Page 22 - the NOISE March 2013

MAZZEO AND THE MUMMY [MAZZEO = MUH-ZAY-OH]
Sandy Mazzeo needed a bump. Real bad.
He piloted the 1954 Pontiac hearse eastward on Pacific Coast Highway with the Santa Monica Mountains on his left, the ocean on his right, and the AM sunlight glaring through his windshield. The brightness made him squint, and the squinting made him drowsier.
Mazzeo wasn’t used to being up this early. The party had lasted till dawn and he was running on precious few hours of sleep. He checked his pocket for the third time to make sure the wad of cash was still there. Captain Coconut, drug dealer to the stars, didn’t like doing business before noon, but he would make an exception for Sandy’s boss, owner of both the cash and the hearse.
It was Summer 1975, and his boss was Neil Young.
James Mazzeo was born in 1944 in Oakland, and grew
up in San Jose. In high school, he won awards for his paint- ings. While stationed in San Francisco with the Coast Guard, Mazzeo spent most of his off-duty time in the beatnik haven of North Beach. He met Ken Kesey, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Lenny Bruce, Alan Watts, Paul Krassner, and other soon-to-be- legends.
When psychedelia hit, Mazzeo renamed himself Sandy Castle and joined the West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, in charge of lighting and special effects. The word spread and other groups came knocking for his services. He toured the country with the Animals, the Beach Boys and the Moody Blues. While working with Frank Zappa and the Mothers in New York, he collaborated with Andy Warhol on the Velvet Underground’s light show.
After growing restless with the concert business, Mazzeo wandered. He was a disc jockey at one of the earliest free- form radio stations in Boston under the name Sandy Mazzeo, a more permanent handle. He lived in a teepee in Nevada. In
1968, he settled into an artists’ community just south of San Francisco, near Palo Alto.
It was named Star Hill Academy For Anything, and the place was wonderful. An abandoned sawmill stood at its cen- ter surrounded by 1800 acres of untouched redwood forest. Mazzeo created huge scrap-iron sculptures. He helped build a seven-room treehouse atop a gigantic redwood, as well as a primitive cable car system to get up there. Somehow, Sandy convinced the telephone company to install a pay phone on the property, from which he immediately pirated the electric- ity to power the cable car and treehouse.
In late 1970, one of the adjoining parcels of land was pur- chased by Neil Young, then escaping the Topanga Canyon scene and his first wife. He renamed it Broken Arrow Ranch. Young dug the sh*t out of his neighbors and discovered he and Mazzeo were on the same wavelength. They became fast friends.
Eventually Star Hill Academy For Anything grew into a real
Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Zuma
commune with around 40 people living there, and Mazzeo felt hemmed in. He was invited to live at Broken Arrow with Neil and Neil’s old lady, actress Carrie Snodgress. He trans- formed an old forge on the property into a welding studio, and built a beautiful wood-burning stove for the ranch house. He created more sculptures, but never sold many.
Over the years, Sandy Mazzeo played a variety of differ- ent roles in the scene surrounding Neil Young. He designed costumes and built sets for Journey Through The Past, Neil’s impenetrable 1972 directorial debut. He was a drum tech on Neil’s 1973 tour, despite having no experience in the field. On CSNY’s mammoth 1974 tour, he babysat Neil’s two year old son Zeke. He accompanied Neil and a few friends on an in- sane road trip, driving a 1934 Rolls-Royce from Amsterdam to the Sahara Desert. (They didn’t make it.)
When Carrie Snodgress’ mother died, Mazzeo went to the funeral with Neil and Neil’s mom. He was road manager for The Band’s Last Waltz tour in 1976. He managed Young’s 1977 side project The Ducks and his 1988 band The Bluenotes. He provided psychedelic slide shows for Young’s 1986 and 1989 tours. He drew the CD artwork, designed sets and acted in Greendale, Neil’s eco-friendly DVD-movie. He constructed wooden trestles for Neil’s model train barn.
But Sandy Mazzeo is probably best known for the odd ball- point drawings that adorn Neil Young’s 1975 LP Zuma. Young had originally wanted a painting for the cover. He described a dream where a giant bird was flying a naked woman over a landscape of pyramids and cacti. In ten minutes, Mazzeo dashed off four sketches. Neil saw them and said: “Forget about the painting. These are perfect.”
Mazzeo protested that the sketches (not very good ones) were done in preparation for the real artwork, but Neil was adamant. He wanted all four just like they were: two for the front and back covers and two for the inner sleeve. He had Mazzeo hand-letter the song titles and LP information as well. Reprise Records, Young’s label, was less than enthusiastic.
The situation was a mixed blessing. Mazzeo was trying to make a name for himself as a serious artist. His paintings were skillful and full of vibrant colors, while the Zuma sketch- es looked like they were drawn by a child. People were im- pressed to hear he had designed a Neil Young album cover, until they found out which one.
Zuma certainly didn’t look like any other record out there. For Sandy, it didn’t really sink in until he drove past a billboard in Los Angeles promoting the LP’s release. There it was, his crappy drawing of the bird with the naked woman, only now it was 80 feet wide. It made him smile. Watch out y’all, I’m big time now. When Rolling Stone awarded Zuma Worst Album Cover Of The Year, he and Neil had a good laugh.
Sandy Mazzeo received $2000 for his four sketches. He re- flected on this: two grand for ten minutes’ work. Not bad. This art thing just might be paying off.
In between his stints on the road, Mazzeo sometimes had trouble making ends meet, although he was used to living
22 • MARCH 2013 • the NOISE arts & news • thenoise.us