Rock Me on the Water: 1974-The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television and Politics

Written by Ronald Brownstein

Narrated by Will Damron

In this exceptional cultural history, Atlantic Senior Editor Ronald Brownstein—“one of America's best political journalists (The Economist)—tells the kaleidoscopic story of one monumental year that marked the city of Los Angeles’ creative peak, a glittering moment when popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become. 

Los Angeles in 1974 exerted more influence over popular culture than any other city in America. Los Angeles that year, in fact, dominated popular culture more than it ever had before, or would again. Working in film, recording, and television studios around Sunset Boulevard, living in Brentwood and Beverly Hills or amid the flickering lights of the Hollywood Hills, a cluster of transformative talents produced an explosion in popular culture which reflected the demographic, social, and cultural realities of a changing America. At a time when Richard Nixon won two presidential elections with a message of backlash against the social changes unleashed by the sixties, popular culture was ahead of politics in predicting what America would become. The early 1970s in Los Angeles was the time and the place where conservatives definitively lost the battle to control popular culture.

Rock Me on the Water traces the confluence of movies, music, television, and politics in Los Angeles month by month through that transformative, magical year. Ronald Brownstein reveals how 1974 represented a confrontation between a massive younger generation intent on change, and a political order rooted in the status quo. Today, we are again witnessing a generational cultural divide. Brownstein shows how the voices resistant to change may win the political battle for a time, but they cannot hold back the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Mar 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063066830

Ronald Brownstein

Ronald Brownstein, a two-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for his coverage of presidential campaigns, is a senior editor at The Atlantic, and a senior political analyst for CNN. He also served as the national political correspondent and national affairs columnist for the Los Angeles Times and covered he White House and national politics for the National Journal. He is the author of six previous books, most recently, The Second Civil War: How Extreme Partisanship Has Paralyzed Washington and Polarized America.

Reviews for Rock Me on the Water

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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.

[jbreedlove_6 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

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 includiong STeely Dn, and no Star Trek or In the Hear of the Night. But I did enjiy the way he wrapped it up. Much less interested in Jerry Brown but he was part of the times.