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Some of our favorite Words + Music moments
He sings out a song which is soft but it's clear...
Like so many of us, James Taylor got me through some stuff. Growing up, the singer-songwriter had always been a fixture in my family's home, but it wasn't until I was in high school that Taylor became something of a mythic figure to me. As a shy, sensitive teenager on the precipice of adulthood, his stripped down and plainspoken lyrics—filled with country roads and highways calling—became a road map to navigate my own growing pains, and his unwavering voice and seemingly homespun guitar never failed to make me feel less alone. Of course, what I'm describing is true for generations of fans, but it also hints at what makes Taylor's story—especially that of his own formative years—so remarkable. Taylor was only 21 years old when his breakout album Sweet Baby James was released in 1970. And with Break Shot, he tells of the circumstances—personal, familial, cultural—that delivered him to that point with the same thoughtfulness and poignancy that he's brought to a lifetime of crafting songs. The result is a portrait of a once-in-a-lifetime artist as a young man, told in his timeless and singular voice; an elder statesmen of pop music looking back at how he found his way. I was thankful to have his music in my younger days, but even more so now, after listening to the story behind his own.
A modern icon at the top of his craft
Bluebird Memories is constantly in motion, soaring with emotion and pulsing with raw vitality. Seamlessly blending, stretching, and playing with forms, Common slides between poetry and candid conversation, kicks into one of his classic tracks, and backs out into a moment of nearly silent reflection. For those hip-hop heads, the treat of hearing Common bounce between bars of his own self-admitted cringey party raps, to rapturously reciting classic hip hop’s most revered verses is a joy to behold. (Yes, bumping human beatbox included). In a performance that calls forth the spirit and legacy of so many artists, thinkers, and heroes who informed both his artistry and personal philosophy, Common invites listeners to experience him in his totality. A finely tuned instrument capable of conveying a sweeping breadth of power, range and tone. Listen to a modern icon deliver at the top of his craft.
The healing power of guitar-shredding stories
I chose Tom Morello: Speaking Truth to Power because I really miss live music performances and have been bingeing Audible Words + Music originals in my spare time, when I’m not rewatching concerts on YouTube. My highest praise for this listen is that Tom Morello’s authenticity and intensity onstage at Minetta Lane Theater match Patti Smith’s story and performance of “People Have the Power.” Morello’s cover of “The Ghost of Tom Joad” (attention: Springsteen fans) gave me chills, and “This Land is Your Land” made me tear up. The intimacy of the format—artist to audience—and Morello’s stories of how his personal history informs his view of history (a particular interest of mine, lol) had real meaning for me, and the guitar performances carried me away. I wasn’t a Tom Morello fan until today—I had to Google Rage Against the Machine—and recommend this performance wholeheartedly to anyone who needs a little inspiration and connection right now.
Interviews with Words + Music Artists
An essential listening experience from an incredible human
Wow. Talk about a listen that finds you when you need it most. Yo-Yo Ma is beloved (it doesn't take an especially viral moment of the cellist's impromptu playing at a vaccination center to know that), but after listening to Beginner's Mind, there's something so transcendent about him and his message that I have to put him somewhere close to the designation of ''holy''; not in a religious way, but in his pure reverence for his fellow humans and his unshakable belief that we can do better, together, to build a better world. After a year of so much hardship—when I've personally felt so depleted, mentally and emotionally, and scared by the hate and vitriol that we aim at one another—to have Ma (an American, an immigrant, a child prodigy, a world-renowned musician) strip away those distinctions and say he's a human first and foremost, with undying hope in our collective capacity to create and collaborate and connect and begin again... It's a message I needed to hear. And I expect I'm not the only one.
