This is a story of two men on road trips toward Woodstock, New York in 1986. This is not the Woodstock made famous by a music festival; that was actually near Bethel, 90 km. away. This Woodstock, including nearby towns Bearsville and Saugerties, was the sometime home of Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Todd Rundgren, and Albert Grossman. Also located there is the Big Pink house, which served from 1967 to 1973 as a home and rehearsal space for The Band.
One of these two men, Klokko, is fictional. He is directionless, except that he loves music and Beatrice, his cat. He drives a 1971 Oldsmobile Delta 88. It has an old eight-track tape player (if you’re under the age of 60, Google this), and his tape collection of excellent music is a big part of his life. He especially likes the ones by The Band. He would like to have been a musician, but he never got the opportunity, or perhaps didn’t have the talent.
The other man is Richard Manuel, pianist, sometime drummer, and singer with The Band; one of the highlights of his career was “I Shall Be Released”. He had very serious drug and alcohol problems, was in several serious car accidents, and made several suicide attempts. The last one, in 1986, was successful.
The book alternates chapters between Klokko and Manuel, tracking their progress on the road. Without giving away too much of the plot, I can tell you that their paths do cross, in a very unusual fashion.
The Manuel character doesn’t tell us very much about his songwriting, his experiences playing with Ronnie Hawkins, Bob Dylan, and The Band. Instead, we hear a lot about unhappiness in his life; in particular, his failed marriage, and difficult relationships with his father and son. Klokko also has a lot of unhappiness in his life; the only family member still alive is his father, and he’s violent. Klokko didn’t have any luck with women.
The author, Paul Smart, has been living in Mexico for a while, and he seems to have been influenced by magical realism. This book is well written and interesting.
