The Magic Years: Scenes from a Rock-and-Roll Life

by Jonathan Taplin

"[Jonathan Taplin] was the one who made Mean Streets and The Last Waltz possible, for which I will always be grateful. We had quite a few adventures on both projects, and they’re all chronicled in this memoir of his colorful life in show business." —Martin Scorsese " The Magic Years reads like a Magical Mystery Tour of music, loss, beauty, family, justice, and social upheaval." —Rosanne Cash Jonathan Taplin’s extraordinary journey has put him at the crest of every major cultural wave in the past half he was tour manager for Bob Dylan and the Band in the ’60s, producer of major films in the ’70s, an executive at Merrill Lynch in the ’80s, creator of the Internet’s first video-on-demand service in the ’90s, and a cultural critic and author writing about technology in the new millennium. His is a lifetime marked not only by good timing but by impeccable instincts—from the folk scene to Woodstock, Hollywood’s rebellious film movement, and beyond. Taplin is not just a witness but a lifelong producer, the right-hand man to some of the greatest talents of both pop culture and the underground. With cameos by Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Martin Scorsese, and countless other icons, The Magic Years is both a rock memoir and a work of cultural criticism from a key player who watched a nation turn from idealism to nihilism. Taplin offers a clear-eyed roadmap of how we got here and makes a convincing case for art’s power to deliver us from “passionless detachment” and rekindle our humanism.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Memoir, History

315 pages, Hardcover

First published March 2, 2021

About the author

Jonathan Taplin Bio

Jonathan Taplin’s extraordinary journey has put him at the crest of every major cultural wave in the past half century: he was tour manager for Bob Dylan and the Band in the ’60s, producer of The Concert For Bangladesh and major films in the ’70s for Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders and Gus Van Sant, an executive at Merrill Lynch’s Media Mergers and Acquisition Group in the ’80s, creator of the Internet’s first video-on-demand service in the ’90s, and a cultural critic and author writing about technology in the new millennium. He is the author of Move Fast and Break Things: How Facebook, Google and Amazon Cornered Culture and Undermined Democracy, The Magic Years: Scenes From a Rock and Roll Life and the forthcoming The End of Reality: How 4 Billionaires Are Selling a Fantasy Future of the Metaverse, Mars and Crypto. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Time Magazine, The Huffington Post, The Guardian, Medium, The Washington Monthly and the Wall Street Journal. He is the Director Emeritus of the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California and the Chairman of the Americana Music Foundation.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast easy read. Interesting stories. What made it not a great book for me was all the political stuff. Not what I was looking forward to reading about. It’s supposed to be a book about Rock & Roll, if I wanted to read about politics, protests, and civil unrest, corporate bull, I would have bought a book of that nature. I don't think that half the book was about Rock & Roll.

[Julie]

Juicy glimpses into the worlds of music, film, and tech, but also some philosophical musings about the shifts in our culture since the 60s. Surprisingly quick read with some choice stories that remain with you.

[Jeff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan Taplin produced Mean Streets, The Last Waltz, Under Fire and To Die For. He has produced for Wim Wenders and worked in mergers for Merrill Lynch during a period of Eighties movie business consolidation; today he teaches -- it's difficult for me to tell what -- and writes premonitorily about our Surveillance Capitalism. Call him a 74-year old newly minted cultural critic, and you wouldn't be too far off.

It's possible to read The Magic Years (does that title mean anything?) without much advice for Taplin about what he should do with himself. One stands back to observe the symptom. The framework, from the literary/self-help genre perspective, is "storytelling," or "the journey"; from the perspective of Louis Althusser's critique of capitalism, Taplin's an inveterate interpellator. Something has occurred, Taplin has always to explain; the explanation etiolates the force of the occurrence. We're sixty years out from what may have been Taplin's most forceful act: he was what the entrepreneur Seth Godin would recognize as a Bob Dylan early-adopter. In 1962, as Dylan was swiping from Paul Clayton the melody for "Who's Gonna Buy You Ribbons," which became "Don't Think Twice," Clayton's friend's younger brother Taplin made a pilgrimage to Club Passim having figured out how to get into a Dylan show. Attendance at Newport '65 quickly turned into a gig working for Dylan's manager, Albert Grossman; through college, the prep school scion of Cleveland railroad and coal industry lawyers worked as a tour manager for Grossman acts. He got on particularly well with Robbie Robertson . . . and so it goes.

