by David Wills
Paul Simon once titled a greatest hits compilation “Negotiations and Love Songs” and I always thought of that as an apt description of the music business. The public enjoys the love songs without appreciating the negotiations that had to take place in order to get those love songs out to them. The entertainment industry doesn’t exactly have a sterling track record for treating its artists fairly or often with any respect at all, so it would stand to reason that if you’re going to be in the game, you’ll need a good lawyer. John Mason was obviously a very good one given the sampling of former clients he talks about in his memoir Crazy Lucky (as in he feels crazy lucky to have worked with so many music giants).
Luck did play a part in putting Mason on the musical map when he was chosen to be a teenaged guitarist in the touring configuration of The Marketts, best known for their hits “Surfer Stomp” and “Out Of Limits” (ironically the subject of a lawsuit with the TV show “Outer Limits”). I would’ve enjoyed more detail about Mason’s time with The Marketts as he mentions playing guitar both on stage and in the studio as a member of the band. I had always been under the impression that The Marketts were really just various session players from The Wrecking Crew under another name while the touring outfit was a separate entity, but evidently there was some overlap. It was while playing with The Marketts that Mason was first introduced to Brian Wilson (though he was already an acquaintance of Carl). A more significant relationship developed between Brian and John Mason much later after Mason had left music to focus on practicing law. This was 1986 and during the zenith of Brian’s ill-fated association with Dr. Eugene Landy.
Readers of ESQ will naturally find this chapter of the book the most interesting as it details Mason’s efforts to get Brian’s publishing back while acknowledging the bizarre circumstances of Brian’s life under Landy’s micromanagement. Mason is fair in his assessment that Dr. Landy did have a positive effect on Brian’s overall health at first, but he was too obsessed with his own client. While this story is familiar to Beach Boys/Brian Wilson diehards (or anyone who’s seen the film “Love & Mercy) it’s sobering to read a firsthand account of Landy’s attempts to control every aspect of Brian’s life and to position himself as Brian’s one and only collaborator. Mason also gets into the debacle behind Brian Wilson’s non-participation in the song “Kokomo” and how much Brian had really wanted to be on that record. Dr. Landy tried to use Brian’s potential involvement as leverage to manipulate a sweet deal for himself and the whole thing fell apart. It was shortly after this that Mason had had enough and gave Brian an ultimatum. It was either him or Landy. Under advisement from the doctor no doubt, Brian stuck with Landy … at least for a while, because the one thing Landy couldn’t control was Brian falling in love. Enter Melinda Wilson. It was heartening to read that John and Brian would rekindle their friendship decades later. Crazy Lucky was written prior to Brian’s passing so if there’s ever a second edition I’d be interested to read Mason’s final thoughts on his friend.
Brian Wilson and The Beach Boys occupy just one chapter of Mason’s memoir. The rest of the book details his experiences working with a host of famous music names ranging from the unassuming and down to earth Roy Orbison to the supremely talented (yet surprisingly thrifty) Shakira. Chapters on Michael Jackson and Quincy Jones offer a window into the building of empires, but it’s Mason recalling his deep and abiding friendship with Olivia Newton-John that fittingly closes the book. I’ve read several other books from people close to Olivia and they all share similar anecdotes about her genuinely caring nature. May it serve as a reminder that sometimes people who seem too good to be true … really ARE that good.
Because of Mason’s eclectic clientele, there is bound to be a chapter or two here that anyone, regardless of their favorite genre of music, will find intriguing (there’s also a surprising music-adjacent true crime story in the book). I wonder if a second book is a possibility, if Mason’s Rolodex was anything like I think it was. Recommended.
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