Small Town Talk

Starred review from February 15, 2016
Historian Hoskyns (Across the Great Divide) offers readers an absorbing glimpse into events that shaped Woodstock, N.Y., into a haven for musicians. He takes the title from a song by Bobby Charles, who arrived from Tennessee, and who recorded with Maria Muldaur and Rock Danko of the Band; their collaboration is just one facet of what Hoskyns calls the “quintessential Woodstock of the early ’70s.” Drawing on interviews with many of the artists, their friends, and the inhabitants of the town, Hoskyns paints a brilliant portrait of the colorful characters that turned this little patch of woods in upstate New York into a hotbed for much of the music that changed America. He chronicles the history of Woodstock from its earliest days as an artist colony in the late 19th century, through its heyday in the late 1960s, and right up to the death of Band drummer Levon Helm in 2012. Along the way, Hoskyns shares the tales of Albert Grossman, who managed Bob Dylan (at the beginning of Dylan’s career) and Janis Joplin, and who inspired the character of the megalomaniac manager Bob Grossman in the movie Inside Llewlyn Davis; the rise and fall of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band; and the infighting among the Band, perhaps the group most associated with the town in popular imagination. In the end, Hoskyns’s stunning book highlights some of the most memorable music in American history.

December 15, 2015
Veteran music writer Hoskyns (Led Zeppelin: The Oral History of the World's Greatest Rock Band, 2012, etc.) peels back the layers of a musical Shangri-La that has plenty of dark corners. Woodstock, New York, has always seemed more a state of mind than an actual place, though an actual place it is--and, as the author writes early on, one well surrounded by a sense of reclusiveness and mystery, as if everyone there followed the Dylan-esque rule, "Don't talk to anybody." Much of Woodstock's rise can be attributed to Dylan and his backup musicians, the ones who would become The Band and record some zeitgeist-shaping tunes at Big Pink. But more can be attributed to the much-despised music manager Albert Grossman (who "wasn't a very nice man," Mary Travers recalls, "but I loved him dearly"), who bought up a considerable chunk of the town with the proceeds of Dylan et al.'s artistry. In any event, as Hoskyns helpfully traces, Woodstock had been an art and music colony for generations. The best parts of this fluent narrative come when the author finds unusual intersections: a very young Patti Smith, for instance, hanging out with Todd Rundgren, himself engineering The Band's most polished studio album, "Stage Fright." The cast of characters is stellar, from Van Morrison, even more hermetic than Dylan, to the poet Ed Sanders, doomed blues rocker Janis Joplin, and hippie entrepreneur Michael Lang, and a 100 names between. There are a few clues (including chronological mismatches: Music from Big Pink is much closer to 50 than 30 years old now) to suggest that Hoskyns has bundled up old pieces and notes, but one can charitably surmise that this just means he's been on the case for a long time. Much of this ground has otherwise been covered, and better, in Greil Marcus' Invisible Republic (1997). Still, fans of 1960s and '70s rock and music history buffs will find this a pleasure.

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January 1, 2016

Hoskyns (editorial director, Rock's Backpages; Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits) relates a fascinating history and behind-the-scenes examination of life in the small town of Woodstock in the Catskills region of New York State. Visitors to the area are reminded not to be confused with the location of the Woodstock Festival of 1969; Yasgur's Farm was over 60 miles away, near Bethel, NY. Bob Dylan and his manager, Albert Grossman, were instrumental in the development of this artist's conclave during the folk scene of the 1960s. It's where Dylan recovered from his famous motorcycle accident and recorded with The Band. Other musicians performed, recorded, or resided in Woodstock, including Peter, Paul, and Mary; Joan Baez; Janis Joplin; Jimi Hendrix; Paul Butterfield; and Todd Rundgren. The era was rife with open marriages, heavy drug use, and death at a young age. VERDICT This title will appeal to those who are looking for a detailed account of the bohemian lifestyle, as well as to fans of Sixties rock. Readers may also enjoy No Direction Home: The Life and Music of Bob Dylan by Robert Shelton and Dylan's Chronicles.--Elizabeth D. Eisen, Appleton P.L., WI

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