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Losing Eldorado: Searching for the Soul of America
A Road Trip, an Odyssey and an Introduction to the Music of America
It is July 4th 2002, two musical British brothers have just touched down in the United States. Mythologised in popular song it is the birthplace of the blues, jazz, soul and rock ’n’ roll. In search of their own version of El Dorado, instead of the promise of ubiquitous gold, the prize they seek is great music. The brothers have hatched a plan on how to achieve this, they are going to motor from New England to New Orleans, visiting the great music towns and venues that have shaped America. There is one problem though, they need a car. It has to be a special vehicle, one that taps into the rich cultural heritage they seek. Enter their saviour, ‘Rufus’, a used ’82 Cadillac Eldorado, the last in a long lineage, and the dream car of a generation. The brothers have very little money, know nothing about car mechanics and have no fixed address in the USA. Can they secure the car and where will the road lead them? For two months they live, breathe, sweat and imbibe the complex cocktail of American musical heritage… Where will the soul of America be found? On the open road? At Al Green’s Gospel Church? At the gates of Graceland? Or in a Downtown Chicago nightclub? Or is the El Dorado they seek lost already?
Losing Eldorado - Searching for the Soul of America is the remarkable new book that tells the true story of this epic road trip.
In a very readable form the book represents a synthesis of musicology, sociology, urban development, entertainment industry commentary, philosophy, travelogue and a sensitive, and often funny, portrait of two brothers coming of age, at the time of the analog to digital transition, on the open roads of the U.S.A.
It is July 4th 2002, two musical British brothers have just touched down in the United States. Mythologised in popular song it is the birthplace of the blues, jazz, soul and rock ’n’ roll. In search of their own version of El Dorado, instead of the promise of ubiquitous gold, the prize they seek is great music. The brothers have hatched a plan on how to achieve this, they are going to motor from New England to New Orleans, visiting the great music towns and venues that have shaped America. There is one problem though, they need a car. It has to be a special vehicle, one that taps into the rich cultural heritage they seek. Enter their saviour, ‘Rufus’, a used ’82 Cadillac Eldorado, the last in a long lineage, and the dream car of a generation. The brothers have very little money, know nothing about car mechanics and have no fixed address in the USA. Can they secure the car and where will the road lead them? For two months they live, breathe, sweat and imbibe the complex cocktail of American musical heritage… Where will the soul of America be found? On the open road? At Al Green’s Gospel Church? At the gates of Graceland? Or in a Downtown Chicago nightclub? Or is the El Dorado they seek lost already?
Losing Eldorado - Searching for the Soul of America is the remarkable new book that tells the true story of this epic road trip.
In a very readable form the book represents a synthesis of musicology, sociology, urban development, entertainment industry commentary, philosophy, travelogue and a sensitive, and often funny, portrait of two brothers coming of age, at the time of the analog to digital transition, on the open roads of the U.S.A.
372 pages, Paperback
Published March 22, 2023
About the author
Mark T. Goddard
1 bookMark is a writer, artist/designer, and musician from England. He studied architecture at Bartlett UCL and Royal College of Art, first working in design before pursuing a career in the entertainment industry.
In 2009 Mark formed electro act Legion of Many with his brother Jeremy. They appeared live on national TV, played multiple festivals, their debut single made the UK Charts and they became nightclub stars on both sides of the Atlantic.
The band's story was one of an incandescent comet, burning intensely brightly before fading quickly into the ether...
Until 2020 Mark worked as a music publisher & brand consultant. An intrepid adventurer he has travelled around the world, photographing his adventures. A frequent visitor to the US, Mark has been documenting his trips there for more than 20 years, including crossing the desert in a Ford Mustang in 2021.
Mark and Jeremy still perform together, with their heavy blues act The Brothers Goddard. ‘Losing Eldorado’ is Mark’s first book.
In 2009 Mark formed electro act Legion of Many with his brother Jeremy. They appeared live on national TV, played multiple festivals, their debut single made the UK Charts and they became nightclub stars on both sides of the Atlantic.
The band's story was one of an incandescent comet, burning intensely brightly before fading quickly into the ether...
