
A Bushel of Beans and a Peck of Tomatoes
The Life and Times of "The Funniest Man in America"
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
3 months free
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Peter Berkrot
About this listen
One of the most successful nightclub and theater comedians in America started out a long way from the stage, in the tiny farming community of Lithonia, Georgia. James Gregory was born into a family with lots of love but little money. His parents paid the doctor for his delivery with "a bushel of beans and a peck of tomatoes."
Before he became "The Funniest Man in America," James was a successful salesman of everything from encyclopedias to log homes. His philosophy: take care of yourself so nobody has to take care of you. When he started over as a comedian, this commitment to hard work and honest dealing would be the key to his "business" of comedy. James loves working people—because that's what he is, too.
James was quickly discovered—not just in the South, but across America—by folks who love down-home, wholesome humor. He became the court jester of country music royalty, too, from Randy Travis to "Whispering" Bill Anderson to the Possum himself, George Jones. Whether it's entertaining our troops in the Persian Gulf after 9/11, working the road with greats like Steven Wright and Jay Leno, or facing a heart-stopping emergency that sent him into a coma, James has squeezed a dozen lifetimes into a half-century of comedy. This book is the best James Gregory story yet—as only he can tell it.
©2024 James Gregory with Michael E. Long (P)2025 Tantor MediaPeople who viewed this also viewed...
-
So Many Steves
- Afternoons with Steve Martin
- By: Steve Martin, Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Steve Martin, Adam Gopnik
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Martin met his good friend Adam Gopnik three decades ago, and in that time, Gopnik has always marveled at Martin’s ability to flourish in a wide variety of artforms: magic, comedy, art collecting, writing, and music. In So Many Steves: Afternoons with Steve Martin, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik creates a new type of profile: a year’s worth of conversations with Martin where Gopnik pulls back the curtain on his friend’s illustrious career.
-
-
Perfection
- By M on 05-05-23
By: Steve Martin, and others
-
Still Foolin' 'Em
- Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys
- By: Billy Crystal
- Narrated by: Billy Crystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Crystal is 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life.
-
-
Disarmingly Honest
- By David Shear on 09-12-13
By: Billy Crystal
-
Being Henry
- The Fonz . . . and Beyond
- By: Henry Winkler
- Narrated by: Henry Winkler
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
-
-
Sweet human
- By Lisa Singer on 11-07-23
By: Henry Winkler
-
I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
-
-
Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
What in the World?!
- A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings
- By: Leanne Morgan
- Narrated by: Leanne Morgan
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a long time, no one pulling the strings in the comedy world thought that a woman over fifty from rural Tennessee could make it in the industry. But Leanne Morgan has defied the odds, reaching millions with her musings on hormones, low-rise britches, Weight Watchers, and her opposites-attract relationship with her husband, Chuck. In her charming southern accent, Morgan brings listeners inside her quest to find her voice after spending many years trying to figure out what that meant.
-
-
Required for all females & husbands
- By Lindsey Richey on 10-14-24
By: Leanne Morgan
-
Big Dumb Eyes
- Stories from a Simpler Mind
- By: Nate Bargatze
- Narrated by: Nate Bargatze
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nate Bargatze used to be a genius. That is, until the summer after seventh grade when he slipped, fell off a cliff, hit his head on a rock, and “my skull got, like, dented or something.” Before this accident, he dreamed of being “an electric engineer, or a doctor that does brain stuff, or a math teacher who teaches the hardest math on earth.” Afterwards, all he could do was stand-up comedy.* But the “brain stuff” industry’s loss is everyone else’s gain because Nate went on to become one of today’s top-grossing comedians, breaking both attendance and streaming records.
-
-
Nate is the best.
- By Todd on 05-06-25
By: Nate Bargatze
-
So Many Steves
- Afternoons with Steve Martin
- By: Steve Martin, Adam Gopnik
- Narrated by: Steve Martin, Adam Gopnik
- Length: 2 hrs and 46 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Steve Martin met his good friend Adam Gopnik three decades ago, and in that time, Gopnik has always marveled at Martin’s ability to flourish in a wide variety of artforms: magic, comedy, art collecting, writing, and music. In So Many Steves: Afternoons with Steve Martin, New Yorker writer Adam Gopnik creates a new type of profile: a year’s worth of conversations with Martin where Gopnik pulls back the curtain on his friend’s illustrious career.
-
-
Perfection
- By M on 05-05-23
By: Steve Martin, and others
-
Still Foolin' 'Em
- Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys
- By: Billy Crystal
- Narrated by: Billy Crystal
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Billy Crystal is 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life.
-
-
Disarmingly Honest
- By David Shear on 09-12-13
By: Billy Crystal
-
Being Henry
- The Fonz . . . and Beyond
- By: Henry Winkler
- Narrated by: Henry Winkler
- Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Henry Winkler, launched into prominence as “The Fonz” in the beloved Happy Days, has transcended the role that made him who he is. Brilliant, funny, and widely regarded as the nicest man in Hollywood (though he would be the first to tell you that it’s simply not the case, he’s really just grateful to be here), Henry shares in this achingly vulnerable memoir the disheartening truth of his childhood, the difficulties of a life with severe dyslexia, the pressures of a role that takes on a life of its own, and the path forward once your wildest dream seems behind you.
-
-
Sweet human
- By Lisa Singer on 11-07-23
By: Henry Winkler
-
I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
-
-
Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
What in the World?!
- A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings
- By: Leanne Morgan
- Narrated by: Leanne Morgan
- Length: 6 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For a long time, no one pulling the strings in the comedy world thought that a woman over fifty from rural Tennessee could make it in the industry. But Leanne Morgan has defied the odds, reaching millions with her musings on hormones, low-rise britches, Weight Watchers, and her opposites-attract relationship with her husband, Chuck. In her charming southern accent, Morgan brings listeners inside her quest to find her voice after spending many years trying to figure out what that meant.
-
-
Required for all females & husbands
- By Lindsey Richey on 10-14-24
By: Leanne Morgan
-
Big Dumb Eyes
- Stories from a Simpler Mind
- By: Nate Bargatze
- Narrated by: Nate Bargatze
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nate Bargatze used to be a genius. That is, until the summer after seventh grade when he slipped, fell off a cliff, hit his head on a rock, and “my skull got, like, dented or something.” Before this accident, he dreamed of being “an electric engineer, or a doctor that does brain stuff, or a math teacher who teaches the hardest math on earth.” Afterwards, all he could do was stand-up comedy.* But the “brain stuff” industry’s loss is everyone else’s gain because Nate went on to become one of today’s top-grossing comedians, breaking both attendance and streaming records.
-
-
Nate is the best.
- By Todd on 05-06-25
By: Nate Bargatze
His stories never get old. There is always something new to talk about.
His life story !
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.