That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound
Dylan, Nashville, and the Making of Blonde on Blonde
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Narrated by:
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Graham Halstead
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By:
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Daryl Sanders
About this listen
That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound is the definitive treatment of Bob Dylan's magnum opus, Blonde on Blonde, not only providing the most extensive account of the sessions that produced the trailblazing album but also setting the record straight on much of the misinformation that has surrounded the story of how the masterpiece came to be made. Including many new details and eyewitness accounts, as well as keen insight into the Nashville cats who helped Dylan reach rare artistic heights, it explores the lasting impact of rock's first double album.
Based on exhaustive research and in-depth interviews with the producer, the session musicians, studio personnel, management personnel, and others, Daryl Sanders chronicles the road that took Dylan from New York to Nashville in search of "that thin, wild mercury sound." As Dylan told Playboy in 1978, the closest he ever came to capturing that sound was during the Blonde on Blonde sessions, where the voice of a generation was backed by musicians of the highest order.
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- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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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 25 years, Alan Paul has covered the Allman Brothers Band, conducting hundreds of interviews, riding the buses with them, attending rehearsals and countless shows.
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From a non-fan
- By DK on 09-06-14
By: Alan Paul
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Let’s Go Crazy
- Prince and the Making of Purple Rain
- By: Alan Light
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Purple Rain is a song, an album, and a film - each one a commercial success and cultural milestone. How did this semiautobiographical musical masterpiece that blurred R&B, pop, dance, and rock sounds come to alter the recording landscape and become an enduring touchstone for successive generations of fans?
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A Must-Read For Any PRINCE Fan
- By Bryan K. Chavez on 05-06-16
By: Alan Light
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Thelonious Monk
- The Life and Times of an American Original
- By: Robin DG Kelley
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins
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Thelonious Monk is the critically acclaimed, gripping saga of an artist's struggle to "make it" without compromising his musical vision. It is a story that, like its subject, reflects the tidal ebbs and flows of American history in the 20th century. To his fans, he was the ultimate hipster; to his detractors, he was temperamental, eccentric, taciturn, or childlike. His angular melodies and dissonant harmonies shook the jazz world to its foundations, ushering in the birth of "bebop" and establishing Monk as one of America's greatest composers.
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The definitive bio of Monk
- By ricardo on 12-27-17
By: Robin DG Kelley
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Walk This Way
- Run-DMC, Aerosmith, and the Song That Changed American Music Forever
- By: Geoff Edgers
- Narrated by: Geoff Edgers
- Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins
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Washington Post staff writer Geoff Edgers takes a deep dive into the story behind "Walk This Way", Aerosmith and Run-DMC's legendary, groundbreaking mashup that forever changed music.
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A MUST LISTEN/READ
- By Aron Teo Lee on 05-17-19
By: Geoff Edgers
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Shining Star
- Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Philip Bailey, Keith Zimmerman, Kent Zimmerman
- Narrated by: Philip Bailey
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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With more than 90 million records sold and eight Grammy Awards throughout its 40-year history, Earth, Wind & Fire has staked its claim as one of the most successful, influential, and beloved acts in music history. Now, for the first time, its dynamic lead singer, Philip Bailey, chronicles the group's meteoric rise to stardom and his own professional and spiritual journey. Never before had a musical act crossed multiple styles and genres with a quixotic blend of astrology, universalism, and Egyptology as Earth, Wind & Fire (EWF) did when it exploded into the public's conscience during the 1970s.
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Great book, but needed pro narrator
- By Wayne on 03-23-16
By: Philip Bailey, and others
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Unchained
- The Eddie Van Halen Story
- By: Paul Brannigan
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From the moment their hugely influential 1978 debut landed, Van Halen set a high bar for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, creating an entirely new style of post-'60s hard rock and becoming the quintessential rock band of the 1980s. But the high-flying success was fraught with difficulty, as Eddie struggled with alcohol and drug addiction while simultaneously battling David Lee Roth over the musical direction of the band, eventually taking the band in an entirely new direction with Sammy Hagar and scaling new heights, before that iteration of Van Halen disintegrated.
