In this book journalist and editor Ronald Brownstein argues that 1974 was the height of LA’s cultural influence on the country at large. While this may be true I think the structure of the book gets in the way of his thesis, and isn’t the best framework to share his stories and insights on television, movies, music and politics. Despite that, I really enjoyed the book.

My main problem is the book’s structure. This is the second nonfiction book I’ve read in the last year that uses a single year’s calendar months as chapters. Based on that small sample size I don’t think it’s an approach that works very well. Brownstein has four different threads he’s trying to follow in this book. And he isn’t trying to stick only to events in 1974. To his credit he’s trying to tell the story of what the 1974 changes in music, movies, television and politics meant, where they came from, and where they were leading. So forcing himself into chapters nominally about the twelve months of 1974 is a difficult challenge for the writer, and for the reader.

Brownstein has cast a pretty wide net with this book. He wants to explain how the 60s crashed into the 70s and changed American culture through these four areas of life. But, the book is pretty siloed. By that I mean that the stories of the four areas each have their own cast of characters, their own histories and their own trajectories through the turning of the culture.

There are a few crossovers. Jane Fonda was active in politics while trying to maintain her career in the movies. Linda Ronstadt scored musical success in 1974 and is also romantically linked with Jerry Brown, who had his successful political run for California’s governor that year.

The one thing that links all these stories is Los Angeles, the place where they all occur. The talent gathered in LA in the 1970s was amazing, and Brownstein captures that notion well. As someone who came of age in the midwest in the 1970s I can tell you that the siren call of California and LA was real. It was where things were happening, and where many of us wanted to be, to experience and take part.

What is so enjoyable about this book are the individual stories Brownstein tells. I didn’t care much for the structure, but the people and events he details were fascinating. For me this book is part nostalgia and part history.

The fact that I listened to the audiobook also helped to make this book enjoyable. If I had tried to read this book I may have been overwhelmed - Brownstein covers A LOT of territory. Listening to it as an audiobook for an hour or so each day helped to break it up into bite sized pieces and, I think, made it more enjoyable.

What it comes down to is that I enjoyed this book probably more than it deserves. If you want to take a dive into early 70s LA history and read some good stories about the talent that brought cultural change to the movies, television, music and politics, and you are willing to put up with the weird structure the stories come in, then grab the audiobook of Rock Me On the Water. I give it Three Stars ⭐⭐⭐. ( )

“Rock Me On the Water” takes as its main conceit the idea that one calendar year changed everything in America in terms of cultural, social and political life, and that those changes occurred largely through the lens of American popular culture which was based primarily in Los Angeles. As a unifying concept, it works quite well, although of course each new offering is situated within its temporal background; i.e., the film “Chinatown” for example gestated for years before being made, and its creators obviously didn’t spring full-grown from the head of pop culture in the year 1974; an artist such as Linda Ronstadt struggled for many years before breaking through commercially with her country-pop-folk-rock amalgam; and a breakthrough television show like “M.A.S.H.” was predicated on both earlier times (the Korean War) and earlier sit-com conventions. Mr. Brownstein, known as a senior writer at The Atlantic (to which I have subscribed for decades) doesn’t dwell merely on the surface of these matters; he spends a good deal of time discussing the political realm of the early 1970s (in particular, Watergate and the rise of Jerry Brown, once and future Governor of California) and also makes pointed note of the fact that the vast majority of people in positions of power who could influence pop culture were older white men (and even after the younger generation began to break through to those higher echelon jobs, they were almost exclusively *younger* white men). I’m not entirely sure who the intended audience is here, whether young people to whom this would all be ancient history or older folks who might want to reminisce about their youth. I myself was born in November of 1958, hence was 15 for much of the year under discussion in this book; for me, reading about that time sparked significant memories (seeing Jackson Browne and Linda Ronstadt in concert in Berkeley, attending rallies for Jerry Brown, and of course watching all those television shows), which was rather more bitter than sweet, really. If you’re interested in that particular moment in American culture, this is an excellent read (and fully footnoted, with an extremely impressive array of author-conducted interviews with many of the main characters), but I’m not sure how much it will resonate with younger people who no doubt will spend much time thinking, “who?” in response to these stories. ( )

I found this book very interesting, probably because 1974 was my senior year of high school and I remember all the movies, bands and TV shows. I attended a few of the mega concerts described in the book, and my grandmother always felt sorry for Archie Bunker!

I think the thread that the author uses to tie the various elements of the industries together is a bit tenuous, but it makes sense in trying to construct a book about this time.

I don't know if this will be of much interest to anyone under the age of 50, unless they are into cultural history. My daughter was a big Eagles fan, so it will be interesting to get her take on this when (and if ) she reads it. ( )

At times it is redundant. But a good quick read.

Good book about an interesting time. This was the music I heard on AM as a kid. The moment in time in LA must have been great to live through. Left out a number of LA bands of the time including Steely Dan, Also no Star Trek references or In the Heat of the Night or Julia, all mid-late 1960's radio, movies, and TV influenced by the culturally dynamic times. I enjoyed the way he wrapped it up. Much less interested in Jerry Brown but he was part of the times. ( )