ART PEPPER: STRAIGHT LIFE EVERY SUNDAY

About ART PEPPER: STRAIGHT LIFE EVERY SUNDAY

Art Pepper Every Sunday. Laurie reads the book. Straight Life is a critical favorite and a cult classic. Praised for its honesty and poetry in the New Yorker, Time, The Village Voice, etc. and by fans everywhere, It's the story of a complicated man who really lived his life. Adventure, comic upsets, tragic losses, madness, passion, crime and punishment, all remembered and recalled in language as unique and powerful as the soulful jazz solos he improvised. I fell in love with Art's stories as I fell in love with the man. I fancied myself an oral historian and believed Art to be masterful storyteller with a style unlike any I had ever heard, and I became obsessed. I interviewed him for seven years, asking endless questions, researching and verifying details. Writing and rewriting. Straight Life was originally published by Schirmer/Macmillan in 1979. It's now available from Hachette as both paperback and ebook, I'm an audiobook fanatic and have decided that there needs to be an audio version, and since I own the performance rights, I've been recording "episodes" of 10 to 30 minutes for six years. Occasionally I'll include Art's voice and or his music when they seem apropos to the episode. Warning: Straight Life is grossly politically incorrect. Art spoke the language of his class, his race, his gender, and his time, so I'm labeling almost every episode "explicit." If you're triggered by dirty words, racism, sexism, suicide, domestic violence, drugs, alcohol, sex or jazz music. this book isn't for you. As for me, I'm now recording readings once a week—as my voice deteriorates—and will continue until I finish or drop dead. NEW EPISODES WILL BE POSTED EVERY SUNDAY

Publisher

Laurie Pepper

Category

music · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

28 Oct 2025

Latest episode

14 Dec 2025

Latest episodes

10 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   14 Dec 2025

   Straight Life: Episode Fourteen Featuring Lee Young

   Bandleader Lee Young hired seventeen year old Art Pepper to play in his band at the Club Alabam on Central Avenue in Los Angeles. Lee describes young Art, and what the world was like before the war on Central,

2. 

   7 Dec 2025

   Straight Life: Episodes Twelve and Thirteen

   Art describes jamming and performing on Central Avenue in the Club Alabam. American musical history from someone who got to live right in the heart of it.

3. 

   30 Nov 2025

   Straight Life: Episodes Ten & Eleven

   ART QUITS THE COBRAS AND GETS INTO THE MUSIC THING

4. 

   23 Nov 2025

   Straight Life: Episodes Eight & Nine

   Art meets the love of his life (until me, of course). Incidental music is Art's tune, Patricia, performed in Nice in 1980. I'm pretty sure the band is Art, Milcho Leviev, Bob Magnusson, Carl Burnett

5. 

   17 Nov 2025

   Straight Life Episode Seven

   Art describes his early sexual experiences

6. 

   12 Nov 2025

   Straight Life Episodes Five & Six

   Art's "cousin" Johnny talks about Art as a child and as a young man. He gives a fuller picture of Art's adventurous father and difficult mother and has shows a different side of Grandma. I apologize for being a few days late with this episode. I'm just starting this...

7. 

   2 Nov 2025

   Straight Life: Episode Four

   This is a long one, Interviews with Art's stepmother Thelma Pepper, and with Sarah Schecter Bartold, the woman who raised Art's mother, Ida AKA Millie. Thelma talks about Art's grandmother and then about his mother. This is American history, touching and inspiring.

8. 

   31 Oct 2025

   Straight Life: Episode 3

   At 9, Art starts performing in waterfront bars and gets paid. He keeps his father from throttling his grandmother. This episode is "explicit" in that it includes violence, and dirty words. Author's note: This is one of my favorite episodes. Music snippets heard here: Straight Life by Art Pepper: with Smith Dobson, Jim Nichols, Brad Bilhorn. Unreleased Art Pepper Volume VIII, live at the Winery—Widow's Taste/Omnivore Recordings When You're Smiling: with Roger Kellaway, David Williams, Carl Burnett. Unreleased Art Pepper Volume 2, The Last Concert—Widow's Taste. That Crazy Blues by Art Pepper: with Frank Strazzeri, Hersh Hamel, Bill Goodwin—Unreleased Art Pepper Volume 4, The Art History Project—Widow's Taste Listen to more Art Pepper music at http://artpepper.bandcamp.com (http://artpepper.bandcamp.com) And buy Straight Life in paper or kindle on Amazon

9. 

   30 Oct 2025

   Straight Life: Episode 2

   In episode 1 Art described his violent parents and leaving them to live with his grandmother. In episode 2 he talks about his family and begins music lessons. This episode is "explicit" in that it includes violence, and dirty words

10. 

    28 Oct 2025

    Straight Life: Episode One

    "Straight Life" — slang: THE TRUTH This episode is "explicit" in that sex and abortion are mentioned and it includes violence, and dirty words

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Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.