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Please don't read other audible books
- By Mike on 02-01-22
By: Paul Brannigan
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So Many Roads
- The Life and Times of the Grateful Dead
- By: David Browne
- Narrated by: Sean Runnette
- Length: 15 hrs and 31 mins
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No longer dismissed as relics of the hippie era, a new generation has lionized the Dead for creating a culture that paved the way for social networking, free music swapping, and the uncompromising anticorporate attitude of indie rock. Now, fifty years after the band first began changing rock 'n' roll both sonically and psychically, So Many Roads paints the most vivid portrait yet of the Grateful Dead, one of the most enduring institutions in American music and culture.
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Great first book on the Dead
- By robert on 10-30-15
By: David Browne
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Small Town Talk
- Bob Dylan, The Band, Van Morrison, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Friends in the Wild Years of Woodstock
- By: Barney Hoskyns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
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When musicians in the New York folk scene of the 1960s grew tired of city life, they decided to "get it together in the country". They headed for Woodstock - not to the site of the infamous music festival of 1969 but to the Catskills, to Bearsville, to Woodstock proper. Counterculture revolutionaries like Janis Joplin, Richie Havens, and Paul Butterfield got "back to the land", turning the once sleepy hollow into a funky Shangri-La.
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Captured the era - too many mistakes
- By Frank Canino on 04-17-16
By: Barney Hoskyns
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Sing to Me
- My Story of Making Music, Finding Magic, and Searching for Who's Next
- By: LA Reid
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
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Legendary music producer LA Reid - the man behind artists such as Mariah Carey, Toni Braxton, Kanye West, Rihanna, TLC, Outkast, Pink, Justin Bieber, and Usher - changed the music business forever. Now he tells his story, taking fans on an intimate tour of his life. Sing to Me is a fascinating journey from Reid's small-town R&B roots in Cincinnati, Ohio, and his work as a drummer to his fame as a Grammy Award-winning music producer and his gig as a judge on the hit reality show The X Factor.
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Wow!! What a journey!!!
- By Marty Cohn on 02-06-16
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Relentless
- The Memoir
- By: Yngwie J. Malmsteen
- Narrated by: Yngwie J. Malmsteen, Fred Berman
- Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
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Yngwie Malmsteen's revolutionary guitar style - combining elements of classical music with the speed and volume of heavy metal - made him a staple of the 80s rock scene. Decades later, he's still a legend among guitarists, having sold 11 million albums and influenced generations of rockers since. In Relentless, Malmsteen shares his personal story, from the moment he burst onto the scene seemingly out of nowhere in the early 80s to become a household name in the annals of heavy metal.
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Bloviations
- By David A. Kaplowitz on 12-29-19
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Outlaw
- Waylon, Willie, Kris, and the Renegades of Nashville
- By: Michael Streissguth
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
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Waylon Jennings. Willie Nelson. Kris Kristofferson. Three renegade musicians. Three unexpected stars. Three men who changed Nashville and country music forever. Streissguth's new book brings to life an incredible chapter in musical history and reveals for the first time a surprising outlaw zeitgeist in Nashville. Based on extensive research and probing interviews with key players, what emerges is a fascinating glimpse into three of the most legendary artists of our times and the definitive story of how they changed music in Nashville and everywhere.
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Revealing little-known Details does Captivate!
- By Cody Meyer on 11-20-17
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Keith Richards
- The Unauthorised Biography
- By: Victor Bockris
- Narrated by: Adrian Mulraney
- Length: 20 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1992, Victor Bockris' celebrated biography was the first to recognize Richards' pivotal role in the legend of the Rolling Stones. Now that book on rock's most incredible survivor has been expanded. Here are the true facts behind Richards' battles with his demons: the women, the drugs and the love-hate relationship with Jagger. His struggle with heroin and his status as the rock star most likely to die in the 1970s. His scarcely believable rebirth as a family man in the 1980s. Illuminated with revealing quotes and thoughtful insights into the man behind the band that goes on forever.
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doesn't comapre to LIFE
- By A. Garofalo on 02-20-14
By: Victor Bockris
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What listeners say about That Thin, Wild Mercury Sound
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- W. Norman
- 08-28-23
Please forgive the otherwise excellent narrator!
No matter how many books on and by Dylan you’ve read, you’ll learn important new things here. It’s exhaustively researched and brings to life the 70 hours Bob, the producer, and the musicians spent in the Nashville studio recording his game-changing double-LP.
The text is very well read by the narrator, and can be comfortably taken in at x1.5 speed. This is a book for Dylan fans only. And we all have to find a way of getting over the narrator’s one unfortunate bug. The name of the iconic song and it’s central character is pronounced “Joanna” throughout rather than the way it is spelled and sung, “JoHanna”. You can expect to be jarred by this 100 times or more — breaking the spell whereby we imagine the author speaking his own words (even when we know they are different people). Yes, you have to not obsess over the fact that the narrator seems not to have actually listened to the LP he describes over 9 hrs (and clearly not to be a Dylan fan himself).
But get over this you must, because you are a Dylan fan and you will want to know all the details presented within this book. And apart from this one thing, it really is smartly and pleasingly read. If this little flaw ruins it for you — that’s on you, not him. No doubt he has been told and embarrassed by now, and he will never make such a mistake in the future, I’m equally sure. But you, dear Dylan fan, are cool enough to deal with “Visions of Joanna”. Because you know Bob’s reaction (we’re he to learn of it) would be to laugh not fume.
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- Matt
- 04-25-24
NARRATORS READ THIS!!
Do some research before you read your books. Halstead reads in the story how important the song "Visions of Johanna" is and how much meaning it holds to so many musicians and songwriters. What a great song it is and the effect it had on a generation of people. So, why can't he pronounce it correctly? It's infuriating and hard to get past. It isn't "Visions of Joanna". Have you ever listened to the song? If not then why the f**k are you reading the book about Blonde on Blonde? It should at least be a prerequisite that you listen to the album. You don't have to be a Dylan fan but at least listen to the album and do minimal research. It's an absolutely pathetic reading. The book itself is awesome, if you can find it in text, do so.
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- Bruce Neilson
- 02-13-23
So many mispronounced words
I enjoyed this but, as with some other audio books, the amount of mispronounced words is baffling. Really annoying.
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- Brian Lockman
- 05-13-21
Bad pronunciation a distraction
The book was very enjoyable and insightful, but I had a hard time ignoring the reader's bad pronunciation. It is Roy HALL-ee, not Roy Hay-lee, Richard Man-you-ell, not Richard Man-well, Visions of Johanna, not Joanna, and I believe Ouija board is pronounced wee-jee, not wee-gee (with a hard G). Also, the overall feel of the read was smooth and comfortable, the exact opposite of the feel of the album.
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- Buretto
- 12-12-18
Sometimes I forget how great Blonde on Blonde is
I'll admit like most Dylan fans, that my opinion of a favorite Dylan album changes constantly. Street Legal, sentimentally, as the first album that I ever purchased, Blood on the Tracks for its heartbreaking brilliance, Time Out of Mind, for the amazing resurrection of the master storyteller. Not to mention, periods when I feel nothing other than listening to John Wesley Harding on a loop, or Desire, or Infidels. So, it's easy to forget how genius an album Blonde on Blonde is. It's almost too perfect musically, and historically, so I guess I kind of put it aside thoughtlessly.
This book chronicles the Nashville sessions creating Blonde on Blonde, and it's thoroughly enjoyable. I feared an overly technical account of the times (to be fair, it does go a bit Wikipedia in moments). But digressions into speculation on the origins of the songs are kept reasonably limited. A few references are made to Sara, Edie Sedgwick or Nico, and to whom a particular song is directed. But thankfully, not a lot of time is spent on that, more on the music and the musicians.
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- S. Mullins
- 02-02-19
It was great!
I bought the book before I started using audible. I hadn’t read the book yet, but I found it on here and loved it! Some reviewers didn’t like the narrator, but he was good I thought. I don’t regret this purchase and would listen again!
