Backstories

How My Music and Inventions Brought the Piano to Life

De: Ezra Charles Helpinstill

Narrado por: Dave Sartin

Ezra Charles is Houston's most celebrated piano player, winning the Houston Press Readers' Poll in six different years between 1992 and 2013, along with many other awards. But before he adopted the stage name "Ezra Charles" in 1983, he was already famous in the music world as Charles Helpinstill, the inventor and manufacturer of the Helpinstill line of piano products.

In the course of his long career on both sides of the footlights, he met and interacted with dozens of music superstars. Now he has written the backstories of both his life as a musician, and his personal adventures with the rock heroes after he invented the device that made it possible for the world to hear them. Each of the 45 chapters in this audiobook primarily tells a story of an individual celebrity he met. Since the audiobook is in chronological order, it becomes the life story of a musician growing up in the Gulf Coast region of Southeast Texas that spawned several generations of legendary contributors to American music.

©2020 Charles T. Helpinstill II (P)2022 Charles T. Helpinstill II

Awesome book!

So many good stories in this book. You won't want to put it down!! The narrating is top notch!

Tales of a boogie-woogie inventor

What a great story! Ezra’s focus and grit are an inspiration. His ability to turn setbacks into advantages is astonishing. He constantly uses every single resource at his disposal to keep moving forward. It’s fascinating to follow the steps he took building his company and getting his piano sensor into the pianos of the top players in the world.

Full disclosure: I worked closely with Ezra from 1982-1993 and I witnessed a lot of these events firsthand. The ones I wasn’t there for were mostly recounted to me by Ezra on many long van rides.

The events in chapter 33 are among my favorite lifetime memories. I was young and uncertain what I wanted to do with my life. On this trip Ezra and Bucky became like family to me. I ended up staying around for another 10 years.

btw Ezra neglects to mention that when we left LA pulling the trailer with my broke down Buick, we had the following: a bag of Godiva candies (courtesy of sister Nancy), a bag of Pioneer fried chicken and exactly enough money to buy gas back to Houston. Little did we know what was in store!

I do wish that Ezra had narrated this himself.

Excellent book!

What an interesting story about the adventures of a musician, inventor and writer! I loved hearing about all of Ezra’s accomplishments and couldn’t wait to find out who he was going to meet next. Also, Dave Sartin’s smooth voice on the narration was icing on the cake!