Frazier Mohawk (born Barry Friedman, December 12, 1941 – June 2, 2012) was an American record producer and sometime photographer, publicist, circus owner, and farmer.

Life and career

Friedman attended the

Happy Valley School Besant Hill School of Happy Valley, formerly the Happy Valley School, is an American private, coeducational boarding school and day school in Ojai, California. The school has approximately 100 students and about 35 faculty and staff, all of whom ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. He then spent time working in circuses and as a photographer, living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

for a period. In 1962 he returned to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, becoming a radio show producer. He also became a publicist, handling the press conferences for

The Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developmen ...

around their Hollywood Bowl performance in 1964. He went on to work for the Troubadour club, becoming friendly with Stephen Stills, and helping him put together a new group, which became

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...

. Friedman was driving the car with Stills and

Richie Furay Paul Richard Furay (born May 9, 1944) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member (with Buffalo Springfield). He is best known for forming the bands Buffalo Springfield with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bru ...

which passed on

Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades east to Figueroa Street in Downtown Los Angeles. It is a major thoroughfare in ...

the hearse carrying

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 Fur ...

and

Bruce Palmer Bruce Palmer (September 9, 1946 – October 1, 2004) was a Canadian musician best known as the bassist in the seminal Canadian-American folk rock band Buffalo Springfield, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1997. Early y ...

from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, a meeting which led to the formation of the band. As their de facto manager, he got the Springfield to tour with the

Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...

, subsequently becoming involved in the Byrds’ own work. He also started to work as a producer, with

Paul Butterfield Paul Vaughn Butterfield (December 17, 1942May 4, 1987) was an American blues harmonica player, singer and band leader. After early training as a classical flautist, he developed an interest in blues harmonica. He explored the blues scene in his n ...

Kaleidoscope A kaleidoscope () is an optical instrument with two or more reflecting surfaces (or mirrors) tilted to each other at an angle, so that one or more (parts of) objects on one end of these mirrors are shown as a regular symmetrical pattern when v ...

, "Spider" John Koerner and Willie Murphy, the

Holy Modal Rounders The Holy Modal Rounders was an American folk music group, originally the duo of Peter Stampfel and Steve Weber, who began performing together on the Lower East Side of New York City in the early 1960s. Their unique blend of folk music reviva ...

and others. Notably, he produced

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

’s album with John Cale, ''

The Marble Index ''The Marble Index'' is the second studio album by the German musician Nico, released in November 1968 on Elektra Records. The avant-garde sound introduced in the album—a stark contrast with her folk pop debut, '' Chelsea Girl'' (1967)—was ...

''. During this time in the late-sixties, Barry Friedman also worked as an A&R man for the record label Elektra in Los Angeles. By this time, Friedman had decided to change his name to Frazier Mohawk. Around the same time the stresses of living in the city led him, supported and funded by Elektra boss

Jac Holzman Jac Holzman (born September 15, 1931) is an American music businessman, best known as the founder, chief executive officer and head of record label Elektra Records and Nonesuch Records. Holzman commercially helped launch the CD and home video form ...

, to build a studio and mountain retreat at

Paxton Lodge Paxton may refer to: People and fictional characters * Paxton (name), a list of people and fictional characters with either the surname or given name Places Australia * Paxton, New South Wales United Kingdom * Paxton, Scottish Borders Unite ...

in northern California. This was a centre for creative endeavours but, according to Holzman, relatively little usable output. Mohawk also met and married singer Sandra Hurvitz, who had previously recorded with Frank Zappa, and who now changed her name to

Essra Mohawk Essra Mohawk (born Sandra Elayne Hurvitz on April 23, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter who has recorded a dozen albums, many receiving critical acclaim. Her best-known songs include "Sufferin' Til Suffrage" and "Interjections!" (both from ...

. He subsequently produced her second album (and first as Essra Mohawk) entitled ''

Primordial Lovers ''Primordial Lovers'' is the second studio album by American singer-songwriter Essra Mohawk. Released on June 6, 1970, the album sold poorly. In 2000 the album was re-released by Rhino Handmade as a 22-track collection, combining the original al ...

'' on the Reprise label, which Rolling Stone magazine in 1977 proclaimed as "one of the best 25 albums ever made" in their top 500 list of best albums. By the early 1970s, burned out by the music business, he moved to Canada, producing a few obscure acts and becoming seriously ill for a period. After his recovery he established and ran his own travelling circus for several years. Eventually he settled at Puck’s Farm north of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, developing it as an attraction for families, and also including a recording studio. He died from liver disease in 2012, at the age of 70.Brad Spurgeon, "In remembrance of Frazier Mohawk", ''BradSpurgeon.com'', 2012
Retrieved 10 May 2022

References

External links

1997 interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mohawk, Frazier 1941 births 2012 deaths Record producers from California American emigrants to Canada