Through it all . . . an ideology . . . but this is not to confuse you. Observe, rather, the silences: Why did Taplin lose interest in working for Dylan? Was he triaged in late '69, when Dylan broke up with Grossman? What was that about? So close to the Grossmans that Sally helped plan his first wedding, Taplin might report plenty from the switchback in Dylan's biography around Rolling Thunder, but in fact it's a blindspot; a romantic relationship before his second marriage was to the actress Phyllis Major and -- why are we learning of it? In the period of 1972-1973, Taplin seems to have effected a transition from tour managing to fund-raising -- first for Martin Scorsese. But what became of his relationship to the director? Scorsese's blurb alludes to episodes held out of Taplin's account. Through this whole period Taplin insists on his own supernumerary status. He was a "majordormo" talking to other "majordormo"s.

Whether the corruption in the entertainment business occurred before the period of the 1994 Telecommunications Act would appear to be something Taplin, because he was finding his way through this caste system, would bear witness to, but just here the ego muddies up the report. A memoirist's act of self-authorization isn't forged. Rather, Taplin is generationally obstinate in regard to the civil rights struggle that in his account has everything to do with consumption/early adoption. A central chapter presents an image of a group of 25 -30 year olds smoking pot and dancing to a Marvin Gaye record. "Culture eats politics for breakfast" -- one credo this counterculturalist leans on. We know how devolutionary has been our monocultural food industry to our national life -- so, what's to unpack in this remark? When, at Esalen, at the Big Sur musical festival in September 1968, a group of musicians was challenged by Joan Baez's hubby, David Harris, to draw a line as Paul Goodman and others had challenged, the musicians and their supernumeraries were adamant that "the culture led the politics." His pride is evident in this, and in using Dave Hickey on Warhol, Taplin forgiving his own aestheticization of experience in the awakening consumerism in the high civil rights era: "the strange thing about the sixties was not that art was becoming commercialized but that commercial life was becoming so much more artistic."

I get a little embarrassed when cultural heroism calcifies into ideology; the message, you had to have been there. Sixties-centrism won't redeem by any of the woke axes post-colonialists, radical feminists, or LGBTQ activists use to undermine it. Technology is that very tendency of our economic system to design itself in a more creative teleology. You can't stand far enough away from all the immiserated, unfinished situations left by this critique.

[Babs Wheelden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing, fantastically fortuitous, compassionate and insightful collection of adventures, opportunities and serendipitous collaborations for Jon Taplin who is a truly great guy with a witty and observant reflective gift in storytelling. This book takes you back and connects you to today. So much to enjoy, this book is a great read or listen.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best, if not the best, memoir I've read.. and certainly at the top of music related memoirs.
Taplin seemed to live a life of continual motion through the height of music/film/political significance. He recounts this good fortune with great storytelling ease and with an engaging ability to weave experience and insight.

[M. Sarki · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://rogueliterarysociety.com/f/th...

Jonathan Taplin proved to be a gifted writer who experienced the music and entertainment world from a vantage point few of us ever have the opportunity and favor of being immersed into. Exciting details of Taplin’s intimate time spent with rock icons including Bob Dylan, The Band, The Rolling Stones, Jerry Garcia in The Festival Express, Sam Shepard and Joni Mitchell in The Rolling Thunder Review, Eric Clapton, and all the players in the great documentary The Last Waltz make this book a special treat in so many ways. It is also a memoir of a personal life looked at honestly and with solemn grace. As the years in the book progress to the current day, and pages unfortunately begin to dim, the book seques from this simpler and amazing time in our music and civic history into topics and warnings for the future trajectory that lightening developing technology might take us without exhaustive serious and prognostic consideration. Formula is threatening to extinguish our feelings. Power is quickly devolving into being held by only the privileged few.

...Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love...

Of course I was interested in reading the backstory behind my favorite rock icons. Jonathan Taplin turns out to be the perfect choice to glean an insider’s point of view about the sixties and beyond, a time that can perhaps never be equaled again for the sheer genius of its writers, musicians, and civic leaders, but also where our country and world might be headed soon after weathering the horrible storm of the current Trump presidency and pandemic. Serious warnings today persist at levels previously unheard of in my lifetime that so far has spanned sixty-seven years. Please heed Taplin’s words, and proceed accordingly.

[Raymond Parish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Magic Years is a fascinating, meandering read that presents as the memoir. Grounded in the author's insider view of rock n roll and cinema, it is, at different turns, cultural commentary, sociological report, and cautionary tale on technology and the ravages of addiction. A recommended read for folks who, like myself, have a keen interest in the revolution of music, movies, and culture beginning in the 60s.