Until 2020 Mark worked as a music publisher & brand consultant. An intrepid adventurer he has travelled around the world, photographing his adventures. A frequent visitor to the US, Mark has been documenting his trips there for more than 20 years, including crossing the desert in a Ford Mustang in 2021.
Mark and Jeremy still perform together, with their heavy blues act The Brothers Goddard. ‘Losing Eldorado’ is Mark’s first book.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 29, 2023
If there is such a thing, these two brothers are the epitome of what a road trip is about, I am really in awe of their experience travelling America in their Cadillac named Rufus!
Brothers, Mark and Jeremy are British musicians. Their on this remarkable journey to learn more about American music (soul of music/America), and their performances on stage go surprisingly quite well.
They hear different rhythms and sounds on the radio from driving through each state. And their learning a fascinating culture some good and bad but an experience they'll never forget. This book is filled with great content about musicians from the 70s right through to the 00s. There's history I never knew about, I want to know more about Elvis, and thanks to the references/footnotes through the book, I will explore more on this. The appendix at the back has a long list of songs from the book (adding to my playlist), aswell the photos and where they were taken. The brothers encountered some comical situations, which I'm sure they can laugh about now. It's a well-informed anecdote. I seriously encourage you to read. If you love music and adventure, you must read this next!
Brothers, Mark and Jeremy are British musicians. Their on this remarkable journey to learn more about American music (soul of music/America), and their performances on stage go surprisingly quite well.
They hear different rhythms and sounds on the radio from driving through each state. And their learning a fascinating culture some good and bad but an experience they'll never forget. This book is filled with great content about musicians from the 70s right through to the 00s. There's history I never knew about, I want to know more about Elvis, and thanks to the references/footnotes through the book, I will explore more on this. The appendix at the back has a long list of songs from the book (adding to my playlist), aswell the photos and where they were taken. The brothers encountered some comical situations, which I'm sure they can laugh about now. It's a well-informed anecdote. I seriously encourage you to read. If you love music and adventure, you must read this next!
October 26, 2023
Losing El Dorado is a classic coming-of-age story – two young men embarking on a road trip across America in 2002, on a quest to find all the late night bars, speakeasies, and available women as they search for the soul of the American music – all written from their wiser perspective some twenty years later. The heroes are two brothers, Mark and Jeremy Goddard, who both share a love for American culture and its great music tradition and set out on a pilgrimage to the places where it all started – Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans and Chicago. Accompanying the reader is an elder Mark, writing with a light-hearted but mature voice from 2022, who delights at describing all the wrong-footed adventures of his earlier self as they navigate through America without smartphones or satnav, and gleefully recounts their struggles with the strange customs and sticky environment of the Deep South. Think of it as ‘Three Men in a Boat’ meets ‘The Blues Brothers.’
The book starts with them arriving in Boston and choosing their vehicle, and damn did they choose the perfect one – a 1982 Cadillac Eldarado – which they affectionately nickname ‘Rufus’. Sure it didn’t have air conditioning, something they’d come to regret when by the time they reach Florida, but this oversight was easily made up by its class aura. What better way to search for America’s soul than in a 5-metre long, two-door gas guzzler? From Boston, the brothers make their way into the heartland of American music – first to the country-music capital Nashville, then along the Blues Highway to the home of the King in Memphis, and on to the Latin Quarter in New Orleans, before heading west to Austin and north to Chicago, where they chart the rise of blues and RnB powerhouse, Chess Records, and the dramatic fall of Disco and birth of Chicago’s ubiquitous contribution to dance music – House.
Each genre is expertly dissected covering their musical history – how each was born and came to make such a big impact on 20th Century America, the cultural exports to the UK and other parts of the world, the big stars and the notorious hucksters – all told by Mark with passion and knowledge from nearly two decades in the music industry. These histories were easily the best parts of the book for me, terrifically well-researched and presented in an easy writing style, blending the personal experience of the brothers in 2002 along with their knowledge and experience from later years, giving the reader a comprehensive picture of how the strands grew and faded, their early influences and eventual offshoots. It is worth keeping a highlighter nearby and loading up Spotify after each chapter, it was a lot of fun searching for the lesser-known artists and listening to their music for the first time, and it really adds to the reading experience.
