Elliot Mazer (September 5, 1941February 7, 2021) was an American audio engineer and record producer. He was best known for his work with
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
,
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
,
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
,
The Band, and
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...
. In addition, he worked on film and television projects for
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
and various independent studios, and taught at
University of North Carolina at Asheville
The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...
and
Elon University
Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...
.
Early life
Mazer was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
on September 5, 1941. His family moved to
Teaneck, New Jersey
Teaneck () is a Township (New Jersey), township in Bergen County, New Jersey, Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a bedroom community in the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2010 United States census, 2010 U.S. census, th ...
, soon after he was born.
Bob Weinstock
Bob Weinstock (October 2, 1928 – January 14, 2006) was an American record producer best known for his label Prestige Records, established in 1949, which was responsible for many significant jazz recordings during his more than two decades op ...
, who was their neighbor and owner of
Prestige Records
Prestige Records is a jazz record company and label founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock in New York City which issued recordings in the mainstream, bop, and cool jazz idioms. The company recorded hundreds of albums by many of the leading jazz music ...
, employed Mazer at the age of 21 to sort tapes and transport them to radio stations.
He soon worked his way into the production process, ultimately creating the album ''
Standard Coltrane
''Standard Coltrane'' is an album by jazz musician John Coltrane released in October 1962 by Prestige Records. It was recorded at a single recording session at the studio of Rudy Van Gelder in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1958. This album was rerel ...
'' in 1962 from a series of outtakes he had identified.
[
]
Career
Mazer subsequently worked for Cameo-Parkway Records
Cameo-Parkway Records was the parent company of Cameo Records and Parkway Records, which were major American Philadelphia-based record labels from 1956 (for Cameo) and 1958 (for Parkway) to 1967. Among the types of music released were doo-wop, ...
.[ There, he produced albums from artists such as ]Chubby Checker
Chubby Checker (born Ernest Evans; October 3, 1941) is an American rock and roll singer and dancer. He is widely known for popularizing many dance styles, including The Twist dance style, with his 1960 hit cover of Hank Ballard & The Midnighte ...
, Big Brother and the Holding Company
Big Brother and the Holding Company is an American rock band that formed in San Francisco in 1965 as part of the same psychedelic music scene that produced the Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Jefferson Airplane. After some in ...
('' Cheap Thrills''), and Linda Ronstadt
Linda Maria Ronstadt (born July 15, 1946) is a retired American singer who performed and recorded in diverse genres including rock, country, light opera, the Great American Songbook, and Latin. She has earned 11 Grammy Awards, three American ...
('' Silk Purse''). Mazer later moved to Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
, and co-established Quadrafonic Sound Studios Quad Studios Nashville was a four-studio recording facility established as Quadrafonic Sound Studio in 1971 on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The studio was the location of numerous notable recording sessions, including Neil Young's ''Harvest'', ...
.[ He was first introduced to ]Neil Young
Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian-American singer and songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, joining Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Richie Furay ...
by the latter's manager, Elliot Roberts
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:Lady of the Canyon" ...
,[ in January 1971.][ Young was visiting the city to appear on '']The Johnny Cash Show
''The Johnny Cash Show'' is an American television music variety show hosted by Johnny Cash. The Screen Gems 58-episode series ran from June 7, 1969, to March 31, 1971, on ABC; it was taped at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. The ...
'' and attended a dinner party hosted by Mazer, where the two conversed about artists and studios.[ Mazer was somewhat acquainted with Young's music only because his girlfriend at the time played '']After the Gold Rush
''After the Gold Rush'' is the third studio album by the Canadian-American musician Neil Young, released in September 1970 on Reprise Records, catalogue number RS 6383. It is one of four high-profile albums (all charting within the top fifteen) ...
'' incessantly. One month later, Mazer invited Young to the studio with the aim of persuading him to record a new album there. Young soon asked Mazer to work on ''Harvest
Harvesting is the process of gathering a ripe crop from the fields. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulse for harvest, typically using a scythe, sickle, or reaper. On smaller farms with minimal mechanization, harvesting is the most labor-i ...
'', which was released the following year and began a decades-long partnership between the two.[ Mazer was responsible for assembling a band of Nashville session players to record with Young.] This consisted of Tim Drummond
Timothy Lee Drummond (20 April 1940 – 10 January 2015) was an American musician from Canton, Illinois. Drummond's primary instrument was bass guitar and he toured and recorded with many notable artists, including Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, James ...
on bass, Kenny Buttrey
Aaron Kenneth Buttrey (April 1, 1945 – September 12, 2004) was an American drummer and arranger. According to Country Music Television, CMT, he was "one of the most influential session musicians in Nashville history".
Buttrey was born in Nashvi ...
on drums, John Harris on piano, and Ben Keith
Bennett Keith Schaeufele (March 6, 1937 – July 26, 2010), better known by his stage name Ben Keith, was an American musician and record producer. Known primarily for his work as a pedal steel guitarist with Neil Young, Keith was a fixture of ...
on pedal steel guitar.[ This group would later be dubbed by Young as ]The Stray Gators
The Stray Gators was the name given by Neil Young to his supporting musicians from 1971 to 1973 and who backed him on the albums ''Harvest'' (1972) and ''Time Fades Away'' (1973). It consisted of Jack Nitzsche (piano), Ben Keith (steel guitar), Ti ...
;[ Keith would end up recording with Young for almost four decades.][ Most of ''Harvest'' was recorded at Mazer's studio, with some of it also recorded in ]Redwood City, California
Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in Northern California's Bay Area, approximately south of San Francisco, and northwest of San Jose. Redwood City's history spans its earliest inhabitation by the Ohlone people to being a ...
, at the Broken Arrow Ranch owned by Young.[ It was in the latter setting that Mazer observed Young shout his memorable quote "More barn!" during a quarrel with ]Graham Nash
Graham William Nash (born 2 February 1942) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, photographer, and activist. He is known for his light tenor voice and for his contributions as a member of the Hollies and the supergroups Crosby, Stills ...
, who had overdubbed vocals on the record.[ The album was ultimately honored in the ]Grammy Hall of Fame
The Grammy Hall of Fame is a hall of fame to honor musical recordings of lasting qualitative or historical significance. Inductees are selected annually by a special member committee of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of ...
in 2015.[
Mazer went on to produce '']Time Fades Away
''Time Fades Away'' is a 1973 live album by Canadian-American musician Neil Young. Consisting of previously unreleased material, it was recorded with the Stray Gators on the support tour following 1972's highly successful album '' Harvest''. Due ...
'' (1973), '' Homegrown'' (recorded in 1975 and released in 2020), ''Everybody's Rockin'
''Everybody's Rockin'' is the 13th studio album by Canadian / American musician Neil Young, released on August 1, 1983. The album was recorded with the Shocking Pinks (a band made up just for the occasion), and features a selection of rockabilly s ...
'' (1983), and ''Old Ways
''Old Ways'' is the 14th studio album by Canadian / American musician and singer-songwriter Neil Young, released on August 12, 1985 on Geffen Records.
Background
Young has referred to this album in interviews as ''Old Ways II'', as he had origi ...
'' (1985) for Young, whom he also familiarized with digital recording
In digital recording, an audio or video signal is converted into a stream of discrete numbers representing the changes over time in air pressure for audio, or chroma and luminance values for video. This number stream is saved to a storage de ...
.[ He also worked with ]Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot Jr. (born November 17, 1938) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music. He is credited with helping to define the folk-pop sound of the 1960 ...
on several albums, producing '' Back Here on Earth'' (1968) and the live album ''Sunday Concert
''Sunday Concert'' is Canadian singer Gordon Lightfoot's first solo live album, released in 1969 on the United Artists label. Lightfoot's last recording for United Artists, it was also his first live album and until the release of a live DVD in 2 ...
'' (1969).[ Another live album Mazer compiled was '' In Concert'' (1972) by ]Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known Rock music, rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage ...
. He worked on ''The Last Waltz
''The Last Waltz'' was a concert by the Canadian-American rock group The Band, held on American Thanksgiving Day, November 25, 1976, at Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco. ''The Last Waltz'' was advertised as The Band's "farewell concert a ...
'' (1978) by The Band, which turned out to be their farewell performance.[ That album went along with the documentary film of the same name by ]Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...
, on which Mazer worked as audio engineer
An audio engineer (also known as a sound engineer or recording engineer) helps to produce a recording or a live performance, balancing and adjusting sound sources using equalization, dynamics processing and audio effects, mixing, reproduction, ...
.
Aside from record producing, Mazer served as a consultant to Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics from 1976 to 1984. He designed the world's first all-digital recording studio and co-invented "D-zap", which was a device to detect possible shocking hazards in the studio. Mazer served as President of Artificial Intelligence Resources Inc. in the late 1980s. Here, he developed the AirCheck Monitoring system, which was utilized to recognize songs for radio and television. He and co-inventor Jon Birger subsequently sold the system to Radio Computing Services
RCS, originally Radio Computing Services, is a provider of scheduling and broadcast software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built an ...
(RCS).[ He subsequently became senior vice president of radio computing services at RCS. Mazer also looked after the music on the '' Wide World of Sports'' program by ]ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
.[
]
Later life
Mazer taught a course on record production at the University of North Carolina at Asheville
The University of North Carolina Asheville (UNC Asheville, UNCA, or simply Asheville) is a public liberal arts university in Asheville, North Carolina, United States. UNC Asheville is the designated liberal arts institution in the University of N ...
in the spring of 2010. He went on to teach music business and production at Elon University
Elon University is a private university in Elon, North Carolina. Founded in 1889 as Elon College, Elon is organized into six schools, most of which offer bachelor's degrees and several of which offer master's degrees or professional doctorate d ...
from 2011 to 2012. One of the last albums he worked on that got released before his death was Young's ''Homegrown'', which had been recorded back in 1975.[ At that time, Mazer visited the United Kingdom after completing some of the mixing. He played a recording of the album to the head of ]Chrysalis Records
Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...
, who proceeded to inform Mo Ostin
Mo Ostin (born Morris Meyer Ostrofsky; March 27, 1927 – July 31, 2022) was an American record executive who worked for several companies, including Verve, Reprise Records, Warner Bros. Records, and DreamWorks. He was chairman and chief execu ...
that he was certain that this would become "another five-million seller". However, Young had a change of heart,[ and ''Homegrown'' was not released until June 2020.]
Mazer died on February 7, 2021 at his home in San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. He was 79, and suffered a heart attack and was afflicted with dementia in the years leading up to his death.[ Young praised Mazer on his website, calling him " master in the studio".][ He went on to credit him for his work on ''Harvest'', noting how the album "is one of my most recognized recordings and it all happened because of Elliot Mazer".][
]
Discography
References
External links
UAudio Article
Discography
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mazer, Elliot
1941 births
2021 deaths
American record producers
Elon University faculty
People from Teaneck, New Jersey
People from New York City