[Ken Baer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some interesting stories with lots of crap. Should have been about 30 pages

[Mary Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

All readers hope for the book that will answer a felt need they didn’t know was there. For me, this was that book. As a near-contemporary, while interested in the subject and very familiar with the principals and the history (or so I thought), I was completely taken in by a life so wisely, wittily, and compassionately told. Jonathan Taplin has surpassed any simple ambition to create a mere memoir with this richly satisfying account of American culture in those decades of explosive creativity and innovation, beginning with his own youth in the ‘50s and most vibrantly at the heart center of our popular music in the ‘60s and ‘70s, and on to the charmed moment in Hollywood before the advent of the blockbuster and endless sequels. He sets the stage:

“...The story I tell here is about art, democracy, serendipity, and history. It’s about the messiness and chance that are essential to the development of culture, even when aspects of that process age better than others. But the daring messiness of the period from the early sixties to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 contrasts strongly from the nihilistic cultural and political stagnation of the current moment…”

Motivated by what he sees as empty repetition and by recent political turmoil, the author presents his extraordinary life as evidence that it once was very different, original, and a break with all that came before, just as his rejection of the destiny his father envisioned for him in corporate law marked his turn toward what he calls “a rock-and-roll life.” Social justice is a major theme, one Taplin handles eloquently throughout. What it is not is a finger-wagging polemic asserting that today’s popular culture is inferior: rather, a call to independence, to learn from the artists he knew and appreciated not only as innovators but aficionados of the shared cultural past that shaped our world.

It's a question of taste: Taplin’s quiet and modest observations are grounded in a deep appreciation for artists and the process of creation. His taste is impeccable, eclectic, heartfelt. The way of seeing is cinematic; judgements unsparing and not sentimental. For example, Taplin does not see Woodstock as some seminal moment of grace but as a turning point towards commercialization of “Woodstock Nation.” The performances speak for themselves, but the mythology that took hold was and is ultimately destructive to the fragile vision of “peace and love,” as Altamont proved a mere months later. A skilled media power player - he even bested an enraged Harvey Weinstein in a telling anecdote late in the narrative - his commitment to art motivated this work rather than a late in life show-off effort. Hard to fathom how one life could have so many colorful principals and tall tales, but chapter after chapter, year after year, he was there and tells the story straight.

This week in late May, 2021, Bob Dylan turns 80; How to explain what he was then and is now? Superlatives abound, but it’s Taplin’s calm and resonant reflection of the life he lived as the tour manager for Dylan and The Band and in the legendary Big Pink I’ll remember. He finds a way to reveal the true personality, the scene: here is burly Albert Grossman, a legendary, ubiquitous figure in the music business, shown deeply saddened by the loss of favorite client Janis Joplin - there’s a warm and lovely photo of them laughing together. Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson, brothers and rivals. Martin Scorsese at his best and worst, with a wonderful cameo by Fellini. Wim Wenders, an important collaborator, appears as a prophet warning of the destructive power of technology via their 1989 film Until the End of the World: “The little screens become their addiction, and it’s not hard to guess how that’s mirrored in today’s culture. In 1989, however, we could not yet see the other danger of those little screens: social media.” Taplin offers a knowledgeable,astringent view of Facebook and Google’s threat to democracy that is somber and timely.

Memoir is often framed as a cautionary tale, and with good reason. But Taplin wants to teach, not preach. There’s so much pleasure here: a playlist at the conclusion that sums up his narrative; insights about the liberating hedonism that was not without casualties (drugs, relationships, careers - notably, Richard Manuel. The Band’s tumultuous history tells that sad story several times over). First a Bildungsroman; next, a chronicle of remarkable events and indelible personalities, The Magic Years takes stock of the present and offers hope despite the obstacles globalized capitalism present to independence and artistic freedom. Highly recommended.

[LordSlaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd never heard of Jonathan Taplin before reading his captivating book The Magic Years. He's a fascinating person with a fascinating, thought-provoking, moving, thoughtful, informative story to tell. His adventures in the movie and music industries were most interesting to me, but the entire volume was engaging. Philosophical in parts, insightful in many others, The Magic Years is much more that I expected it to be. Throughout the text Taplin mentions a number of movies and books that I want to acquire and watch or read, and many that I already had. It's uncanny how much Taplin has had a hand in media that is of direct personal interest to me. He also includes a playlist of songs in the back of the book, which I've turned into a Spotify playlist for drivetime listening. The Magic Years is a treasure I never expected to unearth. A reminder that it's good to occasionally read a book outside of your normal sphere of interest: it just may turn out to be one of the most interesting things you've ever read.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jonathan Taplin has been at the center of some of the most significant cultural events of the last 60 years - managing the Band, producing the Concert for Bangla Desh, "Mean Streets", "The Last Waltz", turning down an offer to work with the Rolling Stones (but providing the inspiration for the cover art of "Exile on Main Street") and even getting threatened by Harvey Weinstein. His memoir covers all of that, but he loves a good digression and uses his own experiences to voice his concerns over technology, capitalism, the decline of social engagement and much more. You might pick this book up for the marquee names and gossip, but the author's insights into the bigger cultural picture dominate its center.

