Music audiobooks

Ella Fitzgerald

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 19 minutes

Abridged: No

Ella Fitzgerald’s career began at various amateur nights around New York City, most famously at the Apollo Theater in 1934. From those early days, Fitzgerald grew to be an iconic jazz singer and the First Lady of Song.
In the spring of 1983, Fitzgerald sat down for a conversation with Wink Martindale. She discusses how her career began and some... Read more

Carly Simon

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 21 minutes

Abridged: No

While some would contend that Carly Simon’s wealthy background gave her a leg up, her talent and skill as a musician make it clear that she earned every bit of her current and future success on her own. Her first break came while she was on vacation. She and her sister Lucy took a trip to Cape Cod and tried to get a job performing in a summer... Read more

Bobby Goldsboro

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 28 minutes

Abridged: No

Bobby Goldsboro describes the first song he ever wrote with a laugh as “one of the worst you’ve ever heard.” Though those first attempts at songwriting weren’t exactly successful, he went on to enjoy a wildly successful career including the chart-topping hit “Honey,” which sold more than a million copies in the United States.

In the height of... Read more

Alan & Marilyn Bergman

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 41 minutes

Abridged: No

For Alan and Marilyn Bergman, being married and working together as songwriters had many perks. The two found that their relationship allowed them to be uninhibited in sharing ideas while crafting a song. In this interview recorded with Wink Martindale in the 1980s, they discussed their lives, lyrics and careers as songwriters. The couple... Read more

Lawrence Welk

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 33 minutes

Abridged: No

In Part 2 we hear about Welk from his manager Sam Lutz and others that played an important part in his career. We also hear from Lawrence Welk in a conversation he had with Wink Martindale in 1973.

Welk shares stories of numerous performances across the country, his time on tour and interactions with his fans. He also discusses his television... Read more

Ray Anthony

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 30 minutes

Abridged: No

For his fifth birthday, Ray Anthony’s father bought him a trumpet. It wasn’t until the age of 12 when his trumpet was hidden as a punishment that he realized he couldn’t live without it.

Anthony opened up to Wink Martindale in this interview from 1978 about joining the Al Donahue Orchestra at the age of 17, getting fired from the Glenn Miller... Read more

Natalie Cole

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 26 minutes

Abridged: No

Before the daughter of Nat “King” Cole ever sang for an audience, she was lip-syncing in front of her bedroom mirror to the Supremes. Natalie Cole, the second of five children said her parents raised her to work hard for what she wanted.

The award-winning artist sat down with Wink Martindale to discuss what it was like growing up in a house... Read more

Bobby Vinton

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Bobby Vinton, “The Most Successful Unknown,” says he never wanted to be a musician; he wanted to be a football player instead. In fact, his parents would bribe him 25 cents an hour just to get him to practice his clarinet.

Vinton sat down with Wink Martindale in 1973 to discuss his success with “Blue on Blue” and the story behind “Roses are... Read more

The Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 20 minutes

Abridged: No

In February 1964, The Beatles made their TV debut on the Ed Sullivan Show, catching the attention of Bob Eubanks. Wink Martindale catches up with Eubanks in an interview from 1977 about The Beatles playing the Hollywood Bowl.

He discusses having second thoughts about booking them for the concert and then selling out in 3.5 hours. He explains how... Read more

The Andrews Sisters

By: Wink Martindale

Narrated by: Wink Martindale

Length: 39 minutes

Abridged: No

From 1934 to 1951, The Andrews Sisters recorded more than 400 songs, including hits such as “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” and “Rum and Coca Cola,” and sold almost 100 million records. Wink Martindale sat down with sisters Patty and Maxine to discuss how they got started and why breaking up was the best thing to happen to them.

In this interview... Read more

Jimmy Buffett

By: Ryan White

Narrated by: Gibson Frazier

Length: 10 hours 55 minutes

Abridged: No

A candid, compelling, and rollicking portrait of the legendary pirate captain of Margaritaville—Jimmy Buffett.

In Jimmy Buffett: A Good Life All the Way, acclaimed music critic Ryan White has crafted the definitive account of Buffett’s rise from singing songs for beer to his becoming a tropical icon and inspiration behind the Margaritaville... Read more

How to Listen to Jazz

By: Ted Gioia

Narrated by: Peter Ganim

Length: 6 hours 58 minutes

Abridged: No

A "radiantly accomplished" music scholar presents an accessible introduction to the art of listening to jazz (Wall Street Journal)

In How to Listen to Jazz, award-winning music scholar Ted Gioia presents a lively introduction to one of America's premier art forms. He tells us what to listen for in a performance and includes a guide to today's... Read more

Kiss

By: Aileen Weintraub

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 1 hour 44 minutes

Abridged: No

I wanna rock and roll all night are the words that fans shout at KISS concerts. Self-proclaimed hottest band in the land, KISS rocks stadiums and albums. Their upbeat anthem Rock and Roll All Nite rocketed them to stardom. Fans can t get enough of their loud, showy, and flashy concerts. Read about the band members and how they formed KISS, the... Read more

