Elliot Roberts
{{Short description|American record executive and music manager (1943–2019)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Elliot Roberts
| image = Elliot Roberts.jpg
| image_size =
| caption = Roberts in 1973
| birth_name = Elliot Rabinowitz
| birth_date = {{birth date|1943|02|25}}
| birth_place = The Bronx, New York City
| death_date = {{death date and age|2019|6|21|1943|02|25}}
| death_place = Los Angeles
| occupation = Record executive
Music manager
| years_active =
| label = Asylum Records
| associated_acts = Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, etc.
| website =
}}
Elliot Roberts (born Elliot Rabinowitz,Tom King, The Operator: David Geffen Builds, Buys, and Sells the New Hollywood, p. 54, Broadway Books (New York 2001). February 25, 1943 – June 21, 2019)The Guardian article: "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2005/oct/16/popandrock.jonimitchell Lady of the Canyon]."{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/obituaries/elliot-roberts-dead.html |title=Elliot Roberts, Manager of Rock Stars, Is Dead at 76 |first=Ben |last=Sisario |date=June 23, 2019 |website=The New York Times |access-date=June 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20190624122433/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/obituaries/elliot-roberts-dead.html |archive-date=June 24, 2019 |url-status=live }} was an American record executive and music manager who co-founded Asylum Records, best known for helping to start and develop the careers of singer-songwriters from the late 1960s and 1970s, including those of Neil Young – whom he managed for over 50 years – and Joni Mitchell.
Biography
He was born and grew up in The Bronx, New York City, to a Jewish family who fled Nazi persecution.{{cite book |last=McDonough |first=Jimmy |date=2003 |title=Shakey: Neil Young's Biography |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yrd20PZoLFYC&pg=PT347 |isbn= 9781400075447|author-link=Jimmy McDonough }}{{cite web |url=https://www.steynonline.com/9493/a-titan-has-fallen |title=A Titan Has Fallen |first=Tal |last=Bachman | author-link=Tal Bachman|date=June 28, 2019 |publisher=SteynOnline |access-date=2020-11-27}} After graduating from high school and dropping out of two colleges, Roberts attempted a career in acting before going to work for the William Morris Agency where he met David Geffen, an agent at the firm. He became the manager of Joni Mitchell after hearing a tape provided by Buffy Sainte-Marie,[https://books.google.com/books?id=I0v0AwAAQBAJ&dq=elliot+rabinowitz+1943&pg=PA33 Daniel Durchholz, Gary Graff, Neil Young: Long May You Run, Voyageur Press, 2012, p.33] and seeing Mitchell perform in New York. They both soon moved to Laurel Canyon in California.{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/la-et-ms-elliot-roberts-obituary-manager-neil-young-20190621-story.html |title=Elliot Roberts, who managed Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, dies at 76|last=Lewis |first=Randy |date=June 21, 2019 |newspaper= Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 23, 2019 }} After the band Buffalo Springfield split up in 1968, Mitchell persuaded him to manage the career of fellow Canadian Neil Young. He later also managed Crosby, Stills and Nash, America, and others.{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/elliot-roberts-neil-young-manager-dead-851390/ |title=Elliot Roberts, Longtime Neil Young Manager, Dead at 76 |last=Browne |first=David |date=June 18, 2019 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=June 23, 2019 }} Roberts formed the Geffen-Roberts Company with Geffen, and helped Geffen to create Asylum Records in 1970, which merged with Elektra Records in 1972 to form Elektra/Asylum Records. After splitting with Geffen, Roberts set up Lookout Management.
Roberts was Joni Mitchell's manager until 1985,[https://jonimitchell.com/news/newsitem.cfm?id=1376 "Elliot Roberts", jonimitchell.com, June 21, 2019]. Retrieved June 23, 2019 and remained Neil Young's manager until his death in 2019. Young called him "the greatest manager of all time", and in his autobiography wrote of him: "Because I tend to avoid the confrontations and delivering bad news, I am not good at doing any of that. Elliot is. He knows how to communicate where I don't. Just as I wake up every day with a new idea, he wakes up every day with a new approach to solving the problems that arise with the projects I am already immersed in. There are a lot of them. This is our pattern." Roberts himself said: "I think I'm tough. Have you ever met a guy in my position who thought he was a pussy? I'm tough, but I'm fair. No, I think I'm way tough, and I don't think I'm fair at all. Fairness comes into the equation sometimes, but when I deal with Neil for Neil, I don't care what's fair — I only care what Neil wants. Not what's fair." Roberts also supported Young's philanthropic and political work, and collaborated with Young creatively on film and video projects, often under his birth name of Elliot Rabinowitz. He launched Vapor Records with Young in 1995.
Roberts also managed Tom Petty, Tracy Chapman, Bob Dylan and The Cars. He was also associated with Jackson Browne, the Eagles, Talking Heads, Devo, Spiritualized, Mazzy Star, Devendra Banhart, The Alarm, and others.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Neil Young|state=collapsed}}
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Category:American music managers
Category:American music industry executives
Category:Musicians from the Bronx