Joe Boyd tells of his journey through Sixties music, from tour managing Muddy Waters and Coleman Hawkins, to plugging in Bob Dylan's electric guitar while working as production manager at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, to becoming a leading record producer. His first session was Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood's "Crossroads" followed by Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, the Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny and many more.
Joe Boyd tells of his journey through Sixties music, from tour managing Muddy Waters and Coleman Hawkins, to plugging in Bob Dylan's electric guitar while working as production manager at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival, to becoming a leading record producer. His first session was Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood's ‘Crossroads’ followed by Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, the Incredible String Band, Fairport Convention, Sandy Denny and many more. As a memoir of the enchanted Sixties, White Bicycles is among the elite...Exhilarating --Observer Music Monthly
Heroic, Hilarious and Moving
Walking Home: Travels with a Troubadour on the Pennine Way
By
Simon Armitage
Narrated By
Simon Armitage
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In summer 2010 Simon Armitage decided to walk the Pennine Way. The challenging 256-mile route is usually approached from south to north, from Edale in the Peak District to Kirk Yetholm, the other side of the Scottish border. He resolved to tackle it the other way round: through beautiful and bleak terrain, across lonely fells and into the howling wind, he would be walking home, towards the Yorkshire village where he was born.
Walking Home describes Armitage’s extraordinary, yet ordinary, journey: to walk the Pennine Way without a penny in his pocket. It's a story about the generosity of the locals who sustained him on his journey, facing emotional and physical challenges, and sometimes overcoming them. It's nature writing, but with people at its heart. Contemplative, moving and droll, it’s a unique narrative from one of our most beloved writers."},
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No Off Switch
By
Andy Kershaw
Narrated By
Andy Kershaw
Overall
(36)
Performance
(1)
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Andy Kershaw truly has no off switch. As a teenager he was promoting major rock gigs. He was Billy Bragg's driver and roadie one day and presenting Whistle Test and Live Aid the next. A passionate music enthusiast, he is a man with an obsessive curiosity about the world. Over a 25 year career, he has worked for the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, shared an office with John Peel, and amassed a record collection that weighs seven tons. He has won more Sony Radio awards than any other broadcaster. He has visited 97 countries and as a foreign correspondent, filed numerous reports for Radio 4.
A BBC Radio 4 full-cast dramatisation of Evelyn Waugh's stunning, tragi-comic novel of the lives, loves, and mores of the English aristocracy. The action moves between 1944 and 1923, to tell the story of Charles Ryder and his infatuation with the decadent Sebastian Flyte.
Inspired by the attitude and energy of punk, Peter Hook and school friend Bernard Sumner joined lead-singer and lyricist Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris, and with some cobbled-together instruments, they created their own unique sound. In 1980 they had released two albums and were on the cusp of touring America when Ian Curtis committed suicide. In this no-holds-barred account, Peter Hook gives us the inside story of life with Joy Division. He talks with candour and reflection about Curtis's suicide and covers the band's friendships and fall-outs....
A Postillion Struck by Lightning was a best seller on first publication and marked Dirk Bogarde's transition from star of stage and screen to a best-selling and internationally acclaimed author. This vivid and engaging memoir traces the first steps of Dirk Bogarde as a young actor before he became world famous as well as his childhood amidst the enchanting beauty of rural Sussex.
The War of the Worlds: Classic Radio Sci-Fi (Dramatised)
by
H. G. Wells
4.1
(53 ratings)
When a Martian spacecraft lands on Woking Common, mankind is terrorised by aliens in tall, armoured capsules which stalk the countryside on three legs. The machines wreak havoc on London and the Southern Counties, and survivors are driven underground. Scientist John Nicholson (Paul Daneman) tells how he was plunged into a paralysing nightmare of stark terror, savage madness and utter destruction.
Andy Kershaw truly has no off switch. As a teenager he was promoting major rock gigs. He was Billy Bragg's driver and roadie one day and presenting Whistle Test and Live Aid the next. A passionate music enthusiast, he is a man with an obsessive curiosity about the world. Over a 25 year career, he has worked for the Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen, shared an office with John Peel, and amassed a record collection that weighs seven tons. He has won more Sony Radio awards than any other broadcaster. He has visited 97 countries and as a foreign correspondent, filed numerous reports for Radio 4.
Inspired by the attitude and energy of punk, Peter Hook and school friend Bernard Sumner joined lead-singer and lyricist Ian Curtis and drummer Stephen Morris, and with some cobbled-together instruments, they created their own unique sound. In 1980 they had released two albums and were on the cusp of touring America when Ian Curtis committed suicide. In this no-holds-barred account, Peter Hook gives us the inside story of life with Joy Division. He talks with candour and reflection about Curtis's suicide and covers the band's friendships and fall-outs....
Narrated by
Alfred Molina,
Rosalind Ayres,
Martin Jarvis,
Anne Heche,
Jared Harris,
Kenneth Danziger,
Jane Leeves
5.0
(4 ratings)
Six plays from the Olivier, Tony, and Moliere Award-winning playwright Alan Ayckbourn: The legendary The Norman Conquests trilogy; as well as a brand new recording of his play Henceforward... starring Mad Men's Jarred Harris alongside Anne Heche; Just Between Ourselves starring Alfred Molina; and a remastering of L.A. Theatre Works' recording of Man of the Moment.
The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream
by
Barack Obama
Narrated by
Barack Obama
4.1
(87 ratings)
In July 2004, Barack Obama electrified the Democratic National Convention with an address that spoke to Americans across the political spectrum. Now, in The Audacity of Hope, he calls for a different brand of politics: a politics for those weary of bitter partisanship and alienated by the "endless clash of armies" we see in Congress and on the campaign trail; a politics rooted in the faith, inclusiveness, and nobility of spirit at the heart of "our improbable experiment in democracy".
Narrated by
Stephen Dillane,
Fiona Shaw,
full cast
5.0
(2 ratings)
Sit back and enjoy this lively performance, featuring the voices of award-winning actors Stephen Dillane (Macbeth) and Fiona Shaw (Lady Macbeth), accompanied by a full cast.
Best known as a founding member and principal songwriter of the iconic band Talking Heads, David Byrne has received Grammy, Oscar, and Golden Globe awards and has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the insightful How Music Works, Byrne offers his unique perspective on music - including how music is shaped by time, how recording technologies transform the listening experience, the evolution of the industry, and much more.
First published in 1973, this is a study of the force of photographic images, which are continually inserted between experience and reality. When anything can be photographed, and photography has destroyed the boundaries and definitions of art, a viewer can approach a photograph freely, with no expectations of discovering what it means. This collection of six lucid and invigorating essays, with the most famous being "In Plato's Cave", make up a deep exploration of how the image has affected society.
Julius Caesar is one of Shakespeare's most compelling Roman plays. The plot against Caesar and the infamous assassination scene make for unforgettable listening. Brutus, the true protagonist of the play, is mesmerizing in his psychological state of anguish, forced to choose between the bonds of friendship and his desire for patriotic justice.
by
William Shakespeare,
Jonathan Lomas,
Phil Viner
Narrated by
Joan Walker,
Jude Akuwudike,
Nick Murchie
4.6
(8 ratings)
Experience Othello as a powerful full-cast drama with entertaining and enlightening commentary that explains what's what and who's who as the plot unfolds. To help you get the most out of Shakespeare, the narrator offers historical insights and background information, so you can enjoy the jokes, appreciate the references, and get a real sense of Shakespeare's world.
by
William Shakespeare,
William Wordsworth,
W.B. Yeats,
(edited by William Harmon)
Narrated by
Alfred Corn,
Rita Dove
3.7
(9 ratings)
Adopting the methodology of the music charts, The Classic Hundred Poems presents the "top 100" poems of all time. The selections are illuminated by the informative notes of editor William Harmon and read by an ensemble of contemporary poets including Alfred Corn and Rita Dove.
William Shakespeare,
William Wordsworth,
W.B. Yeats,
(edited by William Harmon)
Bleak Expectations: The Complete First Series
by
Mark Evans
4.4
(168 ratings)
A Victorian epic of awful schools inc the aptly named St Bastards, worse prisons, nuns at St Bitches, giant rabbits, and long lost super-hero aunts, in the style of Charles Dickens after far too much gin.
Deep in limestone country, at the corner of Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, and Gloucestershire, lies the village of Coleshill. This haunting new collection from Fiona Sampson is a portrait of place, both real and imaginary; a dreamscape with its roots deep in the local soil. The poems hum with an evocative music of their own: there are hymns of the orchards, verses for walkers, songs for bees. These are slices of life and states of mind; poems of grief, fears, and maledictions, but also of renewal, resurrections, and the promise of spring.
Narrated By
C. R. Adams,
Angela Andazola,
Ariel Atlas,
Sarah Baker,
Amy Balkini,
Stephen Balling,
Sydney Dickinson,
Bridgette S. Dunne
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Four audio plays about southern women. Dix Tableaux: Two women chart the course of each other's lives. Van Choc Straw: A bittersweet comedy about tenuous family ties. PIGmalion: A gentle comedy about to how to reconcile who we are on the outside with the true person who lives within each of us. Deep in the Heart: A serious comedy about the special healing joy that comes to those who know how to "drink life to the dregs."