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- Learning everyday
- 08-20-21
For Any Hardcore Dylan Fan or Blonde on Blonde fan
This book is an intimate study of the recording of one of the greatest rock'n'roll albums of all time. The author does a great job of detailing the recording sessions and the players at each session. It shows how Dylan changed personnel to best facilitate the song. A great book about a great album by a great musician; what could be better!
To show how much I like it, I've listened to it many times. If you're a Dylan fan or Blinde on Blonde fan, this is a fascinating exploration of this amazing album's creation.
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- Jeff Levy
- 12-02-18
Great Book...But the Narrator?
Daryl Sanders' book is amazing. He puts you in the moment, a ringside seat at Dylan's mercurial decisions about personnel, lyrics, rhythm, and venues. But why wasn't he hired to narrate his own book? I've heard him talk--he is informed, engaged, with a voice that's authentic. Who is Graham Halstead? Every time he pronounces Johanna as Jo-Anna it's like fingernails across a blackboard. Dude, have you not listened to this song ONCE??? This is an entire book about Blonde on Blonde and I get the distinct impression that you've never listened to the album, that the cuts have no history for you at all. Please, Audible. Let more authors read their own work.
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- Patrick King
- 06-04-19
Loved it with reservations
I loved thinking again about one of my top five all-time favorite albums and learning about the process Dylan used to bring it off. I do have a few criticisms however. First for Mr. Halstead, Darryl Zan-NOOK? Really? You never heard of Darryl Zanuck? You're about to read a 300 page book on the making of a record album and with few exceptions EVERYONE who is going to buy this is nearly obsessed with this record. Would it be too much to expect you to LISTEN to the record? The name of the song, as Dylan makes VERY clear throughout the performance, is Visions of JoHanna, not Visions of Joanna. Every time you called this song Visions of Joanna, and you did it many many times, it was like fingernails on a chalk board. I don't blame you. I blame Audible for not making your criteria for reading this book more explicit.
For Mr. Sanders, you really think that by using the words 'whispering' and 'muttering' Dylan made Visions of Johanna a 'tribute' to T.S. Eliot? Come on! Also on Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, In the chorus: "My warehouse eyes my Arabian Drums. Should I leave them by your gate, or Sad Eyed Lady, should I wait." The singer's eyes are not like warehouses. In this case the word 'eyes' is a verb. He's considering putting his Arabian drums in his storage unit but he'd rather leave them with his girlfriend and while he's over there he's hoping she'll fix him a meal and let him spend the night. Not so obscure after all.
The history of the musicians tapped to be Dylan's band on these sessions, how the songs were composed and why they were recorded in Nashville and the involvement of Al Cooper and Robbie Robertson on these sessions is fascinating info not available anywhere else as far as I know. The impact of the album on Nashville as well as the rest of the world was something I hadn't previously considered. The transition from producer Tom Wilson to Bob Johnston and Johnston's influence on Dylan and his management to record in Nashville was information about this classic album I never heard before.
If, like me, you've been listening to Dylan's outtake album, Cutting Edge, for months, this book offers a lot of insight on the various takes and who plays what. The two products, That Thin Wild Mercury Sound and Cutting Edge, really should be marketed together. That would be a high-priced CD and book package well worth purchasing in hard copy.
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- Bozobob
- 03-28-19
Some good moments overall
Right now, I'm probably 75% finished with this. Overall, if you're a Dylanphile you'll find some interesting stuff I'm sure. However, the choice of reader is questionable. It is clear that he has probably never heard any of the songs he's discussing. Also, the editing in terms of mispronouncing of names and song titles is very substandard. Two quick examples: the author spends a great deal of time discussing the importance of "Visions Of Johanna" to the album. I agree, but the reader says "Joanna" approximately 1000 times I think. Somebody should have caught that. Also, the author says that "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window" was mistakenly released as the B-side to "Positively 4th Street." That's incorrect - it was released AS "Positively 4th Street." I know because I actually have that record. The B-side was "From A Buick 6." That makes me wonder about other "facts" reported in the book. I've certainly read worse books, but in general, I'm kind of disappointed.
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