From Chicago the journey winds down as they head east towards New York and their eventual flight back to the UK. Whereas the early parts of the book are about excitement and adventure, as the road trip approaches its inevitable end the emotions gently change with it, reflecting on how America has changed since they wrote the book – the Middle East wars of post-9/11 America, the Great Recession, de-industrialisation, Donald Trump entering the White House – all of which had a direct impact on the cities and music that the brothers experienced in 2002. Perhaps even more so, how the emergence of Spotify has led to the homogenisation of Western musical culture, as pop music becomes increasingly bland and ossified, something that many commentators have noticed in recent years. This part of the book is in many ways a tribute to pre-internet America – a country united in the trauma of 9/11, where party politics hadn’t come to dominate almost all walks of life, where 1980s cars were still pervasive, and where each city had a rich cultural tradition and musical style of its own. None of these has disappeared entirely, but they have come under increasing threat over the last two decades, and I enjoyed the nostalgic trip to a place and time that I remember well.
Fantastic book, a must read for any fans of American culture and music, and strongly recommended for anyone looking for a funny story about two young Englishmen finding their way across the States.
The book starts with them arriving in Boston and choosing their vehicle, and damn did they choose the perfect one – a 1982 Cadillac Eldarado – which they affectionately nickname ‘Rufus’. Sure it didn’t have air conditioning, something they’d come to regret when by the time they reach Florida, but this oversight was easily made up by its class aura. What better way to search for America’s soul than in a 5-metre long, two-door gas guzzler? From Boston, the brothers make their way into the heartland of American music – first to the country-music capital Nashville, then along the Blues Highway to the home of the King in Memphis, and on to the Latin Quarter in New Orleans, before heading west to Austin and north to Chicago, where they chart the rise of blues and RnB powerhouse, Chess Records, and the dramatic fall of Disco and birth of Chicago’s ubiquitous contribution to dance music – House.
Each genre is expertly dissected covering their musical history – how each was born and came to make such a big impact on 20th Century America, the cultural exports to the UK and other parts of the world, the big stars and the notorious hucksters – all told by Mark with passion and knowledge from nearly two decades in the music industry. These histories were easily the best parts of the book for me, terrifically well-researched and presented in an easy writing style, blending the personal experience of the brothers in 2002 along with their knowledge and experience from later years, giving the reader a comprehensive picture of how the strands grew and faded, their early influences and eventual offshoots. It is worth keeping a highlighter nearby and loading up Spotify after each chapter, it was a lot of fun searching for the lesser-known artists and listening to their music for the first time, and it really adds to the reading experience.
From Chicago the journey winds down as they head east towards New York and their eventual flight back to the UK. Whereas the early parts of the book are about excitement and adventure, as the road trip approaches its inevitable end the emotions gently change with it, reflecting on how America has changed since they wrote the book – the Middle East wars of post-9/11 America, the Great Recession, de-industrialisation, Donald Trump entering the White House – all of which had a direct impact on the cities and music that the brothers experienced in 2002. Perhaps even more so, how the emergence of Spotify has led to the homogenisation of Western musical culture, as pop music becomes increasingly bland and ossified, something that many commentators have noticed in recent years. This part of the book is in many ways a tribute to pre-internet America – a country united in the trauma of 9/11, where party politics hadn’t come to dominate almost all walks of life, where 1980s cars were still pervasive, and where each city had a rich cultural tradition and musical style of its own. None of these has disappeared entirely, but they have come under increasing threat over the last two decades, and I enjoyed the nostalgic trip to a place and time that I remember well.
Fantastic book, a must read for any fans of American culture and music, and strongly recommended for anyone looking for a funny story about two young Englishmen finding their way across the States.
September 27, 2024
I absolutely loved reading this book! The story of the two brothers on their road trip across America in search of experiences with the phenomenal music this country has produced was really fun, at times it had me laughing out loud with the capers! The authors commentary on so many different subjects relating to America not just music were fascinating. I learned a lot reading this book and was gripped by it throughout. It's lighthearted but has meaning and depth. It was almost like reading historically accurate fiction with intrigued and plots going on. The author clearly did a lot of research as well as animating his and his brothers fantastic trip in a very colourful way. It's exceptionally well written and I look forward to the next offering from this author. Highly recommended!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews