The Real Things

The Intimate Journey of a Working Musician from Bill Graham to Billy Graham to Instagram

De: Brent Bourgeois

Narrado por: Brent Bourgeois

This is the warts-and-all musician’s memoir of a survivor, detailing an improbable, fifty-year odyssey that began with a New Orleans childhood and climaxed writing music for "the biggest tech company in the world". The transformation from a youth whose talent was way ahead of his brain into a touring pro with bands like Uncle Rainbow and Bourgeois Tagg, detailing the challenges of the music business, including tours, record deals, and the influence of technology. It is a raw look at the author's struggle with addiction and subsequent turn to sobriety and Christian music. The book details how this shapeshifter regenerated his career over and over again, finally operating in the world of tech royalty at Facebook.

• Witness the self-sabotage of a lifetime: the band’s excited chatter accidentally scares off Paul and Linda McCartney, who tried to sneak into a dive bar show but fled when the crowd swelled to a near-riot.

• Relive the lowest moment: receiving a soul-crushing command from producer Todd Rundgren to "use more heart, less head", followed by a DUI arrest—Todd laughing from the passenger seat the whole time.

• Fulfill a sonic destiny by recruiting Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac to sing harmonies on a personal ballad—the very part he composed in his head for her years earlier.

• Discover the unexpected moments of celebrity proximity, from living next door to Anita Baker as she perfected her multi-million-selling Rapture album to attending a London charity auction alongside Princess Diana

• Uncover the holy war waged over Jon Anderson; the Yes singer gladly offered his soaring vocals for a Christian album, only to have the CCM establishment deem the "heathen’s" voice too pure for their airwaves, forcing a re-recording, then recording a soaring duet with rock legend Michael McDonald, then heading to Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee’s home studio—complete with a demonic nine-foot phallic statue—to cut a contemporary Christian track while Lee bakes warm cinnamon rolls.

©2025, 2026 Brent Bourgeois (P)2026 Brent Bourgeois