Joe & Charlie · Original vs. Remastered
0:35
0:35 sample · 96kbps preview
Before · 1998 cassette
Hiss, hum, dropouts
After · 2025 remaster
Clear, balanced, full-range
The Joe & Charlie Tapes — All 15 Sessions, Remastered
The complete 1998 Joe & Charlie Big Book study — all 15 tapes, remastered from the original cassettes and paired with synced English transcripts. Free in the SoberHub app, with a two-minute preview of every session below.
Listen to a sample
Hear the remastered difference
The original 1998 Joe & Charlie tapes are a fellowship treasure, but decades of tape hiss and background buzz can cause serious listening fatigue. We carefully restored these heritage tracks — press play to hear the transition from archival hiss to our crystal-clear remaster at the 0:17 mark.
All 15 Joe & Charlie tape sessions
Tap any session for a two-minute preview. The time shown is the full session length — 15 tapes, unabridged and free in the SoberHub app.
AA History~2 min preview1h 12m full sessionThe Doctor’s Opinion~2 min preview57m full session1. Bill’s Story~2 min preview1h 01m full session2. There Is a Solution, Spiritual Experience~2 min preview54m full session3. More About Alcoholism~2 min preview34m full session4. We Agnostics~2 min preview38m full session5. How It Works — Steps One and Two~2 min preview54m full session5. How It Works — Step Three~2 min preview7m full session5. How It Works — Step Four~2 min preview2h 43m full session6. Into Action — Step Five~2 min preview15m full session6. Into Action — Steps Six and Seven~2 min preview14m full session6. Into Action — Steps Eight and Nine~2 min preview39m full session6. Into Action — Step Ten~2 min preview9m full session6. Into Action — Step Eleven~2 min preview17m full session7. Working with Others — Step Twelve~2 min preview17m full session
In the car
The Joe & Charlie tapes in CarPlay and Android Auto
The sessions are long and conversational, and they don't require a screen, making a commute a good time to work through the study. SoberHub plugs into CarPlay and Android Auto with the full 15-session tracklist, Now Playing controls, and your place kept between drives.
Hands-free
Play the tapes hands-free with Siri or Google Assistant
Ask for a session by name and it starts playing — no phone in your hand, no menu to scroll. Siri and Google Assistant both work with the SoberHub library.
- “Hey Siri, play Joe and Charlie Step 4 on SoberHub”
- “Hey Siri, resume Joe and Charlie on SoberHub”
- “Hey Google, play How It Works on SoberHub”
- “Hey Google, play Joe and Charlie on SoberHub”
Use the full “on SoberHub” phrase so playback routes to the app. After a few plays, Siri and Google Assistant learn your SoberHub library, and you can leave that part off.
What are the Joe & Charlie tapes?
The Joe & Charlie tapes are audio recordings of the Big Book study workshop led by Joe McQuany of Little Rock, Arkansas and Charlie Parmley of Esther, Missouri. Across 15 sessions they read the text of Alcoholics Anonymous line by line, translate its 1939 language into plain speech, and walk listeners through all twelve steps in order.
The tapes travelled through the fellowship the hard way — cassette to cassette, then burned CDs, then low-bitrate MP3s passed between sponsors and home groups. Most copies circulating today are several generations removed from the source, which is why the audio on so many surviving versions of the Joe and Charlie tapes hisses, hums, and drops out mid-sentence.
When were the Joe & Charlie tapes recorded?
The set most people mean by “the Joe and Charlie tapes” was recorded in 1998, late in the pair’s speaking years. Joe and Charlie had been presenting their Big Book study together since the late 1970s and carried it to workshops in 48 states, so earlier recordings exist and circulate under the same name.
The 1998 sessions are the ones generally treated as definitive: complete, unabridged, and captured with the best equipment they ever had available. Every tape on this page comes from that 1998 set.
Read along with synced transcripts
All 15 tapes come with a synchronized English transcript. The text scrolls with the audio, and you can switch between reading and listening without losing your place — useful when Joe cites a page number you want to find in your own Big Book, or when the room is too loud to follow the audio.
The full transcript is searchable, so you can jump straight to a passage instead of scrubbing through two hours of audio to find it.
Listen free — no ads, no subscription
Every Joe & Charlie tape is free. No subscription, no account, no sign-up, and no advertising anywhere in the app. SoberHub is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the audio stays free permanently.
Joe & Charlie tapes FAQ
- Are the Joe & Charlie tapes free?
- Yes. All 15 Joe & Charlie tapes are free in the SoberHub app — no subscription, no account, and no ads. SoberHub is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
- When were the Joe & Charlie tapes recorded?
- The definitive set was recorded in 1998. Joe McQuany and Charlie Parmley had been giving their Big Book study together since the late 1970s, so earlier recordings circulate under the same name, but the 1998 sessions are the complete, unabridged ones SoberHub remastered.
- Can I download the Joe & Charlie tapes for offline listening?
- Yes. Any session can be downloaded inside the SoberHub app for offline playback, which is useful on flights or where reception is poor. The two-minute audio previews on this page stream directly in your browser.
- How long are the Joe & Charlie tapes?
- There are 15 sessions. The shortest runs about seven minutes and the longest — the Step Four session — runs two hours and 43 minutes, because Joe and Charlie work through the entire inventory process in one sitting.
- What is the difference between the tapes and the worksheets?
- The tapes are the recorded workshop; the worksheets are the printed handouts Joe and Charlie used alongside it. Most people run both together — listen to a session, then fill in the matching worksheet.
- Are these the same Joe & Charlie tapes that are on YouTube?
- Same 1998 workshop, different source quality. Most copies online are generational duplicates with audible tape hiss. SoberHub’s audio is remastered from a cleaner source and adds synced transcripts, session navigation, and offline download.