Seven years ago today, Elliot Roberts died on June 21, 2019, at age 76. In addition to co-founding Asylum Records, the hard-nosed music manager was best known for helping shepherd the careers of two folk icons—Neil Young and Joni Mitchell.
He Fiercely Protected Neil Young
An integral part of the emerging Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter scene in the 1960s and 1970s, Roberts also managed Tom Petty, Tracy Chapman, and Bob Dylan. But Young was his primary client. Their professional partnership lasted until the day Elliot Roberts died.
“I couldn’t write all those great f—in’ albums for Neil, or have the pain that he has so he could get those emotions out,” Roberts said in the 2002 Neil Young biography Shakey. “I can protect him, I can showcase him, I can make sure when it’s special, everyone knows.”
In loving memory of Elliot Roberts [Rabinowitz] (Record Executive/Talent Manager; Co-founder of Asylum Records in 1971; Associated Acts: Neil Young, Joni Mitchell among others)
February 25, 1943 – June 21, 2019 RIPpic.twitter.com/TnlroWKiis
— Raylene – Undercover Indie ® (@UndercoverIndy) February 25, 2023
After Roberts’ death, the three-time Grammy winner posted a tribute to his website declaring him in no uncertain terms “the greatest manager of all time.”
“No matter where I was in the world, no matter his other obligations, he was always by the side of the stage as much as he could be,’ Young wrote.
The Life and Legacy of Elliot Roberts
Born Elliot Rabinowitz in New York City’s the Bronx on February 25, 1943, he officially changed his name to Elliot Roberts in 1967.
After dropping out of two colleges, Roberts briefly pursued a career in acting before taking a job with the William Morris Agency. There, he met future business partner and renowned media mogul David Geffen. They co-founded Asylum Records in 1970, signing Tom Waits, John Fogerty, and Bob Dylan.
Joni Mitchell helped establish the two men as major players on the music scene. Roberts approached the luminary singer-songwriter after seeing her perform at the Cafe Au Go Go in Greenwich Village in 1967.
“I went up to her after the show and said, ‘I’m a young manager, and I’d kill to work with you,’” he told Vanity Fair in 2015.
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After securing Mitchell a contract with Reprise Records, the “Both Sides Now” singer introduced herself to fellow Canadian folk staple Neil Young, at the time a member of Buffalo Springfield.
In 1968, after the folk-rock band split, Young asked Roberts to manage his solo career.
Featured image by Gijsbert Hanekroot/Redferns
The post On This Day in 2019, We Said Goodbye to the Man Who Helped Make Neil Young and Joni Mitchell’s Careers appeared first on American Songwriter.
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