Your audiobook is waiting…

Once There Was a Way

What If the Beatles Stayed Together?
By: Bryce Zabel
Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
4.5 out of 5 stars (13 ratings)
Regular price: $19.95
Get it free with 30-day trial
$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

People who bought this also bought...

The Roof: The Beatles' Final Concert audiobook cover art

  • The Roof: The Beatles' Final Concert

  • By: Ken Mansfield
  • Narrated by: Andrew Totolos
  • Length: 5 hrs and 11 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars 6
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars 4
  • Story
    2.5 out of 5 stars 4

 Apple Records former US manager Ken Mansfield takes a touching and comprehensive look back on one of rock’n’roll’s most significant events, while bringing an insider’s perspective to the days leading up to those 42 fascinating minutes of the Beatles' monumental rooftop concert. 

  • 1 out of 5 stars

  • Don’t waste your money and time

  • By Amazon Customer on 12-29-18
Sound Pictures audiobook cover art

  • Sound Pictures

  • The Life of Beatles Producer George Martin, The Later Years, 1966-2016
  • By: Kenneth Womack
  • Narrated by: Paul Woodson
  • Length: 23 hrs and 31 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 14
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 13
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 13

Sound Pictures traces the story of the Beatles' breathtaking artistic trajectory after reaching the creative heights of Rubber Soul. As the bandmates engage in brash experimentation both inside and outside the studio, Martin toils along with manager Brian Epstein to consolidate the Beatles' fame in the face of growing sociocultural pressures, including the crisis associated with the "Beatles are more popular than Jesus" scandal. Meanwhile, he also struggles to make his way as an independent producer in the highly competitive world of mid-1960s rock 'n' roll. 

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Must reading for any musician that loves Beatles l

  • By Tony D. on 11-08-18
Beatles '66 audiobook cover art

  • Beatles '66

  • The Revolutionary Year
  • By: Steve Turner
  • Narrated by: Simon Vance
  • Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 61
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 58
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars 59

The year that changed everything for the Beatles was 1966 - the year of their last concert and of Revolver, their first album created to be listened to rather than performed. This was the year the Beatles risked their popularity by retiring from live performances, recording songs that explored alternative states of consciousness, experimenting with avant-garde ideas, and speaking their minds on issues of politics, war, and religion. Music journalist and Beatles expert Steve Turner investigates the enormous changes that took place in the Beatles' lives and work during 1966.

  • 5 out of 5 stars

  • Great listen

  • By Tad Davis on 07-28-18
14 audiobook cover art

  • 14

  • By: Peter Clines
  • Narrated by: Ray Porter
  • Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 39,813
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 36,881
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars 36,885

There are some odd things about Nate’s new apartment. Of course, he has other things on his mind. He hates his job. He has no money in the bank. No girlfriend. No plans for the future. So while his new home isn’t perfect, it’s livable. The rent is low, the property managers are friendly, and the odd little mysteries don’t nag at him too much. At least, not until he meets Mandy, his neighbor across the hall, and notices something unusual about her apartment. And Xela’s apartment. And Tim’s. And Veek’s.

  • 2 out of 5 stars

  • Not quite what I expected

  • By K. Allen on 10-17-14
The Beatles audiobook cover art

  • The Beatles

  • The Biography
  • By: Bob Spitz
  • Narrated by: Alfred Molina
  • Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
  • Abridged
  • Overall
    4.5 out of 5 stars 575
  • Performance
    4.5 out of 5 stars 326
  • Story
    4.5 out of 5 stars 332

Even before the Beatles hit the big time, a myth was created. This version of the Beatles legend smoothed the rough edges and filled in the fault lines, and for more than forty years this manicured version of the Beatles story has sustained as truth, until now.

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Put Away Your, Hunter Davies

  • By James on 12-05-05
The Birth of Loud audiobook cover art

  • The Birth of Loud

  • Leo Fender, Les Paul, and the Guitar-Pioneering Rivalry That Shaped Rock 'n' Roll
  • By: Ian S. Port
  • Narrated by: Pete Simonelli
  • Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
  • Unabridged
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars 44
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars 38
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars 38

A riveting saga in the history of rock ‘n’ roll: the decades-long rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar’s amplified sound - Leo Fender and Les Paul - and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built. 

  • 4 out of 5 stars

  • Thoughtful Music History

  • By E. Protzman on 01-23-19

Publisher's Summary

The next novel from author Bryce Zabel, whose debut, Surrounded by Enemies: What if Kennedy Survived Dallas? won the coveted Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

"We know The Beatles let it be, but what if they worked it out instead? This book gives life to every fan's fantasy. It's a great new adventure full of twists and turns that never were, but might have been." [Chris Carter, host, Breakfast with the Beatles and Chris Carter's British Invasion (Sirius/XM Radio)]

We all know the tragic story by now. After seven years as the most popular rock-and-roll group the world has ever seen, the Beatles - torn apart by personal and creative differences - called it quits in 1970, never to play together again. The fact that their contemporaries like the Rolling Stones are still playing today makes their ending even more painful.

Once There Was a Way: What if The Beatles Stayed Together? is a story of another reality, the one we wish had happened, where the Fab Four chose to work it out rather than let it be. This book is no mere fairy tale but a chronicle crafted from the people and events of our own history, shaped to create a brand-new narrative in which John, Paul, George, and Ringo find a way to stay friends and keep the band together. Imagine there was more. Lots more. It's easy if you try.

©2017 Bryce Zabel (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"This book is devilishly clever while never treating the subject matter with disrespect." (Steve Friedlander, VP Distribution, CBS Films)
"If you are a Beatles fan, you really need to read this. If you are not a Beatles fan, you really need to read it anyway." (Josh Kaplan, executive producer, Good Day LA)

What members say

Average Customer Ratings

Overall

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Performance

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    3
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Story

  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    9
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Audible.com Reviews
Amazon Reviews
Sort by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

If You Love The Beatles, You’ll Love This Book!

I know a lot about the Beatles, and this book was both gratifying and surprising. It feels so real that you will be amazed at how this author has seamlessly woven this amazing story. The story, the details and the love that has gone into this will just blow you away! Give this a chance!

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

For true Beatles fans

A wonderful fictional journey from the time of The White Album to 2013. Expertly woven with what actually did happen with what could have happened had they stayed together. The author completely captures the personalities of the Fab Four. The narrator's interpretation is masterful, expecially when he does Yoko. I've listened to this book twice in 3 months, and have given it as a gift. The only negative is a cheap shot at the current president and his departed press secretary. Has no place in this great story. I don't understand why this interjection was necessary, except to make the author popular amoung his literary friends. Not why I buy books.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Peace and Love to The 21st Century Beatles

I read a lot of alternative history, and was skeptical this 50-year retrospective on a Fab 4 that never broke up could work. But Bruce Zabel pulled it off. The point of departure (Jonny Carson returning to New York for John and Paul's appearance on the Tonight Show) was imaginative and effective. Zabel wasn't afraid to speculate but kept the flights of imagination grounded in plausibility (mostly). At the end, I found myself genuinely feeling nostalgic for a vivid exit from a 1975 stage that never happened! A clear sign of effective Alt-Hx. Note: it does help a good bit to be a solid Beatles fan.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful