Howard Sounes has 7 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 4 narrators, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 6 ratings. The most-rated is 27.
27
Summary
When singer Amy Winehouse was found dead at her London home in 2011, the press inducted her into what Kurt Cobain's mother named the 27 Club. "Now he's gone and joined that stupid club," she said in 1994, after being told that her son, the front man of Nirvana, had committed suicide. "I told him not to." Kurt's mom was referring to the extraordinary roll call of iconic stars who died at the same young age. The Big Six are Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison of the Doors, Kurt Cobain and, now, Amy Winehouse. All were talented. All were dissipated. All were 27. Journalists write about "the curse of the 27 Club" as if there is a supernatural reason for this series of deaths. Others invoke astrology, numerology, and conspiracy theories to explain what has become a modern mystery. In this haunting audiobook, author Howard Sounes conducts the definitive forensic investigation into the lives and deaths of the six most iconic members of the Club, plus another 44 music industry figures who died at 27, to discover what, apart from coincidence, this phenomenon signifies. In a grimly fascinating journey through the dark side of the music business over six decades, Sounes uncovers a common story of excess, madness, and self-destruction. The fantasies, half-truths, and mythologies that have become associated with Jones, Hendrix, Joplin, Morrison, Cobain, and Winehouse are debunked. Instead a clear and compelling narrative emerges, one based on hard facts, that unites these lost souls in both life and death.
©2013 Howard Sounes (P)2013 Tantor
Down the Highway
Summary
Hailed as "Music Book of the Year" by Uncut magazine on publication, and a finalist for theRalph J. Gleason Music Book Award, Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist. Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music. Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of extraordinary personalities, including the American poet Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the singer-songwriters Paul McCartney (Fab) and Lou Reed (Notes from the Velvet Underground).
©2011 Howard Sounes (P)2014 Audible Studios
Charles Bukowski
Summary
The American writer Charles Bukowski (1920-94) developed a cult following for his simple and vivid poems, stories and novels based on his experiences as a hard-drinking postal worker in Los Angeles. His classic books include Post Office, Women and Love Is a Dog from Hell. In this engrossing biography, studded with excerpts from Bukowski's writing, Howard Sounes tells the true story of Bukowski's life in the same punchy style as his subject. Sounes draws on interviews with all the significant people in Bukowski's career, including celebrity friends Robert Crumb, Allen Ginsberg, Norman Mailer, Sean Penn and Mickey Rourke, who played Bukowski in the movie Barfly. Bukowski's editor and publisher, John Martin, praises the book: "Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life is a generous tribute to Bukowski's genius, and it clearly and truthfully captures the essence of Bukowski both as writer and man." Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose) and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Lou Reed (Notes from the Velvet Underground). For more information, visit www.howardsounes.com.
©1999 Howard Sounes (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
Notes from the Velvet Underground
Summary
Best known for his sinuous pop hit 'Walk on the Wild Side', Lou Reed was one of the most original and innovative songwriters of the rock era - a sardonic chronicler of underground culture and the dark side of human nature. In the first major study of the artist since his death in 2013, biographer Howard Sounes shows how Reed's seminal work with the Velvet Underground in the 1960s shaped his career and reveals a talented but tortured man: a bisexual who married three times, an alcoholic and a drug user who struggled with mental health issues, was frequently quarrelsome and could be nasty but was nevertheless capable of writing beautiful songs. Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), the writer Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Paul McCartney (Fab). For more information, visit www.howardsounes.com.
©2015 Howard Sounes (P)2016 Audible, Ltd
Fab: The Intimate Life of Paul McCartney
Summary
He is the proud torchbearer of the Beatles, the greatest band in the history of popular music, and one of the most closely-studied artists in show business, yet secrets and surprises remain in the life of Sir Paul McCartney. The full story is told in Fab. Howard Sounes, author of the acclaimed Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan, spent more than two years investigating every aspect of Sir Paul’s life and work, including interviewing over 200 people. The result is the richest, most detailed, and most comprehensive biography of McCartney yet written. Unlike previous biographers, the author pays equal attention to the story of McCartney in the Beatles and the ongoing story of his post-Beatles career, creating an engrossing history that spans the long arc of this great artist’s life and work. Fab also includes the full, fascinating story of Sir Paul’s calamitous second marriage to Heather Mills. Sounes proves a judicious critic of the music, while also delivering a superb psychological portrait of the man behind some of the world’s most beloved songs. Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a wide range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), the writer Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life), and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Lou Reed (Notes from the Velvet Underground). Each book is based on extensive original research. For more information, visit www.howardsounes.com
©2010 Howard Sounes (P)2014 Audible Studios
Heist
Summary
On 22 February 2006, £53 million was stolen from a cash warehouse belonging to the Securitas company in Tonbridge, Kent. In terms of value, the robbery puts previous British capers, such as the Great Train Robbery, in the shade. This was a crime notable for its audacity, carried out by an unlikely crew of players that included a used car salesman, two Albanian casual workers and a roofer. Five men were convicted at the Old Bailey in January 2008, which attracted nationwide media coverage. A sixth man, Paul Allen, was sentenced in October 2009 for his part. Having become close to the Tonbridge gang and the police during three years of research, Sounes relates a classic crime caper in irresistible, almost forensic detail. After the robbery comes the exciting, sometimes comical story of the getaway. Money is found, and arrests are made, but key characters slip out of the country, and millions of pounds are still missing. Heist is the definitive account of these compelling events, is wildly entertaining and a must for all fans of well-written true crime. Since the book has been written, Darren Aronofsky (director of The Wrestler) has announced he will direct a British-made film. Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a wide range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), the American author Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life) and the musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Paul McCartney (Fab). His new book is Amy, 27 - a study of the life and death of Amy Winehouse and the other iconic stars who died at the same young age.
©2009 Howard Sounes (P)2015 Audible, Ltd
Fred & Rose
Summary
This is a new recording, read by the author. As featured on The New Podcast 'Unheard: The Fred & Rose West Tapes' Fred & Rose is the definitive account of this infamous case - now updated with a postscript from the author. Fred and Rose West are virtually unique in British criminal history: a husband and wife who loved and killed together. During their long relationship, the Wests murdered a series of young women, burying the remains of nine victims under their home at 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, including those of their daughter. What was left of Fred West's eight-year-old stepdaughter was dug up from under the Wests' previous Gloucester home; his first wife and nanny were buried in open country. Most victims had been decapitated and dismembered, their remains showing signs of sexual torture. These 12 are just the ones police found when the Wests were arrested in 1994. There may be more whose bones have not been located.... Howard Sounes broke the first major story about the Wests as a journalist, and covered the murder trial of Rosemary West, before writing Fred & Rose, the definitive account of this infamous case. Beginning with Fred's and Rose's bizarre childhoods, Sounes charts their lives and crimes in forensic detail, creating a fascinating and truly frightening account of a marriage soaked in blood.
©1995 Howard Sounes (P)2020 Hachette Audio