Take a trip with an artist like no other
There's a couple lines in Rufus Wainwright's song Poses that are always with me: I did go from wanting to be someone / Now I'm drunk and wearing flip-flops on Fifth Avenue / Once you've fallen from classical virtue / Won't have a soul for to wake up and hold you. When I first heard that — much like when I first heard the singer-songwriter's lush, elastic tenor — I was utterly blown away. That someone could capture the drama (and mundanity) of life like that and blend the highs and lows — hope, sadness, humor, despair — so candidly, it was clear that Wainwright possessed a range — not just vocally and musically, but emotionally — that the best artists have. That range is on full display here in Road Trip Elegies, as Wainwright blends *music, motion, and analysis* into a one-of-a-kind listening experience that serves as a brilliant coming of age story and an artist's reckoning with his musical legacy. Part road trip confessional and part musical retrospective, the result is pure Rufus Wainwright: beautiful, extravagant, honest, and totally original.
A note from Jonathan Biss
Unquiet is about my relationships with Beethoven and with myself, the complicated ways in which those relationships intersect, and my lifelong struggle to build healthier ones. It is also, zooming out even further, about finding my voice. So it feels very appropriate that Unquiet is, in a literal sense, in my voice. Every word in it is written and spoken by me; every note is played by me. Performing classical music in public is a strange mix of revealing yourself and hiding—it's terribly intimate in a way, but it's also not your music you're playing, not your ideas that are on display. In writing this personal history, I wanted to be unflinchingly honest about my relationship with Beethoven, without using him as a shield. I hope that it will be meaningful to anyone who listens to it, but I can already say that writing and reading it was incredibly meaningful to me: it forced me to pull truths out of myself that I had long kept inside, and to begin the long process of coexisting peacefully with them.
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Songs That Shook the Planet
- Words + Music | Vol. 26
- By: Chuck D
- Narrated by: Chuck D
- Length: 1 hr and 44 mins
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Hip-hop pioneer Chuck D, the legendary lyricist and cofounder of Public Enemy, takes listeners on an extraordinary journey through politically and socially conscious music. Part history lesson and part memoir, Songs That Shook the Planet spans genres and decades to call out the brave artists who continue to inspire necessary change in the world.
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Excellent and different Sound+Music episode
- By R. MCRACKAN on 02-04-22
Believe the hype!
Chuck D’s new Words + Music Audible Original, Songs That Shook the Planet, will take you on a major nostalgia trip while exploring the power of expression in the face of injustice. Filled with songs from artists who impacted his own music the most, you’ll hear the stories behind legendary tracks as well as the songs themselves, performed by Billie Holiday, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and others. As someone who grew up hearing my parents play some of Public Enemy’s greatest hits like ''Fight the Power'' and ''Don’t Believe the Hype,'' it was fun to hear these stories told by an iconic frontman with one of the best voices in hip-hop.
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Sheryl Crow
- Words + Music | Vol. 6
- By: Sheryl Crow
- Narrated by: Sheryl Crow
- Length: 1 hr and 37 mins
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Revealing, intimate, and exhilaratingly raw, celebrated songwriter and acclaimed singer Sheryl Crow’s Words + Music provides the perfect canvas for the nine-time Grammy Award-winning artist to showcase her potent talent, articulate her complex inner workings, and breathe new life into a sizable stack of her most beloved tracks.
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Good listen
- By Jennifer K. on 09-10-20
Finding acceptance and authenticity
Sheryl Crow and I are old friends. At least that's what it feels like after listening to her Words + Music. The truth is: there's so much I didn't know about this remarkable artist when she broke onto the scene and her infinitely catchy and genre-defying hits seemingly ruled the airwaves. But Crow's story - not just the highs and lows of an incredible decades-long career but the hard-won, battle-worn and very human wisdom of someone who's come out the other side - is vastly more interesting than anything I could have expected as a kid who sang along with her hits. By the end, I was floored by how connected I felt to her and how much I took away from her words on acceptance and authenticity. And the songs: stripped-down and raw here (the pause before the chorus of 'If It Makes You Happy' never fails to gives me goosebumps) are so much richer and deeper now. The interplay between performance and Crow's conversational narrative makes for an incomparable listening experience; you end up falling in love all over again with her voice.
