced solid state transistor mixing desk.
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It's all about the recording studios
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George Harrison
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Despite being hailed as one of the best guitarists of his era, George Harrison, particularly in his early decades, battled feelings of inferiority. He was often the butt of jokes from his bandmates owing to his lower-class background and, typically, was allowed to contribute only one or two songs per Beatles album out of the dozens he wrote.
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What an achievement the Beatles made/so young,so determined,so far reaching.
- By Cheryl Zeyher on 11-01-23
By: Philip Norman
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Paul McCartney
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The best-selling author of the definitive biography of former Beach Boy Brian Wilson offers new insight into the life and music of Paul McCartney, one of the world's most popular and influential musicians. Informed by new, exclusive interviews with friends, bandmates, and collaborators, the book describes McCartney's many triumphs as well as his failures, from the Beatles era through his decade with Wings and his subsequent solo career.
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Great...But
- By Diego on 05-02-10
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John Lennon In His Own Words
- In Their Own Words
- By: John Lennon
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John Lennon was a world famous and influential singer/songwriter and former member of the Beatles. Here he discusses his life and achievements in a series of interviews from the BBC radio and TV archive.
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Very delicious tidbit!
- By Gene J on 11-09-23
By: John Lennon
What listeners say about The Beatles
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall
- Christina
- 11-22-03
Not bad
I really enjoyed learning more about the Beatles, and this is written very well. Two problems, though. One, the narrator's voice is annoying. Two, the book is not really what it seems. After the two very long introductions to further editions, in which you learn that the original only covers the early years and is full of mistakes because of legal issues, it is really disappointing to learn that it hasn't been revised at all! It seems foolish to republish this without improving it.
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16 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Steve Vaughan
- 09-17-08
I really disliked this book!!!
Badly written. Very badly read. Hunter Davies should have stuck with "Class of '66"
He has an irritating voice, mis-pronounces many words and is very condescending, both to the listener and to the Beatles. If this was written for Beatles fans, then any who have read it must be sorely disappointed. The production quality was also low. New sessions were obvious, due to a different quality of recording each time. As a narrator he makes a very average journalist. This is the first Audio Book I have regretted buying.
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9 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Tim
- 07-05-11
Computer Narration
The Narration was obviously done by a computer.
Edward Lewis may have lended his voice for the computer simulator or Edward Lewis is the name of the computer that rendered this. Either way this narration is unbecoming of Audible .com. So Please Audible .com if there are any more of these so-called read books in your library. Please purge them so I will not accidentally purchase them.
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Placeholder
- 11-29-07
Interesting content; irritating narration
Davies' book does a very effective job of conveying the unique aspects of each Beatle's character and the circumstances that influenced the evolution of each personality. It's a shame that legal b.s. prevented him from being totally honest. An unwhitewashed version would have been even more interesting.
The unrivalled talent and creatvity of these 4 individuals is made even more evident in Davies' retrospective view. Ultimately, the Beatles story is one of friendship. It still saddens me that those bonds were broken--whatever the real reasons were.
I would, however, recommend reading this instead of listening to it. The audio quality is poor, and the narrator is flat, bland, and irritating.
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3 people found this helpful
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- tru britty
- 04-28-20
When They Was Fab
Okay, the narration. It's emotionless. And the narrator is American. Anyway, just crank up the speed--I listened to it at 1.5-1.7x--and pretty soon you'll be swept away by one of the most amazing stories in music history. That of the Beatles.
Hunter Davies' book The Beatles was the first authorized biography, begun in 1967 and published in 1968. Yeah, so this is an old Beatles bio, scooped up by fans when the Beatles were still a living, breathing entity. The reason it's still in print, even if it's incomplete, has to do with Davies' incredible access to the Beatles, their significant others and their parents. Not to mention the book is a well-told tale that since its publication has become the model other Beatles biographers have sourced or refuted or at least had to deal with in telling their own versions.
What I liked about Davies' The Beatles was its immediacy. The author is more reporter than historian. He's writing down the story as it happens, especially in the later chapters.
He's in the room when Paul and John are composing. He's in the studio when the group's laying down tracks for Sgt Pepper's. He chats with John's Aunt Mimi, who's every bit as salty as we've heard. The wives (Pattie Boyd, Cynthia Lennon, Maureen Cox) and girlfriend (Jane Asher) talk about life with a Beatle. And the author--a man of his era--makes sure to comment on their domestic skills.
John's friends talk about how "happy" he is. John talks about his very close bond to the other Beatles and how he needs to be around them and how he desires their physical presence.
This is where the reader, who knows the rest of the story, goes whoa, just you wait. The very year this book came out the Beatles were recording the White Album and, depending on the day, could barely stand to be in the same room. John had chucked Cynthia for Yoko and would eventually chuck the band for Yoko.
Later John would deride Hunter Davies' book as a whitewash. Because, of course, it was. The Beatles, their parents and their dead manager's mother all had to sign off on the book before Davies could send it to the publisher. (He talks about this in the preface.) So what you get is a rosy picture of the Beatles at their height. You get the myth of the Four Lads from Liverpool who made the world forget their troubles with witty banter and infectious songs and a message of love.
The reason people still read Hunter Davies' book is because it preserves the myth before John, Paul, George and Ringo grew sick of it and before the myth was dismantled by a more complicated reality and decades of self-reflection and revision.
Thanks to George Harrison for inspiring the title of this review. In 1987, he released his eleventh studio album, Cloud Nine, after a five-year hiatus from recording. Of all the Beatles, he seemed the most eager to distance himself from his past. Yet he still wrote the masterfully nostalgic (and ironic) "When We Was Fab" for Cloud Nine. He channels the Beatles sound. The lyrics and video are both chockfull of Beatles references--and Ringo has a cameo in the video. It's great. Give it a listen/view.
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Overall
- Patrick
- 07-02-05
Rediscovered Fan
I was in Vietnam when this book was published and was well into the book when I realized that I was listening to a bit of history that had been written when it was all happening. Interesting to relive the excitement that the Beatles brought from over the pond and learned a few things I did not know about the group. Well worth the read for the pure enjoyment of the memories of the time.
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- Kevin McCoffee
- 11-09-14
Great! But why an American reader?
The Beatles story is great. Davis provides incites since he was there a lot of the time. But I really wanted to hear a British voice doing the audio.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Tim A.
- 12-16-23
Last chapter
Accurate stuff. Very basic structure which helped to move the story ahead in an orderly fashion. It’s a worthwhile read, no doubt!
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- Maya
- 09-20-23
Interesting
Narrators voice is very annoying. Text is written in many short sentences, sounds disjointed. A very hard listen. Jeff Emericks book much better.
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Story
- Joe Vendors
- 06-23-23
The Beatles- from an eyewitness
This book is from Hunter Davies, a peer and columnist who spent two ters with the Beatles and told their authorized bio. Importantly there are two additions to the book written at later times that include conversation "Hunt" had with the Beatles in later years. It is a very good book and I recomment it to one and all.
The only offputting and curious choice is the Narrator. The Beatles hail from Liverpool, Hunter Davies is from London. The narrator has an American accent and at times it sounds almost robotic.
The narrator is a headwind to be endured but the book is good enough and important enough to overlook it.
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