Audiobooks by Alan Paul

Brothers and Sisters: The Allman Brothers Band and the Inside Story of the Album That Defined the '7

This program is read by the author and contains more than 40 never-before-heard interviews with the band members. New York Times bestselling author Alan Paul's in-depth narrative look at the Allman Brothers' most successful album, and a portrait of an era in rock and roll and American history. The Allman Brothers Band’s Brothers and Sisters was not only the band’s best-selling album at over seven million copies sold, it was also a powerfully influential release, both musically and culturally, one whose influence continues to be profoundly felt. Celebrating the album’s 50th anniversary, this audiobook delves into the making of the album while also presenting a broader cultural history of the era, based on first-person interviews, historical documents and deep research. Brothers and Sisters traces the making of the template-shaping record alongside the story of how the Allman Brothers came to the rescue of a flailing Jimmy Carter presidential campaign and helped get the former governor of Georgia elected president; how Gregg Allman’s marriage to Cher was an early harbinger of an emerging celebrity media culture; and how the band’s success led to internal fissures. The book also examines the Allman Brothers' relationship with the Grateful Dead—including the most in-depth reporting ever on the Jam at Watkins Glen, the largest rock festival ever—and describes how they inspired bands like Lynyrd Skynyrd, helping create the Southern Rock genre. With exclusive access to hundreds of hours of never-before-heard interviews with every major player, including Dickey Betts and Gregg Allman, conducted by ABB archivist, photographer and “Tour Mystic” Kirk West, Brothers and Sisters is an in-depth, honest assessments of the band’s career, history, and highs and lows. A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press.

Alan Paul (Author), Alan Paul (Narrator)

Audiobook

Texas Flood: The Inside Story of Stevie Ray Vaughan

This program is read by a full cast and features exclusive bonus material, including a never-before-heard conversation between Stevie Ray Vaughan and his brother, Jimmie Vaughan. The first definitive biography of guitar legend Stevie Ray Vaughan, with an epilogue by Jimmie Vaughan, and foreword and afterword by Double Trouble's Chris Layton and Tommy Shannon. Just a few years after he almost died from a severe addiction to cocaine and alcohol, a clean and sober Stevie Ray Vaughan was riding high. His last album was his most critically lauded and commercially successful. He had fulfilled a lifelong dream by collaborating with his first and greatest musical hero, his brother Jimmie. His tumultuous marriage was over and he was in a new and healthy romantic relationship. Vaughan seemed poised for a new, limitless chapter of his life and career. Instead, it all came to a shocking and sudden end on August 27, 1990, when he was killed in a helicopter crash following a dynamic performance with Eric Clapton. Just 35 years old, he left behind a powerful musical legacy and an endless stream of What Ifs. In the ensuing 29 years, Vaughan's legend and acclaim have only grown and he is now an undisputed international musical icon. Despite the cinematic scope of Vaughan's life and death, there has never been a truly proper accounting of his story. Until now. Texas Flood provides the unadulterated truth about Stevie Ray Vaughan from those who knew him best: his brother Jimmie, his Double Trouble bandmates Tommy Shannon, Chris Layton and Reese Wynans, and many other close friends, family members, girlfriends, fellow musicians, managers and crew members. This program is read by Alan Paul, Andy Aledort, Chris Layton, Leslie Ligon, Greg Littlefield, Denny Freeman, Jack Newhouse, Leon Nixon, Joe Priesnitz, Tommy Shannon, and Reese Wynans.

Alan Paul, Andy Aledort (Author), Alan Paul, Andy Aledort, Chris Layton, Denny Freeman, Greg Littlefield, Jack Newhouse, Joe Priesnitz, Leon Nixon, Leslie Ligon, Reese Wynans, Tommy Shannon (Narrator)