Drive-in dreams and terror at the show, stories and poetry as well. There are still plenty of spaces for you to pull your car into and the concession stand is serving dishes of fear, cotten cravings, fresh hot barbecued ravens and all sorts of delights. It's a triple show at twilight, bring your best girl and watch as the lights go dim. Drive-In Horrors will take you to the other side and back.
Poe on Poetry: Edgar Allan Poe Audiobook Collection, Volume 4
By
Edgar Allan Poe,
Christopher Aruffo
Narrated By
Christopher Aruffo
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The author reveals his craft in the structure of story, the creation of Beauty, the role of the critic, and the mechanics of verse - including a complete, step-by-step explanation of how he wrote his most famous poem, The Raven.
Bonanza Mammon Booms: A Drama of the Comstock Lode
By
F. L. Light
Narrated By
Ryan Dusek
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In San Francisco, the new Bank of California would branch itself in Virginia City, Nevada, a mining town situated on a mountain side over the Comstock Lode of silver. As the branch's moment bigger grows under the direction of William Sharon, so a monopolistic sovereignty of mills and mines is ventured. This drama sets forth the actions of monopolist temerity and what success or miss the principals had. F. L. Light is the author of the Gouldium, a series of 24 dramas (all framed to his peculiar form of Athenian tragic poetry), on the life and times of Jay Gould.
The News from Lake Wobegon from A Prairie Home Companion, May 18, 2013
By
Garrison Keillor
Narrated By
Garrison Keillor
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"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my hometown..." Garrison Keillor first did his monologue in 1974 to an audience of 20 in a St. Paul theater. Today, more than 2.2 million people tune in each week to hear the tall tales and sweet stories about the citizens of this small Minnesota town. It's a town where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all of the children are above average."
Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times
By
Neil Peart
Narrated By
Brian Sutherland
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The music of Frank Sinatra, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, and many other artists provides the score to the reflections of a musician on the road in this memoir of Neil Peart's travels from Los Angeles to Big Bend National Park. The emotional associations and stories behind each album Peart plays guide his recollections of his childhood on Lake Ontario, the first bands that he performed with, and his travels with the band Rush. The evocative and resonant writing vividly captures the meanderings of a musical mind, leading rock enthusiasts to discover inside information about Rush and the musical inspirations of a rock legend.
Take Another Little Piece of My Heart: A Groupie Grows Up
By
Pamela Des Barres
Narrated By
Pamela Des Barres
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Pamela Des Barres, celebrated "queen of the groupies," chronicled her adventures with rock stars in her bestseller I'm with the Band. This book picks up where that one left off, with Pamela embarking on marriage and motherhood, all the while sharing quarters and making friends with stars. But this is a survivor's story about the anguish of coping with loved ones' addictions, about suffering divorce, about the joys and terrors of raising a gifted son.
Total Depravity: Poems bring together poems that explore love, passion, and human sensuality. The poems highlight sensual beauty in the mundane patterns of daily life and celebrate the beauty inherent in the feminine form. The collection contains metaphoric poems exploring feminine beauty and sensual expression in today's technological devices, such as the USB cord.
Imagine stretching a rubber band between the index finger on one hand and the thumb on the other. Now visualize pulling your fingers as far apart as possible. That's it...keep pulling...and pulling...OUCH! Somebody will always get hurt when you do that. That's what I pictured happening upstairs to Margo Martindale's character, Janice Trimble, in her new movie, Scalene. And that's just in the opening minutes.
Clarissa O. Clemens found herself drowning in the pain of a broken heart. She took her pen in hand and began processing all of those feelings writing poems of hopeful verse providing solace to her aching heart. Listening to The Poetic Diary of Love and Change, Volumes 1 and 2, will help you to mend your aching heart, remind you to love yourself, and inspire you to hope and know that love is waiting for you when you are ready to allow it back into your life. Volume 2 is the "blue" volume - though there is hope, these poems have a hint of blue.
If you've been watching the AMC drama Breaking Bad over the years, you've had the privilege of seeing some extraordinary performances by the lead actors, Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul and Anna Gunn. But some of the greatest moments have been of the smaller, more isolated type. Like the ones featuring my guest today, Mark Margolis, who plays - or should I say played - Hector "Tio" Salamanca. You remember Hector, the notorious, bloodthirsty bastard we met as an old man and later in flashbacks as a young badass.