[Nils · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like warts-and-all entertainment industry memoirs, this is a particularly well written quasi-picaresque account of the pop music industry and Hollywood in its moment of greatest efflorescence — the late 1960s and 1970s — told from the point of view of the music and film producer to Dylan, the Stones, Marty Scorsese, and others… Taplin himself was spared the worst excesses of the time by virtue of being relatively sober, but seems to have enjoyed many of the other lifestyle benefits of participating in the Laurel Canyon scene, albeit from the point of a prep-school-and-Princeton-educated guy. His proper formation shows through in the range of his references, from “the scene” in High Renaissance Florence, to Cezanne, Joyce, and Picasso.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic read from someone who has seemingly had his hand in all aspects of pop culture while remaining behind the scenes. Taplin, while no doubt talented, is one of those people who has been in the the right place at the right time. From his early years to working with Bob Dylan, The Band, and George Harrison to having an instrumental role in saving Disney from corporate raiders, the man has seemingly done it all with plenty of stories in between. It does veer a little from his own memoirs to his current thoughts on politics, but his point of view is worth considering.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interviewed Jonathan Taplin about his memoir in which he meets and befriends Bob Dylan as a teen, soon after goes to work as a road/tour manager for Judy Collins, and then for several years the Band. Tired of music, he moves to Hollywood, meets a film editor named Martin Scorsese and produces "Mean Steets," the movie that put Scorsese on the map. I can go on, but you get the drift: Magic years, magic life....

Here's the interview: https://www.dailynews.com/2021/06/01/...

[Brian O'Leary · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a life Jonathan Taplin has led. He is like the Forrest Gump of pop culture. He has worked with Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Band, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Eric Clapton, Don Henley, Martin Scorsese, Robert DeNiro, Robert Redford, Michael Eisner....the list goes on and on. He has not only worked with them, he has been to their houses, knows their spouses and their habits. Not bad for a guy I have never heard of. On top of all the fascinating stories he tells, he also mixes in a lot of commentary about how music and film impact politics and vice versa.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should have been a wayyyyyy shorter book. No offense to the author, but I'm here for the musician stories, not about you. He wastes twenty pages on himself and his own backstory before finally getting into the actual interesting stories. And then once he does, they meander and are full of fluff and again self centeredness. Worth a skim through but not worth a full read.

[James Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

No one has a story like this…

Favorite passage? Taplin meets Ivan Boesky, no stranger to my family, and realizes everything his soon-to-be ex-wife has scolded him about becoming an investment banker was absolutely correct. Fantastic read.

[Suzanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t recommend it enough. If you were paying attention to the music, culture, and politics from the 1960s to the present, or want to know what it was like back then, read the book. What makes it so good is that he was there, he can write, and he can put it all into perspective.

[hotdogbun · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book, the author had a very interesting life with a lot of great stories. I also enjoyed how he talked about culture, society, and politics in relation to music and the power that it had to inspire, educate, and move people.

[Donna McClure · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredibly entertaining book about music and film. Many interesting first-hand stories about Dylan, the Band, Jagger and many others. More importantly, it provides insights from the culture 60’s and 70’s that we need to pay very close attention to today. Jonathan Taplin is a treasure.

[Kevin J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to follow. A great read.

[Terry Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

His fascinating reflections illuminate our optimistic past. Here is a link to an author interview on this book: https://lithub.com/jonathan-taplin-wh...

[Calvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic Auto-Bio about a remarkably interesting life

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good stories over the course of a remarkable career.

[Jon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jonathan Taplin's breezy memoir covers a lot of rock 'n roll and, indeed, entertainment business history. He was there when Dylan went electric at Newport, and spent years behind the scenes in some of the major events of the "60s and early '70s. I enjoyed his stories, appreciated his access to major figures -- Dylan, the Band -- and kind of marveled at how he ended up in so many pivotal places. Not exactly Forest Gump, but not exactly not, either. Taplin tells the stories directly, without too much emotion. I could have used a little more reflection on how what happened then affects what happens now, but given my long-time interest in many of the figures he writes about, it was a little like reliving some old memories. His forays into tech development and analysis are maybe there most relevant things in the book, and since I agree with him I enjoyed his observations on politics and the shallowness of today's popular culture.