Twilight of the Gods

By: Steven Hyden

Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor

Length: 10 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

The author of the critically acclaimed Your Favorite Band is Killing Me offers an eye-opening and frank assessment of the state of classic rock, assessing its past and future, the impact it has had, and what it’s loss would mean to an industry, a culture, and a way of life.Since the late 1960s, a legendary cadre of artists—including the Rolling... Read more

Unmasked

By: Andrew Lloyd Webber

Narrated by: Andrew Lloyd Webber & Derek Perkins

Length: 16 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

""You have the luck of Croesus on stilts (as my Auntie Vi would have said) if you’ve had the sort of career, ups and downs, warts and all that I have in that wondrous little corner of show business called musical theatre."" One of the most successful and distinguished artists of our time, Andrew Lloyd Webber has reigned over the musical theatre... Read more

Zen Guitar

By: Philip Toshio Sudo

Narrated by: Fred Sanders

Length: 3 hours 40 minutes

Abridged: No

Unleash the song of your soul with Zen Guitar, a contemplative handbook that draws on ancient Eastern wisdom and applies it to music and performance.

Each of us carries a song inside us, the song that makes us human. Zen Guitar provides the key to unlocking this song—a series of life lessons presented through the metaphor of music.

Philip Sudo... Read more

Sticky Fingers

By: Joe Hagan

Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris & Joe Hagan

Length: 18 hours 39 minutes

Abridged: No

A delicious romp through the heyday of rock and roll and a revealing portrait of the man at the helm of the iconic magazine that made it all possible, with candid look backs at the era from Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Elton John, Bono, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, and others.
 
The story of Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone's founder, editor, and... Read more

The Autobiography of Gucci Mane

By: Gucci Mane & Neil Martinez-Belkin

Narrated by: Guy Lockard

Length: 6 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestselling memoir from the legendary Gucci Mane spares no detail in this “cautionary tale that ends in triumph” (GQ).

For the first time Gucci Mane tells his extraordinary story in his own words. It is “as wild, unpredictable, and fascinating as the man himself” (Complex).

The platinum-selling recording artist began writing... Read more

Dear Evan Hansen

By: Steven Levenson

Narrated by: Taylor Trensch

Length: 3 hours 27 minutes

Abridged: No

The official behind-the-scenes book of the hit musical that won 6 Tony Awards, now also a major motion picture!

A letter that was never meant to be seen, a lie that was never meant to be told, a life he never dreamed he could have. Evan Hansen is about to get the one thing he's always wanted: a chance to finally fit in. Both deeply personal and... Read more

Backstage Pass

By: Paul Stanley

Narrated by: Sean Pratt

Length: 4 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

The New York Times bestselling author and front man and rhythm guitarist of KISS grants fans an all-access backstage pass to his personal life and shows them how to pursue a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle of their own, offering hard-won advice from a music legend.In this follow-up to his popular bestseller Face the Music, the Starchild takes us behind... Read more

Shai & Emmie Star in Break an Egg!

By: Quvenzhané Wallis

Narrated by: Quvenzhané Wallis

Length: 1 hour 16 minutes

Abridged: No

From Academy Award–nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis comes the first story in a brand-new series about best friends Shai and Emmie, two third graders destined for superstardom.

Shai Williams was born to be a star (or a veterinarian—and maybe a dentist). She attends a special elementary school for the performing arts, and her grandma Rosa and... Read more

The Spree of ’83

By: Freddy Powers & Catherine Powers

Narrated by: Andi Arndt, Carrington MacDuffie, Donald Corren...

Length: 9 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

The Los Angeles Times affectionately referred to Freddy Powers as the “Ol’ Blue Eyes of Country Music,” and wrote that if you were to “ask country superstars Willie Nelson, George Jones, or Merle Haggard (they’ll) … tell you that he’s one of country music’s best-kept secrets.” The Texas Country Music Hall of Fame inductee has been to the top of... Read more

The Long Hard Road Out of Hell

By: Marilyn Manson & Neil Strauss

Narrated by: James Patrick Cronin

Length: 9 hours

Abridged: No

When this bestselling autobiography was originally released, readers were shocked: The Long Hard Road Out of Hell was the darkest, funniest, most controversial, and best-selling rock book of its time—and it became the template, both visually and narratively, for almost every rock book since. Marilyn Manson is not just a music icon, it turned... Read more

Come Sing, Jimmy Jo

By: Katherine Paterson

Narrated by: Melba Sibrel

Length: 6 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

Written by Newbery, National Book Award, and Laura Ingalls Wilder Medal winner Katherine Paterson

The Johnsons are becoming country music stars. They're on TV and the radio--and it's all because of James. His voice and his guitar playing bring the songs to life, and make the audiences beg for more. Most kids would love it. Not James. He's had to... Read more