The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto

Music confirms that Frankie and Aurora were meant to be together, “A symphony in itself” (260). The main loves in Frankie’s life are music and Aurora, and he spends much of his life in the pursuit of both. 

Music describes Frankie and Aurora’s first moments in love together in 1955 as “Allegro. Quickly. Lively” (263). The couple move into a one-bedroom apartment in New Orleans, Louisiana. They sleep separately.

Frankie has an encounter with Richard Penniman, later known as Little Richard, and talks him into recording “Tutti Frutti.” Frankie and Aurora love their life, and when he proposes she says yes. 

Again in 1969, Frankie is still wandering around Woodstock, on drugs, and lost, when some little kids ask if they can play his guitar. He says no, they’re too young, but then he presumably remembers back to when he was little. Nevertheless, he doesn’t let the kids play his guitar and keeps walking. 

In 1956, Frankie grows increasingly popular, and at first, Aurora is happy to accompany him to his concerts and studio recordings. One night, Frankie tells Aurora about his magical strings. She remembers when they were children and he used his guitar strings to make flowers for the deceased men. She says, “You did something for strangers. A kindness for six strangers. Maybe it’s coming back to you” (277). 

By 1957, Music notes that “Frankie and Aurora increasingly saw the same thing differently” (278). When Frankie comes home one day and tells Aurora that they’re moving to California for his music career, it turns into a big argument because she’s happy with their simple life in New Orleans. 

In California 1958, Leonard, Frankie’s agent, doesn’t want him to play guitar anymore; instead, he wants him to focus on his voice and dancing because it’s more marketable. Aurora is upset because she loves Frankie’s guitar playing. They argue, and she admits that she misses New Orleans. She asks Frankie to play her a song. He does. He’ll be going on tour soon but promises to call her. Unbeknownst to Frankie, Aurora doesn’t plan to stay.

Frankie finally finds his way to the Woodstock stage. He keeps repeating “Aurora…baby…breakfast” (286) to himself like a mantra. 

Music remembers Francisco Táregga’s popularity in his hometown of Villareal, Spain, and how the townspeople would carry his “bust through the streets in a religious procession” (287), and he points out that musicians today are treated like deities as well.

Aurora leaves Frankie after he goes on tour. He becomes famous and drinks to forget Aurora. Delores Ray, a popular actress, shows interest in Frankie. Leonard talks Frankie into dating, and eventually marrying, Delores to boost his waning fame. Leonard’s plan succeeds, and Frankie is once again in the headlines. Frankie is angered by how Leonard controls him.

Roger remembers how he introduced Frankie to the Beatles at a party. Frankie gets along with Paul and Ringo, but John makes a joke about his hair, and Frankie leaves shortly after. Soon after this incident, Frankie quits the movie Leonard was forcing him to make, and he fires Leonard. The last time Roger saw Frankie, he was playing in a bar band, and his wife was pregnant. 

After firing Leonard, Frankie leaves Delores and cuts his hair. “Like Samson pulling the pillars down around him, Frankie crumbled all the things he’d become attached to in an effort to be free of them.” (302). 

One day in 1968, Aurora shows up at Frankie’s door and asks if he’s done with Delores. When he says yes, she asks if they can now get married, “the real way” (304). He says yes. She says that he must stop drinking and doing drugs, and he agrees. After a month of seeing each other, she becomes pregnant.

At Woodstock, the stage is empty while bands are switching acts, so Frankie goes on the stage. He plugs his guitar into the amp and thinks about what happened with Aurora. Many weeks ago, Frankie had broken his promise to Aurora; he was feeling sorry for himself and stayed out all night drinking with an old friend, Roger McGuinn. He came home, expecting Aurora to yell at him, but she was asleep. When she awoke with him beside her, she assumed he’d been in bed the whole night, and she said, “I’m hungry. If you love me, you’ll make me breakfast” (309). He was relieved that he hadn’t been caught and vowed never to do that again, but then he fell asleep. Aurora left to get eggs, and on her way, she was mugged and kicked in the stomach; she lost the baby, and he wasn’t there until it was too late.

After they lost the baby, Frankie drank to cope. He doesn’t face Aurora. On the stage, his emotions pour from his guitar, and nobody stops him because it’s too amazing. When he’s done playing, he remembers “El Maestro’s words (‘Stupid boy! God gives you nothing!’)” (314). He takes a broken bottle and stabs the hand he plays guitar with.