Jim Berkenstadt’s Stories, Lessons & Insights

We recently had the chance to connect with Jim Berkenstadt and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Jim, we’re so happy to have you here with us and we’d love to explore your story and how you think about life and legacy and so much more. So let’s start with a question we often ask: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
I try to start each day by researching and/or writing my current work-in-progress book. If no one is around and I turn off my phone, I can completely lose myself in the subject matter for hours. If not for our dog who gets hungry througout the day, I might never come out of this wonderful creative trance. The feeling is like a natural high that lifts me up for the rest of the day. It is not just that I accomplished a bit more of my book. It is about finding details and narrative that creates a new story people have never known about before. The anticipation of readers joyfully learning something new in their genre really uplifts me.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am know as the Rock And Roll Detective®. A musical Sherlock Holmes. I am an award-winning, bestselling author, who uncovers the lost history and mysteries hidden within decades of popular music. I recently optioned my award-winning bestseller, The Beatle Who Vanished to Ecosse Studios in London, England.

An international authority on Rock And Roll, I’ve served as historical consultant to Martin Scorsese’s HBO Emmy winning film, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, and as historical consultant to the late George Harrison, The Beatles’ Company Apple Corps, Olivia and Dhani Harrison and the Estate of Roy Orbison. I located the long lost b-roll audio completing The Beatles’ new documentary Get Back on Disney+. I have also served as historical consultant on several rock documentaries such as: Eight Days A Week; I Wanna Rock: The 80s Metal Dream, and the forthcoming film, If These Walls Could Rock. My work has appeared on HBO, Hulu, Disney+, Netflix and Paramount+. I appeared as an expert on the Reelz Channel TV series’ Celebrity Legacies and Celebrity Damage Control. And I have served as a consultant to Grammy® Producer Butch Vig (Garbage, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Smashing Pumpkins, Green Day, etc.)

I authored Black Market Beatles: The Story Behind Their Lost Recordings and Classic Rock Albums: Nirvana – Nevermind. My newest Gold Medal, award-winning, Amazon #1 bestseller is called Mysteries in the Music: Case Closed. All four books have been included in The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame Permanent Library and Archives.

Currently, Berkenstadt is working on a documentary about the creation of Nirvana’s Nevermind album in the 1990s. And his next book unravels and solves a mystery about a late 1950s electric guitar recently found in John Lennon’s childhood home loft.

Links to Jim Berkenstadt, the Rock And Roll Detective®:
www.rockandrolldetective.com
www.thebeatlewhovanished.com
www.musicmysterybook.com
TV and Film Credits: www.Imdb.me/jimberkenstadt
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/RockAndRollDetective
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rockandrolldetective/
RNRD YouTube Channel: The Rock And Roll Detective ® – YouTube

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. Who taught you the most about work?
My dad instilled in me a strong work ethic from an early age. At 8, when I asked him to buy me a Beatles album., he suggested that I get a paper route to earn the money. Once I did that and bought the album, it felt very special. I continued at the job and saved my money for other albums and comics. It was a powerful lesson. At 12, I started mowing lawns in the neighborhood, earning even more money. I really enjoyed the feeling of working even though I was still a kid in school. At 14, I was hired by the local grocery store to bag and carry out groceries and to stock shelves. This job taught me how to work with others and learn to provide good service to customers. Every job came with valuable lessons. When I eventually retired as an attorney, I created an entirely new career. I became an author, a guest speaker, an historical consultant to The Beatles company Apple Corps and later consulted on films and TV shows, working on films by Martin Scorsese, Ron Howard and Peter Jackson. Thanks to my dad, I have enjoyed a long life working at different jobs and collaborating with others. I just need to learn to take off some time to stop and smell the roses.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
I think law school was the biggest challenge I ever encountered. The work load was unlike anything I had previously experienced in college. But more than that, I was the only student from Chicago, attending a law school in Southern Illinois. Unfortunately, the teachers really didn’t like Chicago and thus, they transferred their dislike to me as a symbol. They made very unkind statements in class to me. They also usually marked me down a grade from what I deserved. Grades that I had never experienced in high school or college. It was eye-opening. There were days I would walk out of law school saying to myself I had quit. I think I “quit” about 10 differrent times in my first year. The friends I made helped cheer me up. But it was my brother who would always give me a good pep talk when I would call him saying I had quit. One day he said, “They are trying to weed out people. It is what they do in Law school. Don’t let them get you to quit. Make them drag you out the door by your feet before giving in to those professors.” Wise words. He had been through it before me. I stuck it out and became a successful trial lawyer and corporate lawyer, helping many clients. Don’t give up!

I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. Whom do you admire for their character, not their power?
George Harrison. As a member of The Beatles, he realized that there was much more to life than wealth and fame. He believed strongly in telling the truth, regardless of whether it hurt the group’s image. He changed his life from seeking fame and fortune to learning about Eastern Religion and its values. He truly became God-conscious in his lifetime. You could hear the love in his heart when he would play his beautiful slide guitar solos on Beatles and solo works. He was so very funny and really loved to recite lines from Monty Python. He actually mortgaged his mansion to finance the Python movie, “Life of Brian” just so he could see it and have a laugh. He didn’t lose his humor even when a crazed intruder entered his home and stabbed him many times. Having lived through it, he joked from his hospital bed, “He wasn’t a burglar, but he certainly wasn’t auditioning for the Traveling Wilburys.” I had the great honor to work for George Harrison in his later years as an historical consultant. I learned so many good things about this man that I have always admired. His wisdom on life can be found in many of his songs’ lyrics.

Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. What is the story you hope people tell about you when you’re gone?
I hope people will remember that I spent my life preserving the history of The Beatles and rock and roll. And that I enjoyed publishing works that carried many of the untold stories in music history, through my award-winning, bestselling books and through the documentaries I worked on. I also hope to be remembered by my family who I love very much.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Photo of Jim Berkenstadt and Butch Vig by Mike Gomel (c) 2025 Copyright Mike Gomel
All other photographs: (c) 2025 Copyright Jim Berkenstadt

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