"Rock Me On The Water documents the high-octane storybook world of Los Angeles in 1974 with masterful intimacy and fearless cultural analysis. His well-rendered portraits of Jackson Browne, Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell, David Geffen and other luminaries of the time are sublime. This is an extremely kinetic historical document, and a testament to Brownstein's lasting importance as both a fact-driven journalist and elegant prose-stylist. A must read!" — Douglas Brinkley, author of American Moonshot
“Brownstein’s kaleidoscopic account of a historic generational transformation that took place in American culture, American politics, and American life in the crucible of modern Los Angeles during the magical year of 1974. It encapsulates in compelling detail the moment when young people and young ideas were moving in on an older generation, based on the strength of new-found creativity and idealism. It documents the triumphs and failures of that new generation with vividness, humor, and, most of all, deep understanding. Running through every page is the author’s deep love for his adopted home. A beautiful ride through an unforgettable time." — Jon Landau
“One of the sharpest analysts of American politics, Ron Brownstein in Rock Me on the Water offers a fresh, vivid and insightful look at how politics and popular culture intertwined to reshape American life at a moment of profound generational transition — LA in the early 1970s. It's an electric story filled with gripping personalities, compelling backstage histories, and a clear message for the divided America of today: the forces that fear change can win for a time, but in America the future always gets the last word. A lyrical recreation of a magical moment.” — Jake Tapper
“Engrossing. . . . What Brownstein has done is expertly knit the scenes together, giving the reader a plus-one invite to the heady world of Hollywood parties, jam sessions and pitch meetings, as well as a pointed demonstration of how culture can be made and unmade.” — New York Times
“Ron Brownstein has written a truly terrific book! I moved to LA in Jan. 1974 when this story opens but it is about so much more than a city. It is insider scoops of pop culture leading us out of Nixon, as it will lead us out of Trump. I should be working but can’t stop reading.” — John W. Dean, CNN contributor and former Nixon White House Counsel
“My friend and CNN colleague Ron Brownstein has written a terrific book. Rock Me on The Water tells the amazing story of 1974 and how it changed the U.S. If you’re old enough to have lived through 1974, it will bring back memories. If you’re too young, you will learn a lot.” — Wolf Blitzer, anchor of The Situation Room, CNN
"Sweeping cultural history. . . . Enriched by interviews with the period’s luminaries, including Warren Beatty and Linda Ronstadt, this astute and wide-ranging account shows how L.A. led the U.S. into an era when the 1960s counterculture became mainstream." — Publishers Weekly
"An endlessly engaging cultural history that will resonate with anyone alive in 1974." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"Brownstein knits together the threads of history to show that, for the first time in 1974, politics and entertainment were not separate things, that the line between the two was blurred almost to the point of irrelevance. An insightful, expertly written book." — Booklist
“Excellent.” — Politico
“More than just summarizing or reviewing what such films and shows were about, the author dives deep into how they were created, financed, promoted and received. His many interviews with actors, writers, directors and executives of that era lend such renderings veracity and energy.” — Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
“I’m absolutely loving Rock Me on the Water , Ron Brownstein’s riveting new book about L.A., circa ‘74, when the City of Angels was the hub of an extraordinary revolution in film, music, culture and politics. Really a fun read. Highly recommended!!” — David Axelrod, Senior Political Commentator, CNN
“This is a terrific book about a pivot-point in US cultural history, which led to reshaping our political landscape. Ron Brownstein is a dadgum genius. Highly recommend this book.” — Paul Begala, CNN contributor and former counselor to President Clinton
“One of the very best on 1974 — a hinge of cultural history for American TV, movies & music. All in his new book Rock Me on The Water .” — Major Garrett, Chief Washington Correspondent, CBS News
“In his brilliant cultural history, Rock Me on the Water , Brownstein drops enough names to fill the once-massive Los Angeles phone book (remember those?), elicits memorable moments from several entertainment industries, and recalls political machinations across decades.” — Los Angeles Review of Books
“Brownstein paints Los Angeles in 1974 as a kind of patchouli-scented version of Florence during the Renaissance, bursting with creative energy in television, movies and music. From Joni Mitchell to Archie Bunker, a year of cultural ferment is presented here in all its richness.” — New York Times Book Review, Editor’s Choice
“Brownstein, a veteran reporter and now a senior editor at the Atlantic, makes all this cultural history memorable by telling much of his story through profiles of figures like Jack Nicholson, Norman Lear, George Lucas, Ms. Ronstadt and Mr. Browne, and the Eagles’ Don Henley and Glenn Frey.” — Wall Street Journal
“Timely and relevant.” — She Reads
“Convincing. . . . The book truly sparks to life.” — PopMatters
“Brownstein’s chronological retelling of the intersections of art, politics and pop culture in a stormy year in American history is both nostalgic and entertaining.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Engrossing. . . . What Brownstein has done is expertly knit the scenes together, giving the reader a plus-one invite to the heady world of Hollywood parties, jam sessions and pitch meetings, as well as a pointed demonstration of how culture can be made and unmade.
My friend and CNN colleague Ron Brownstein has written a terrific book. Rock Me on The Water tells the amazing story of 1974 and how it changed the U.S. If you’re old enough to have lived through 1974, it will bring back memories. If you’re too young, you will learn a lot.
Ron Brownstein has written a truly terrific book! I moved to LA in Jan. 1974 when this story opens but it is about so much more than a city. It is insider scoops of pop culture leading us out of Nixon, as it will lead us out of Trump. I should be working but can’t stop reading.
Excellent.
"Brownstein knits together the threads of history to show that, for the first time in 1974, politics and entertainment were not separate things, that the line between the two was blurred almost to the point of irrelevance. An insightful, expertly written book."
"Rock Me On The Water documents the high-octane storybook world of Los Angeles in 1974 with masterful intimacy and fearless cultural analysis. His well-rendered portraits of Jackson Browne, Linda Rondstadt, Joni Mitchell, David Geffen and other luminaries of the time are sublime. This is an extremely kinetic historical document, and a testament to Brownstein's lasting importance as both a fact-driven journalist and elegant prose-stylist. A must read!"
One of the sharpest analysts of American politics, Ron Brownstein in Rock Me on the Water offers a fresh, vivid and insightful look at how politics and popular culture intertwined to reshape American life at a moment of profound generational transition — LA in the early 1970s. It's an electric story filled with gripping personalities, compelling backstage histories, and a clear message for the divided America of today: the forces that fear change can win for a time, but in America the future always gets the last word. A lyrical recreation of a magical moment.
Brownstein’s kaleidoscopic account of a historic generational transformation that took place in American culture, American politics, and American life in the crucible of modern Los Angeles during the magical year of 1974. It encapsulates in compelling detail the moment when young people and young ideas were moving in on an older generation, based on the strength of new-found creativity and idealism. It documents the triumphs and failures of that new generation with vividness, humor, and, most of all, deep understanding. Running through every page is the author’s deep love for his adopted home. A beautiful ride through an unforgettable time."
Convincing. . . . The book truly sparks to life.
I’m absolutely loving Rock Me on the Water , Ron Brownstein’s riveting new book about L.A., circa ‘74, when the City of Angels was the hub of an extraordinary revolution in film, music, culture and politics. Really a fun read. Highly recommended!!
Brownstein paints Los Angeles in 1974 as a kind of patchouli-scented version of Florence during the Renaissance, bursting with creative energy in television, movies and music. From Joni Mitchell to Archie Bunker, a year of cultural ferment is presented here in all its richness.
New York Times Book Review
Brownstein’s chronological retelling of the intersections of art, politics and pop culture in a stormy year in American history is both nostalgic and entertaining.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
One of the very best on 1974 — a hinge of cultural history for American TV, movies & music. All in his new book Rock Me on The Water .
More than just summarizing or reviewing what such films and shows were about, the author dives deep into how they were created, financed, promoted and received. His many interviews with actors, writers, directors and executives of that era lend such renderings veracity and energy.
Timely and relevant.”
This is a terrific book about a pivot-point in US cultural history, which led to reshaping our political landscape. Ron Brownstein is a dadgum genius. Highly recommend this book.
In his brilliant cultural history, Rock Me on the Water , Brownstein drops enough names to fill the once-massive Los Angeles phone book (remember those?), elicits memorable moments from several entertainment industries, and recalls political machinations across decades.
Los Angeles Review of Books
Brownstein, a veteran reporter and now a senior editor at the Atlantic, makes all this cultural history memorable by telling much of his story through profiles of figures like Jack Nicholson, Norman Lear, George Lucas, Ms. Ronstadt and Mr. Browne, and the Eagles’ Don Henley and Glenn Frey.
"Brownstein knits together the threads of history to show that, for the first time in 1974, politics and entertainment were not separate things, that the line between the two was blurred almost to the point of irrelevance. An insightful, expertly written book."
11/19/2021
Brownstein (The Power and the Glitter ) attempts to break down the year 1974 into transformative monthly moments in movies, television, music, and politics in Los Angeles. He offers Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty as examples of the dismantling of the Hollywood establishment and showcases the evolution of television through CBS's lineup of All in the Family and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, revolutionary in their connection of plot lines to contemporary life, as well as M*A*S*H, VERDICT Brownstein spends much more time on the years before 1974 than actual events occurring that year, and much of the content is repetitive, but there are interesting backstories that fans of television history will enjoy.—Lisa Henry, Kirkwood P.L., MO
★ 2020-12-22Atlantic senior editor Brownstein recounts the annus mirabilis that produced some of the most memorable songs, films, and TV shows in pop-culture history.
In a book that neatly brackets William McKeen’s Everybody Had an Ocean (2017), Brownstein conjures up the Los Angeles of 1974. It was a time of endless possibility, marked by countless highlights: Chinatown , Linda Ronstadt’s album Heart Like a Wheel , the completion of the first draft of the screenplay that would give birth to the Star Wars franchise, and the political rise of former seminarian Jerry Brown. In TV, Norman Lear had cornered the market on socially conscious, sometimes controversial comedy, as when the lead character of Maude got pregnant at age 47 and got an abortion. “Though the city was not yet the liberal political bastion it would grow into,” writes the author, “Los Angeles emerged as the capital of cultural opposition to Nixon.” Some of this opposition was seemingly innocent: The Mary Tyler Moore Show was funny, but it advanced the thesis that women could work, live single lives, and be happy while Jackson Browne proved himself a pioneer of painful self-introspection. But that innocence is illusory. As Brownstein writes, 1974 also saw a tidal wave of cocaine wash over LA, the favorite party appetizer of the film set, the music crowd, and celebrities alike. Brownstein also takes in a wide swath of the world outside LA, from the denouement of the Patty Hearst kidnapping to the emergence of Tom Hayden and Jane Fonda as a political power couple. There’s some nice dish, too, as when Carroll O’Connor demanded artistic control of All in the Family because the Jewish writers wouldn’t understand the mind of a working-class Christian; and shrewd cultural analysis, as when Brownstein chronicles the transition by Browne and his contemporaries “from celebrating the freedom that revolution unlocked to tabulating its cost in impermanence and instability.”
An endlessly engaging cultural history that will resonate with anyone alive in 1974.