Audiobook

One Way Out: The Inside History of the Allman Brothers Band

Award-winning journalist Alan Paul delves into the history of the Allman Brothers Band in this fascinating, comprehensive biography. One Way Out is the powerful biography of the Allman Brothers Band, an oral history written with the band's participation and filled with original, never-before-published interviews as well as personal letters and correspondence. This is the most in-depth look at a legendary American rock band that has meant so much to so many for so long. For twenty-five years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows. He has interviewed every living band member for this book as well as managers, roadies, and contemporaries, including Gregg Allman, Dickey Betts, Jaimoe, Butch Trucks, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks, Oteil Burbridge, the late Allen Woody, Jimmy Herring, Eric Clapton, Bob Weir, and many others. Tracking the band's career from their 1969 formation to today, One Way Out is filled with musical and cultural insights, riveting tales of sometimes violent personality conflicts and betrayals, drug and alcohol use, murder allegations and exoneration, tragic early deaths, road stories, and much more, including the most in-depth look at the acrimonious 2000 parting with founding guitarist Dickey Betts and behind-the-scenes information on the recording of At Fillmore East, Layla, Eat a Peach, Brothers and Sisters, and other classic albums.

Alan Paul (Author), Dan John Miller (Narrator)

Audiobook

Big in China

The inspiring story of a man, a family, a band, a foreign country, and a new beginning When Alan Paul's wife was offered the job as the Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief, he saw it as an amazing opportunity to shake up their increasingly staid suburban New Jersey life. Excited and not a little scared, they packed up their three children, ages two, four, and seven, and headed for adventure and uncertainty in Beijing, China. Based on his award-winning Wall Street Journal Online column, "The Expat Life," Big in China explores Paul's unlikely three-and-a-half-year journey of reinvention in this rapidly developing metropolis. He reveals the challenges that he and his family faced while living in a foreign land, including reaching beyond the expat community, coming to terms with his new role as a stay-at-home dad, and learning to navigate and thrive in an unfamiliar culture. By viewing an intimidating challenge as a golden opportunity rather than as a burden, he saw his world open up around him. At the heart of the memoir is his time fronting Woodie Alan, a blues band he formed with a Chinese partner. The cross-cultural collaboration became an unlikely success. The band embarked on a tour across China, earning the title "Best Band in Beijing" and recording an acclaimed CD of original music sung in both English and Mandarin, which prompted ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to say, "This is the best Chinese blues band I ever heard. Who knew?" Woodie Alan was symbolic of Paul's entire China experience and?proof of what transpires when one can suspend preconceived notions and plunge into a new reality. A testament to the transformative power of a life lived beyond comfortable borders, Big in China reminds us of the importance of always keeping our horizons wide and our thoughts ambitious.

Alan Paul (Author), Alan Paul (Narrator)

Audiobook

Big in China

The inspiring story of a man, a family, a band, a foreign country, and a new beginning When Alan Paul's wife was offered the job as the Wall Street Journal's China bureau chief, he saw it as an amazing opportunity to shake up their increasingly staid suburban New Jersey life. Excited and not a little scared, they packed up their three children'ages two, four, and seven'and headed for adventure and uncertainty in Beijing, China. Based on his award-winning Wall Street Journal Online column, "The Expat Life," Big in China explores Paul's unlikely three-and-a-half-year journey of reinvention in this rapidly developing metropolis. He reveals the challenges that he and his family faced while living in a foreign land, including reaching beyond the expat community, coming to terms with his new role as a stay-at-home dad, and learning to navigate and thrive in an unfamiliar culture. By viewing an intimidating challenge as a golden opportunity rather than as a burden, he saw his world open up around him. At the heart of the memoir is his time fronting Woodie Alan, a blues band he formed with a Chinese partner. The cross-cultural collaboration became an unlikely success. The band embarked on a tour across China, earning the title "Best Band in Beijing" and recording an acclaimed CD of original music sung in both English and Mandarin, which prompted ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons to say, "This is the best Chinese blues band I ever heard. Who knew?" Woodie Alan was symbolic of Paul's entire China experience and?proof of what transpires when one can suspend preconceived notions and plunge into a new reality. A testament to the transformative power of a life lived beyond comfortable borders, Big in China reminds us of the importance of always keeping our horizons wide and our thoughts ambitious.

Alan Paul (Author), Alan Paul (Narrator)

Audiobook