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Scattershot
- Life, Music, Elton and Me
- Narrated by: Bernie Taupin, John Lee
- Length: 15 hrs and 35 mins
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Scattershot
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Summary
"I loved writing, I loved chronicling life and every moment I was cogent, sober, or blitzed, I was forever feeding off my surroundings, making copious notes as ammunition for future compositions. . . . The thing is good, bad or indifferent I never stopped writing, it was as addictive as any drug."
This is the memoir music fans have been waiting for. Half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in popular music, Bernie Taupin is the man who wrote the lyrics for Elton John, who conceived the ideas that spawned countless hits, and sold millions and millions of records. Together, they were a duo, a unit, an immovable object. Their extraordinary, half-century-and-counting creative relationship has been chronicled in biopics (like 2019's Rocketman) and even John's own autobiography, Me. But Taupin, a famously private person, has kept his own account of their adventures close to his chest, until now.
Written with honesty and candour, Scatterhot allows the reader to witness events unfolding from Taupin's singular perspective, sometimes front and center, sometimes from the edge, yet always described vibrantly, with an infectious energy that only a vivid songwriter's prose could offer. From his childhood in the East Midlands of England whose imagination was sparked and forever informed by the distinctly American mythopoetics of country music and cowboys, to the glittering, star-studded fishbowl of '70s and '80s Beverly Hills, Scattershot is simultaneously a Tom Jones-like picaresque journey across a landscape of unforgettable characters, as well as a striking, first-hand account of a creative era like no other and one man's experience at the core of it.
An exciting, multi-decade whirlwind, Scattershot whizzes around the world as we ride shotgun with Bernie on his extraordinary life. We visit New York with him and Elton on the cusp of global fame. We spend time with him in Australia almost in residency at an infamous rock 'n' roll hotel in an endless blizzard of drugs. And we spend late, late night hours with John Lennon, with Bob Marley, and hanging with Frank Sinatra. And beyond the world of popular music, we witness memorable encounters with writers like Graham Greene, painters like Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali, and scores of notable misfits, miscreants, eccentrics, and geniuses, known and unknown. Even if they're not famous in their own right, they are stars on the page, and we discover how they inspired the indelible lyrics to songs such as "Tiny Dancer," "Candle in the Wind," "Bennie and The Jets," and so many more.
Unique and utterly compelling, Scattershot will transport the listener across the decades and around the globe, along the way meeting some of the greatest creative minds of the 20th century, and into the vivid imaginings of one of music's most legendary lyricists.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
Critic reviews
'This is the most glorious of books. I am besotted by the life I never knew he had.' -Elton John
'Orgasmic. Every page of Scattershot is a delight, a joy, a name-dropper fan's delight. Divine. I couldn't put it down.' -Pete Townshend
'In Bernie Taupin's miraculous memoir Scattershot you'll meet legends, cowboys, geniuses, unforgettable faces in the night, shady purveyors of outrageous fortune, warriors of the heart, and most of all, Taupin himself. Hilarious and so emotionally true, Scattershot is like a letter from a cherished friend. You'll want to keep it close, so you can read it again and again.' -Cameron Crowe
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What listeners say about Scattershot
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- S. Rodney
- 23-10-23
Not very enjoyable…
No real themes just one long ramble …some quite funny parts…likes to use five words when one would do!
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Girlie
- 24-09-23
Got bored
For someone who has had such a long and colourful past I was expecting something a little more exciting . For me , the book lacked momentum and I gave up with it
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- D
- 20-09-23
Disappointing
I was really excited when this was released as I love Bernie's lyrics and usually find that the person less in the spotlight has the more interesting and less familiar tale to tell. That's probably the case, but this is quite a hard listen - the author never seems to use a short word when he can lever in five or six long or obscure ones and the story jumps back and forth - I realise that's the point of 'Scattershot' but I'm a simple soul and would have preferred straightforward chronological order. Worse still is the narrator - I have heard interviews with Bernie Taupin and would have been quite happy to hear him talk for a few hours, and I find if a book is read by the author they usually manage to give it more authentic emotions, The narrator's voice had a strange, clipped, quality - a sort of cross between Tony Hancock and Noel Coward in places, and every so often he would throw in a slightly eccentric pronunciation of a common word. I'm persevering to the end, but it's hard going!
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jemplus
- 27-09-23
Could've been a contender...
I was so looking forward to this book and had noted the shared narration which in reality is a 3 minute intro by Bernie and then an awful narration by John Lee which just detracts from the story and makes Bernie sound like a condescending buffoon, its a real turn off. Its so important to get the right narrator to do the story and the author justice and this just doesn't, so, so disappointed.
Sadly I have stopped listening and gone on to another audio book to save my ears from bleeding.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Thistle
- 25-11-23
ok but ..
ok interesting but do we really need that much info about horses and rodeo.. some parts was so boring. but the audio is clear but felt its was a bit rushed as if there was a joke waiting at end of most sentences .Worth a read or listen.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Brian
- 25-09-23
Enjoyable listen
Having read the existing reviews I almost didn’t buy this audiobook.
Obviously, I did buy it in the end and found it to be a well written, interesting insight into Bernie Taupin’s life.
As it says in previous reviews, there is a bit of a confusing timeline to the book and the story may be a bit all over the place, but it didn’t spoil it for me.
Don’t let the poor reviews put you off.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-12-23
Annoying mispronunciation
I really enjoyed the eloquence with which Bernie Taupin writes and I‘ve found it fascinating learning about the diversity of his character and where life has taken him. The only thing that has spoilt the audiobook are the constant mispronunciations of everyday words which niggled me and spoiled an otherwise great autobiography.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Marcus Welby
- 10-11-23
A missed opportunity
I knew reviews weren’t great but went for it anyway. Big Ej fan and hoping to learn more about songs and their journey and this amazing partnership. There are some nuggets in the book whilst you wade through what seems a never ending descriptions of lunches dinners and vacations with other celebs. It almost feels like Bernie is trying to tell us how highly he was regarded by celebs whilst many most of us never saw him.
It’s clearly a guarded account of his life that jumps around. He could have done with some professional writing guidance.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mr. S. W. Pannell
- 05-10-23
Don’t really get the negative reviews
Ok, some people prefer chronological autobiographies, and also the author to have read it. I’m one of them. But this book is well written and presented, interesting throughout. I’m guessing the average Elton John fan just wants to hear about that side and also hasn’t read much or knows words with more than 7 letters in them.
Bernie is a wordsmith! What did you expect?!
He can describe the scene and tell a story.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- PishPash
- 15-10-23
Give it time
it's actually very good, but needs a little time to warm up to. I quite enjoyed most of what was reflected in here, though admittedly found the here and there approach behind the narrative hard to adapt to. Ultimately, once you take a little time to get to know Bernie the books comes over quite well in the end.
I will say though, as much as i like John Lee, he's not a great fit for this particular book. He exaggerates elements of the narrative in ways that feel at bit much sometimes, and just sound too far away from Bernie himself. No issues with his performance, just not the right book for him in my view.
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