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Fire and Rain

The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970

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Fire and Rain

By: David Browne
Narrated by: Sean Runnette
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About this listen

January 1970: the Beatles assemble one more time to put the finishing touches on Let It Be; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young are wrapping up Déjà Vu; Simon and Garfunkel are unveiling Bridge Over Troubled Water; James Taylor is an upstart singer-songwriter who's just completed Sweet Baby James. Over the course of the next twelve months, their lives---and the world around them---will change irrevocably.

Fire and Rain tells the story of four iconic albums of 1970 and the lives, times, and constantly intertwining personal ties of the remarkable artists who made them. Acclaimed journalist David Browne sets these stories against an increasingly chaotic backdrop of events that sent the world spinning throughout that tumultuous year: Kent State, the Apollo 13 debacle, ongoing bombings by radical left-wing groups, the diffusion of the antiwar movement, and much more. Featuring candid interviews with more than 100 luminaries, including some of the artists themselves, Browne's vivid narrative tells the incredible story of how---over the course of 12 turbulent months---the '60s effectively ended and the '70s began.

©2011 David Browne (P)2011 Tantor Entertainment & Celebrities History & Criticism Music Celebrity

Critic reviews

"Browne's engrossing account of this fertile but volatile period sets the standard by which comprehensive musical histories should be judged." ( BookPage)
All stars
Most relevant

Would you listen to Fire and Rain again? Why?

No, I've never listened to an Audiobook twice yet and, although very good, this is unlikely to be the first.

What three words best describe Sean Runnette’s voice?

Can't do accents

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Kent scene setting was particularly well presented.

Any additional comments?

I know the reader is American, I'm fine with that, he didn't seem to try to do regional accents when quoting US artists so why did he attempt such a thing when quoting British artists? We all know The Beatles were all Liverpudlian so why did they (and Graham Nash) end up with an Irish accent? It was rather off-putting. Otherwise a very interesting well woven (if there was a section that didn't interest me, it didn't dwell there too long) story. I'm glad I've got a Spotify sub as I was often using it to play the songs and albums talked about.

Were The Beatles really Irish?

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This book is packed full if stories and information about the first year of the new decade after the turbulence of the 1960.s. It's also full of stupid weak excuses for taking drugs and 'chilling out'. I mean, to say they didn't know what drugs would do is jsut silly considering the sixties were riddled with adicts and to say everyone else was doing it is jsut as weak. Still that's what they said. I gave this book the rating I did because I can't stand the style of writing. It's too journalistic for my taste. who cares whe recalled what? If it's the truth that's all that matters not who said what or remembered something or simpl;y 'recalled' as a lot of people did in this book. So I have mixed feeling about this book. The narator can't seem to make up hsi mind whether to attempt the various accents or not. Caught in two minds and doing neither seems to be the thing. However if you want facts then read this if you are not as exacting as I am re style you might even enjoy it more than I did.

smackheads, crackheads, dope fiends and poor excuses for doing as they pleased

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I really enjoyed this book. I was 7 yrs in 1970 and it was probably another year before I really registered what was going on. So I’ve really enjoyed books about what happened the years before. From a US perspective, anything with a Laurel Canyon, Greenwich Village, The Troubadour etc are like catnip to me. How Browne knits this together is a little contrived perhaps, but it works well in providing a framework to an account stuffed full of interesting facts. Nicely presented, this was well worth the time. Stuart

Some more pieces to the jigsaw

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.....being born in the 50's and a teen in the 60's and 70's, we were before computers and cell phones and all the rest. I stand by the thoughts of many of us ....born at the right time, enhancing life with all the modern stuff BUT glad I was born when I was and won't be around for whatever will be! Thanks for the memories....and sharing truths and facts...well researched!

Very interesting and informative

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At first I was disappointed, having expected from the sample that it would be part-memoir, part-history of a single year in rock history. In the end there was no memoir, but the presentation of its selected artists in detail, made me realise that 1970 is not the most covered year; I learned much more about CSNY and James Taylor than I'd known before, even Simon & Garfunkel. Only The Beatles segments taught me nothing new, but I've read so much about them that even here there will much of interest to non-experts.

There was a backdrop of the year's wider events, such as The Weathermen terrorist bombs, pop festivals, space missions, the Kent State shootings.

The negative was the narration. It was so tediously monotonous and lacked any excitement, that it sent me off to sleep more than once. The narrator even unwisely attempted the occasional English - even Liverpool! - accent, which were laughable failures.

Good journalism, boring narration

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