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St. Vincent
- Words + Music | Vol. 4
- By: St. Vincent
- Narrated by: St. Vincent
- Length: 1 hr and 29 mins
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On rare occasion, a fascinating artist will endeavor to peel back the curtain and truly reveal themselves: Their craft, their thoughts, their pain, their humanity. But it is even more rare that the artist actually possesses the range of gifts to pull it off. St. Vincent is such an artist. And St. Vincent: Words plus Music is such an experience.
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Not my cup of tea
- By Mark Wiznitzer on 09-06-20
St. Vincent’s mini-memoir is a must-listen!
Like many artists, Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent, has kept busy during the COVID-19 lockdown. A peek into her Instagram reveals she’s been advocating for voting rights, covered Tool and Led Zeppelin songs, and joined musical forces with Yoshiki from X Japan. That's not all she's been up to. In her new Audible Original mini-memoir, St. Vincent: Words + Music, Clark takes us on a journey from her modest beginnings to performing in Brooklyn to gracing festival stages across the world. Along the way, Clark bares her soul as she narrates the inspiration behind some of her songs and reworks them. As a longtime devotee (Yes, I’ve been caught in a mosh pit *once or twice* at a St. Vincent show) I love these new versions. But even if you’re not familiar with her music, you will certainly appreciate her artistry, humor, and uniqueness.
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Patti Smith at the Minetta Lane
- Words + Music | Vol. 1
- By: Patti Smith
- Narrated by: Patti Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 23 mins
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Patti Smith: Words and Music features live audio of performances captured over three evenings at the Minetta Lane Theatre, woven into a single, one-of-a-kind audio event.
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An American Treasure, both written and word
- By The Dietsch on 11-02-18
Like being in the theater with Patti
This is Patti Smith providing a once-in-a-lifetime retrospective of who she is as an artist and an intimate and touching tribute to the loves and losses that have made her who she is. One of whom is Patti’s late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith, whose presence can be readily felt, bone-deep, in her every utterance. And with their two children—Jesse Paris and Jackson—on stage alongside her, the effect is truly that of a family affair; one that stands as a luminous reminder of how we forever carry those we love in our hearts and in the stories we tell.
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The Moment in 1965 When Rock and Roll Becomes Art
- Words + Music | Vol. 15
- By: Steve Earle
- Narrated by: Steve Earle
- Length: 1 hr and 21 mins
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“This is a story about an idea that I have,” Americana legend and self-proclaimed “recovering folk singer” Steve Earle states early in his enthralling Words + Music performance. “This job of mine becomes an artform spontaneously in 1965 - when Bob Dylan wants to be John Lennon, and John Lennon wants to be Bob Dylan, whether either one of them would admit it or not - and in that moment, rock and roll becomes art."
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When Rock n Roll Becomes Art
- By Cynde A. Bostick on 05-07-21
A magical and transportive experience
I count myself as being among a particular group of music fans who are nostalgic for a moment in time that came before them; who feel like they were born too late or missed out on the action and adventure of a musical yesteryear. And while Steve Earle has been privy to his own share of incredible moments along his 50-plus-year journey since picking up a guitar, you can tell the ''recovering folk singer'' has spent a lifetime pining to be closer to the moment he considers to be the birth of literate rock and roll and, by extension, the moment he sees sealing his fate as a musician and storyteller. And, my goodness, is Earle both those things. Listening to this was like a master class in how the greats of the folk tradition deliver material. It was as if I were sitting at Earle's knee in an old Greenwich Village basket house on an open mic night—the same ones he seems nostalgic for—and hearing him tune up his voice and take flight. What a magical and transportive experience, especially as a fellow Dylan and Beatles admirer (he does killer versions of ''Hard Rain'' and ''Norwegian Wood''). I sincerely hope Earle does another because I'm pretty sure I could listen to him play and talk and joke about anything, endlessly. I'd love to get taken back in time alongside him again.